newshound wrote:
>
>
>> I have a somewhat similar need (see a recent thread on HP Deskjet 1220
>> follow-on). I prefer familiar evils for unfamiliar ones, and so, as a
>> long-standing HP user, I ended up ordering a HP Officejet K7100. HP
>> site (www.hp.com) does not include this any more in its current
>> offering, but HP in my country still sells it. Price here is about 250
>> euros which would be equivalent to some $200 or less. In addition to
>> basic photo printing using 3 inks it permits replacing the black ink
>> tank by a 3 additional colors for enhanced photo printing with 6 inks.
>> I considered the newer and more expensive K8600 also; what tipped the
>> scale in favor of K7100 was the availability of inks. For the K8600 I
>> would have to order by mail; for the K7100 I get the inks at the
>> nearest bookstore.
>>
>> You did not say what your bad experience with Epson many years ago
>> was. Long ago a common problem with Epson was clogged printheads. I
>> have used HP printers for 10+ years, and while I have experienced my
>> share of problems, I have never had a clogged printhead.
>>
>>
>> Matti P.
>
> Thanks. I *think* it included problems with clogged print heads, also
> cartridges claiming to be empty and refusing to print even when they
> contained ink
>
>
Epson printers way back when... Needed regular prints made with them to
stop ink drying out of the heads. The cartridge part full issue was
Epson's early attempts to prevent you emptying the cartridge and leaving
it for days on end while you get a new one. The lines themselves would
clog then.
Like a good heart management routine... Keep the arteries clean and
you'll have no problems! HP Dye printers tend to over saturate images
and kill fine detail unless you adjust an image to look very flat.
Epson generally have overcome all the problems consumers had with the
early models. The one thing about Epson that might make you buy one
instead of a Canon or HP is the availability of low cost inks.
Printer ink is more valuable (per ounce) than gold. Really, they could
give the printers away free and make their money out of ink sales. Even
pigment inks used in the big Epsons can be bought at 25% the cost of
genuine stuff and so many people are buying it, a whole raft of stuff is
available to service your printer and keep it in top condition (ink
wise) that anyone who does a lot of printing really can't go past one.
I use a r2880 with a CIS ink supply. It runs daily on non genuine inks
and has yet to give me any problems... I've used more than a litre of
ink per tank so far. The cost saving is enormous for me. I use it like a
chemical printer and instead of one.