leafleaf said:
For3 months now, i've been sitting on a decision between buying an Epson, Canon
or HP A3 or A4 printer. I want one that would print both nice color or BW quality
prints that will last.
Have a budget of about S$1,000.....
Any suggestions/advice from fellow CSers?
Thanks
i think the question you have to put to yourself what is it you want to print, or print often.
i can offer you the following tips:
canon: print head is a separate component which is user replaceable. individial ink cartridges allow you to print till the last drop. the ink cartridges are transparent so you can see how much ink you have before you decide to go ahead with a print job when the system tells you ink is out. easy to find original and third party inks. print head doesn't clog up even though i don't print anything for a week or two (when i was away on holiday). come to think of it, i never had to do a head cleaning on any of my canon printers.
epson: print head is part of printer and has to be replaced at service centre. ink cartridges have chips to ensure that you only use what epson 'thinks' is best for you. ink cartridges are opague so you can't see how much money you are throwing away. easy to find original and third party ink. the print head tends to clog up when you don't print anything for a few days to a week. i had to do head cleaning and nozzle checks before starting any print job because of that. and when the nozzles clog, sometimes it takes two to even four cleaning cycles to clear them.
hp: no personal experience but from friends who use hp printers find the running cost is a huge concern as you have to replace the entire cartridge when one ink runs out. similar to epson, the ink cartridges are opague so you can't see how much money you are throwing away.
in the past, epson was touted to have the best photo printers in the market. today, the other brands have caught up especially canon.
please do not be mistaken that i am pushing you towards canon. i am just giving you my experiences on the two brands that i have used as i print a lot of stuff.
if you need to print a lot of A3 size jobs, having an in-house printer on demand is convenient. if you have to print occasionally, you probably will be better off sending the job out to a service centre for printing. the cost between a A3 and A4 printer is quite huge. this is one decision you will have to make yourself.
