Should I buy a printer?

> Why would I or anyone else want to bother with home printing with
> convenience and prices like that?
>
> Regards,
>
> John,
> Ireland
>

What is convenient about leaving the house & wasting gas. In Ireland things
are a little closer together then in Canada.
 >> Stay informed about: Should I buy a printer? 

"bmoag" <aetoo.TakeThisOut@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:K1Q3f.3007$7h7.2926@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com...
> I would not advise getting a photoprinter and expecting good quality
prints
> unless you want to put in the time and effort to learn how to do it.
> Alas this latter necessity, taking the time and effort to learn the art
and
> technology of a process, is beyond the ken of most consumers addicted to
> marketing promises of push-button instant gratification in everything from
> toasters to religion.
> If done properly your prints, and printing includes optimizing the image
in
> a photoprogram prior to printing, made at home will be far superior to
> anything Walmart or its ilk can produce.
> Otherwise you will be wasting money more than time because the process of
> obtaining quality inkjet color prints is neither foolproof nor automatic.
> Stick to the 100 year old Kodak model of third party photofinishing and
> never bother to learn what a well finished and printed photograph can look
> like.
> Personally, and it has taken significant time, effort and $ to learn how
to
> do it, I would never have a print made by a mass market finisher unless I
> needed several hundred copies for a mass mailing.
>
What printer do you have?
 >> Stay informed about: Should I buy a printer? 

Dirty Harry wrote:
>>Why would I or anyone else want to bother with home printing with
>>convenience and prices like that?
>>
>>Regards,
>>
>>John,
>>Ireland
>>
>
>
> What is convenient about leaving the house & wasting gas. In Ireland things
> are a little closer together then in Canada.
>
>
I like to keep it in house myself.
 >> Stay informed about: Should I buy a printer? 

carrigman wrote:
> I wouldn't advise it. The quality of the prints will not compare with what
> you will get in a photo store. And when you factor in the cost of the
> printer, ink and paper the cost per print will far exceed the cost you will
> pay in the store.
>
> I use a 20D and regularly get 7"x5" prints in my local store. Just the other
> day I dropped in a CD of 70 jpegs and had nice sparkling prints on Fuji
> Archival paper within an hour for around 20 cents (Euro) per print.
>
> Why would I or anyone else want to bother with home printing with
> convenience and prices like that?
>
> Regards,
>
> John,
> Ireland
>
>
>
Home printers are good for that quick print mom wants just before
leaving to go home, or a single 8x10. They aren't good for 200 4x6
prints of the vacation.
Use the appropriate tool for the job at hand.


--
Ron Hunter rphunter RemoveThis @charter.net
 >> Stay informed about: Should I buy a printer? 

Bruce Coryell wrote:
> Dirty Harry wrote:
>>> Why would I or anyone else want to bother with home printing with
>>> convenience and prices like that?
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>>
>>> John,
>>> Ireland
>>>
>>
>>
>> What is convenient about leaving the house & wasting gas. In Ireland
>> things
>> are a little closer together then in Canada.
>>
>>
> I like to keep it in house myself.
Then there are those who wouldn't want to send the images they are
printing out.....


--
Ron Hunter rphunter.DeleteThis@charter.net
 >> Stay informed about: Should I buy a printer? 

----- Original Message -----
From: "KennyJr" <kennyjr RemoveThis @NOSPAMfloodcity.net>
Newsgroups: rec.photo.digital
Sent: Saturday, October 15, 2005 2:01 AM
Subject: Re: Should I buy a printer?


> In article <3raq8qFinu2rU1 RemoveThis @individual.net>, chimping RemoveThis @way.com says...
>>
>> "KennyJr" <kennyjr RemoveThis @NOSPAMfloodcity.net> wrote in message
>> news:MPG.1db9f08e5beb0732989779@news.floodcity.net...
>
> {snip}
>
>> > Given my personnal experience and the experience of others I've talked
>> > to, I'd avoid Epson ink jet printers as they seem to have a problem
>> > with
>> > print head clogging. A couple of review sites I've visited bear this
>> > out
>> > as well. I talked to one guy who has had his printer repaired 4 times
>> > in
>> > 5 months and they simply refuse to admit there is a problem and refuse
>> > to refund your money.<
>>
>>
>>
>> Sorry - just had to contradict the above load of bollox.
>>
>> I've always owned Epson printers, always used cheap ink, and never had a
>> problem with clogging - not even when the printer has been unused for
>> three
>> or four weeks.
>>
>
> I've owned many Epson printers myself, that's why I bought this one.
> Epson used to be a good name. When I saw the Epson CX4600 I didn't think
> twice about buying it. Several months later I bought my wife a C66.
>
> After about 4 months I noticed streaks in the printouts and ran the
> cleaning routine. Problem solved, at least I thought. Less than a week
> later same problem. It got to the point I was using up more ink on
> cleaning than printing. The last time it started it just got worse to
> the point it doesn't print at all. All I've ever used in Epson DuraBrite
> ink. The wife's printer is now starting the same thing.
>
> Perhaps the problem isn't so much with the printer as DuraBrite ink. You
> mention using cheap ink, that could very well be why you haven't had the
> problem.

Well, I hadn't really given it any thought - but, yes, it could be a reason
(although I can't really see why)

Certainly, the only Epson ink that has ever gone through any of the four
Epson printers that I've owned was the ink that came bundled.

after that, it's been cheap third party ink all the way

Those streaks, btw, are you sure that they're not 'wheel' marks (caused by
the ratchet wheel that propels the paper) ?
 >> Stay informed about: Should I buy a printer? 

"KennyJr" <kennyjr.TakeThisOut@NOSPAMfloodcity.net> wrote in message
news:MPG.1dbb606bacbbf69f98977b@news.floodcity.net...
> In article <3rd5lmFiq9m9U1.TakeThisOut@individual.net>, chimping.TakeThisOut@way.com says...
>> Well, I hadn't really given it any thought - but, yes, it could be a
>> reason
>> (although I can't really see why)
>>
>> Certainly, the only Epson ink that has ever gone through any of the four
>> Epson printers that I've owned was the ink that came bundled.
>>
>> after that, it's been cheap third party ink all the way
>>
>
> Given that I only use Epson ink and you third party ink it's the only
> explaination I can think of. Thinking back to my conversations with the
> others I've spoke to about this problem I believe they were using Epson
> ink as well. I'm going to send out some emails to confirm this.
> Considering this is the first Epson printer I've had this problem with
> it may be just the DuraBrite inks. I'll have to ask the others that as
> well.



Not only third party ink - but *the* cheapest third party ink I can find.

These days, that's RiDisc (I wrote Ritec before, incorrectly) and Datasafe.
Both of these appear to be the same cartridges in different packaging, and
they are without doubt *the* best ones so far in terms of colour, clarity,
and durability.

I've just compared a RiDisc/Epson 300 print to a 35mm photo, lab printed on
Fuji paper. The 'gloss' on the Fuji print is considerably more than the
Epson one, no doubt about it - at least twice as glossy.

The colour saturation, contrast, and detail, however, are very similar - (6
x 4 prints) When taken up to A4 size, the colours retain their vibrancy -
but I've no equivalent lab processed film A4 print to compare it to.

The ironic thing is, I used to print routinely at A4 size and dole out the
prints to family members etc. They eventually got tired of all these 'big'
photo's, though! - and demanded 'normal' size pictures that would fit their
albums.

Philistines!
 >> Stay informed about: Should I buy a printer? 

fj40rockcrawler.TakeThisOut@gmail.com wrote in news:1129344729.487068.215120
@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

> however,
> unless you live in the middle of nowhere with no stores nearby (course
> mail-order always works), or you have to have the pictures NOW, I do
> not see the reason to deal with a printer at home.

I *do* live in the middle of nowhere, and I do not have a photo printer. I
have a B&W LaserJet, and once in a while I print a photo on it, but mostly
I take them to a store. The quality I get from the store printers is really
high. Good enough that I don't see a need to experiment with costly time
consuming equipment.

I think the biggest exception is people who want to make large prints. The
biggest the store can do for me is 8x10. Another exception is people who
can't visualize the end results based on what they see on their monitor. I
can look at the monitor and do a pretty good job of predicting what the
prints will look like. If you can't do that and if you need to experiment a
lot to get a print you like, then having a printer would save a lot of
trips to the store.

Bob

Delete the inverse SPAM to reply
 >> Stay informed about: Should I buy a printer? 

On 2005-10-14 09:17:20 -0400, szeik DeleteThis @hotmail.com said:

> Hi,
>
> Sorry for my flurry of posts but we just got this new digital camera...
>
> How does the quality of photos you can print at home compare to the
> quality you can get by having digital images printed at a photo store?
>
> I would like to get a photo printer if the quality is close to what we
> can get at the store. Also, what is the price of a decent photo
> printer.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Steve

You are not going to save money by buying a printer. Period.
Comercial shops can print for less than you can (4x6 snapshot size).
On the other hand, if want to be able to print some photos at home, of
print larger photos then by all means but treat at as new tool for
creating photographs not as an economy move. Its cheaper to burn the
picks you want to a CD or write them to a memory card that your photo
processor can support and have them printed that way.

--
Jim <jen....not....home..remvdots...@....yahoo
 >> Stay informed about: Should I buy a printer? 

"bmoag" <aetoo.TakeThisOut@hotmail.com> wrote in message

> If done properly your prints, and printing includes optimizing the image
> in
> a photoprogram prior to printing, made at home will be far superior to
> anything Walmart or its ilk can produce.
>

You seem to imply that I can't use a photo program to optimize my image
prior to printing if I take it to Wal-Mart.

Photoshop doesn't care where you do your printing. It works just as well on
images destined for Wal-Mart as it does on images destined for your inkjet.

That issue settled, the question left is which is capable of higher quality
output, a $50,000 Fuji Frontier, or a $400 home printer? Some people
maintain that some of the better inkjets have a larger gamut, and that they
are able to produce better quality pictures on thier inkjets. I have never
seen a direct comparison myself, nor even read the results of any study
that would support thier claims though. When I look at the sample output of
photo printers in the store, it makes me kind of doubt them.

Bob

--
Delete the inverse SPAM to reply
 >> Stay informed about: Should I buy a printer? 

In article <1129295840.529506.240280.TakeThisOut@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
szeik.TakeThisOut@hotmail.com wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Sorry for my flurry of posts but we just got this new digital camera...
>
> How does the quality of photos you can print at home compare to the
> quality you can get by having digital images printed at a photo store?
>
> I would like to get a photo printer if the quality is close to what we
> can get at the store. Also, what is the price of a decent photo
> printer.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Steve

The Canon PIXMA printers are very nice. I've bought two of them
recently and I'm _very_ impressed. The iP5200R is even wireless.

Avoid the Epsons. They might have a reputation for high print quality
but they're extremely expensive to use. I threw my Epson 2200 in the
trash because it wastes so much ink and paper. The regular paper jams,
nozzle clogs, and driver bugs cost as much as a new printer!
 >> Stay informed about: Should I buy a printer?