Advice please Cannon i9100 or Epson 2200

[Michael Hobbs]

The time has come to replace my well used Epson 1270, which I use to print
from a 5mb digital camera and a film scanner. The software I use is
Photoshop over XP-pro.

I would have automatically bought another Epson but have recently become
aware that Cannon seems to make a comparable printer the i9100 that prints
faster. Now I'm not sure. And Epson or a Cannon??? About the only thing I
have noticed in here and elsewhere is that Cannon printers seem to be more
troublesome.

Any comments you care to make will be appreciated.

 

[Lucas Tam]

About the only thing I
have noticed in here and elsewhere is that Cannon printers seem to be
more troublesome.

Hmmm, I thought it was the other way around in terms of reliablity

Canon has cheaper inks, but Epson has the "ultra-chrome" inks which are
supposedly very nice. Epson has a roll feeder for banner paper, Canon does
not, but is able to print on banner paper with manual hand feeding. The
Canon has smaller ink droplets, only 2 picoliters vs. 4 on the Epson.

Canon has a new i9900 model which looks very nice and is an 8 ink printer!

Personally I'll go with Canon - the ink is cheaper, the print head seems
more reliable (less complaints about clogging), smaller ink droplets, easy
refill, 1 extra ink cart.

 

[Mark Herring]

The time has come to replace my well used Epson 1270, which I use to print
from a 5mb digital camera and a film scanner. The software I use is
Photoshop over XP-pro.

I would have automatically bought another Epson but have recently become
aware that Cannon seems to make a comparable printer the i9100 that prints
faster. Now I'm not sure. And Epson or a Cannon??? About the only thing I
have noticed in here and elsewhere is that Cannon printers seem to be more
troublesome.

Any comments you care to make will be appreciated.

2200 uses archival pigment ink, 9100 is dye

9900 is till dye??

2200 has a roll feeder

Otherwise, Canon and Epson are now pretty close
**************************
Mark Herring, Pasadena, Calif.
Private e-mail: Just say no to "No".

 

[Al]

2200 uses archival pigment ink, 9100 is dye

9900 is till dye??

2200 has a roll feeder

Otherwise, Canon and Epson are now pretty close
**************************
Mark Herring, Pasadena, Calif.
Private e-mail: Just say no to "No".

Would it be possible to refill the Canon cartridges with pigment
instead of dye? Or does pigment use a larger larger printhead opening?

There must be an ink manufacturer that makes both types for continuous
refill.

 

[Mark Herring]

Would it be possible to refill the Canon cartridges with pigment
instead of dye? Or does pigment use a larger larger printhead opening?

There must be an ink manufacturer that makes both types for continuous
refill.

You'll find a lot of info at www.inksupply.com
**************************
Mark Herring, Pasadena, Calif.
Private e-mail: Just say no to "No".

 

[DL]

I changed from a 1280 to the i9100. The Canon is very fast, which I like, and
it is capable of making very nice prints. I am not convinced they're as good as
what I was getting with my 1280, despite what everyone is saying in the press.

What I *really* don't like is that Canon has a very dumbed down driver. There
is no support for paper profiles as far as I can tell. I've had issues with
banding on mine with certain colors that I'm still working out, replacing a
print head didn't help. Canon support has been good but not great.

On the other hand, my dry environment along with infrequent use of the 1280
seemed to lead to the nozzle clogging problem that people discuss, and it got
progressively worse over 4 years until it simply was unusable despite trying all
the tricks. The lack of a user-changable print head on the 1280 was a big
drawback in my mind, and I don't think the 2200 has that either.

But, if I had to buy a new printer today, I'd go with the 2200 for sure despite
the extra initial cost.

-Dick L.

 

[Lucas Tam]

Would it be possible to refill the Canon cartridges with pigment
instead of dye? Or does pigment use a larger larger printhead opening?

Unfortunately no, Canon printers are not designed for pigment printing
(besides black). However, Canon inks are rated for 20+ years... so it's
more than long enough for most people.

 

[Lucas Tam]

What I *really* don't like is that Canon has a very dumbed down
driver. There is no support for paper profiles as far as I can tell.

The Canon driver does have ICM profiles for different Canon papers... and
you can setup your own custom profiles. But I guess that's about it.

 

[Flycaster]

The Canon driver does have ICM profiles for different Canon papers... and
you can setup your own custom profiles. But I guess that's about it.

The last Canon printer I set up (s9000) did not have any ICM/ICC profiles.
What this model's manual refers to as "profiles" really aren't, rather they
are saved internal driver settings, and ditto for the "custom" profiles.
Honestly, I'd be pleasantly surprised if yours came with true profiles.

It is easy to find out one way or the other, though: go to your Color Folder
(windows>sytem32>spool>drivers>color) and see if there are any paper
specific Canon .ICC files there.

 

[Lucas Tam]

It is easy to find out one way or the other, though: go to your Color
Folder (windows>sytem32>spool>drivers>color) and see if there are any
paper specific Canon .ICC files there.

Yes, I have several actually.

The i860 comes with 5 profiles for Canon paper. Even my older BJC-1000
included ~15 paper profiles for the BJC-4300.

I'm sure the S9000 has ICM profiles, but maybe they're added with a later
driver revision?

 

[Flycaster]

Yes, I have several actually.

The i860 comes with 5 profiles for Canon paper. Even my older BJC-1000
included ~15 paper profiles for the BJC-4300.

I'm sure the S9000 has ICM profiles, but maybe they're added with a later
driver revision?

I dunno. What are the icc file names - can you do a copy and paste so I can
look at them (not the files, just the names)?

 

[DL]

I've been through this with Canon support. They do not expose paper profiles in
the i9100, but they do on "lower end" printers. Explain that to me, please. I
was very unhappy to find that out. An article in Shutterbug (Feb 2004)
discussed this (the one profile thing) as well.

-Dick L.

 

[Flycaster]

I've been through this with Canon support. They do not expose paper profiles in
the i9100, but they do on "lower end" printers. Explain that to me, please. I
was very unhappy to find that out. An article in Shutterbug (Feb 2004)
discussed this (the one profile thing) as well.

Funny, but I didn't think they did either. Hmm, I think you need to get
together with Lucas Tam.

 

[DL]

I think Lucas made the (logical) assumption that if Canon exposes paper profiles
on other printers, then Canon would certainly expose them on their flagship
prosumer printer. In fact, I assumed the same thing and was surprised and
dismayed to find otherwise. 8-(

-Dick L.

 

[Al]

Unfortunately no, Canon printers are not designed for pigment printing
(besides black). However, Canon inks are rated for 20+ years... so it's
more than long enough for most people.

Could that be why my i350 prints in 600 dpi for black and 1200x2400 in
color? If that's the case the B&W prints should last longer.

Kodak makes a paper called something like Ultima that is supposed to
make prints last longer. But some of it is sold in 100 foot rolls -
are there any printers have built in cutters to separate the prints,
or are you supposed to print a whole session and cut them apart later?

 

[Tom Monego]

Could that be why my i350 prints in 600 dpi for black and 1200x2400 in
color? If that's the case the B&W prints should last longer.

Kodak makes a paper called something like Ultima that is supposed to
make prints last longer. But some of it is sold in 100 foot rolls -
are there any printers have built in cutters to separate the prints,
or are you supposed to print a whole session and cut them apart later?

You can get Kodak Paper at BJ's for $17 for 50 sheets 8.5x11, works well with
dye inks . The 100ft rolls are for wide format printers, most have a knife
that cuts the paper. Don't think there is a desktop printer that cuts paper,
not even the larger desktop Epsons ie 3000, 4000, 5000, 5500.

Tom

 

[Flycaster]

You can get Kodak Paper at BJ's for $17 for 50 sheets 8.5x11, works well with
dye inks . The 100ft rolls are for wide format printers, most have a knife
that cuts the paper. Don't think there is a desktop printer that cuts paper,
not even the larger desktop Epsons ie 3000, 4000, 5000, 5500.

The 2200 has a roll paper-cutter, but is carriage limited to 13" rolls.
However, I personally would not recommend using any Kodak paper with this
printer.

 

[Lucas Tam]

In fact, I assumed the same thing and was surprised and
dismayed to find otherwise. 8-(

Yes, that's the assumption I made.

I would expect a 600+ printer to have color management support when my
150.00 i860 does.

It could be that Canon has not updated their i9xxx series drivers yet? The
i9900 is just around corner so there maybe hope for i9100 owners : )

 

[Ron Baird]

Hi Al,

Yes, there are printers that will take advantage of the roll feature. I
know that some of the Epsons (i.e. the 960) have a roll option. Check their
pages.

Talk to you soon.

Ron Baird
Eastman Kodak Company

 

[Dick D.]

Michael, Go with the 2200 the new inks and overall design mitigate against
the clogging that could happen with earlier technology, the 1270. The new
inks have tremendous life and depending on the paper one uses they approach
100 years. If you do not need the wider carriage check out the new Epson
RX800.