Thombar Loc: Hominy, OK

I am looking for a best quality home printer. I would like to keep the price under $150 and would appreciate the opinions of this august forum of photographers. Many thanks.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

I don't think you'll find what you're looking for at that price point.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

You aren't going to get a best quality home printer for that price. You can get some average printers for that, but not best. Epson and Canon printers seem to be the most popular. I have an Epson (NX420) wireless (Network) printer that does fine with most average printer needs and a Canon Pro9000 II printer for excellent image printing needs.

Thombar Loc: Hominy, OK

Hi speters: I'm not asking for professional quality just what is a good quality home printer. thanks.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

The best deal on a printer right now is the Canon Pro-100. It comes with 50 sheets of big paper, ink and a $300 rebate. The net price is $100. If you count the paper and ink, the printer is nearly free. I have one and think the prints are stunning. The only negative comment I've read is that the ink is a little higher priced (per print) than some other printers.

B&H and Adorama are offering it with the rebate coming from Canon in the form of an American Express cash card. The rebate is scheduled to expire at the end of August. It has been extended before.


http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=893738&gclid=Cj0KEQjwmayfBRDo25CR9un4hvEBEiQAv9fBbYQnUJKgBcig_K16BErkhGYsru5Qr6o6rFziIWAbV_8aAmt18P8HAQ&Q=&is=REG&A=details


http://www.adorama.com/ICAPRO100.html?cvosrc=cse.google.ICAPRO100&cvo_cid=38589028051&gclid=Cj0KEQjwmayfBRDo25CR9un4hvEBEiQAv9fBbTUXvBCvLWtHXokT_YpxLgnhyzgJkasZrlf72fhZ8LcaAj8-8P8HAQ

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Interesting price but I read the whole thing as:

Let's hook a client on the 'low printer price' and 'take him to the cleaner' with the ink price.

GeorgeH Loc: Jonesboro, GA

I bought the Pixma Pro 100 from Adorama with the rebate program a few months ago. A brief phone call to American Express and my loaded card became a $300. check mailed to me in only a week or so.

The printer is nice, but big and heavy. The prints are excellent. The offer included 50 sheets of Canon 13 x 19 paper, "list" price around $50.

Ink is expensive; about $125.00 for the eight carts. Check this site http://www.printerknowledge.com/ for user comments on the printer and on reloading the carts. Many on the site use inks and paraphernalia from http://www.precisioncolors.com/index.html I use their inks and the gamut is almost identical to the Canon inks, and PrecisionColors furnishes ICC profiles for a good range of papers.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

For volume or commercial printing, there may be better choices than ink jet prints at home. Before I bought my Pro-100 I did some price checking for single prints at places like Costco, Walgreens and some "custom labs". Depending on what paper you buy and how you buy it, the price of a home ink jet print is competitive.

The question is how much fun or rewarding it can be to make your own prints.

A photo paper company set up 17 printers, printed a huge batch of prints and measured the ink used. The average 8x10 used $.74 in ink. The Pro-100 uses $.88 for the same 8x10 print.

The cheapest in their "study" is the Epson 3800 at $.41, which I think is discontinued. The popular and very highly rated Epson 3880 costs around $1100 and an 8x10 uses between $.45 and $.51 of ink, depending on paper style. The $600 Epson 3000 uses $.78 of ink per print.

I have a limited amount of wall space and only a few relatives that want prints. If I print 100 pictures in a year, the "premium" for the "expensive" Canon ink over the cheapest Epson ink would be less than $40.

And, BTW, it takes some reading and research but it seems that the Canon Pro-100 uses shorter nozzles that require less flushing of ink on start up than many other printers.

If saving money is the most important part, bulk inks and kits are available from a variety or sources. Personally I like the convenience and reliability of the Canon ink for the Canon printer.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

The printer gives fair warning when a cartridge is getting low. When I get the warning, I order one from Amazon with 2 day shipping for about $17. If you buy full sets, you will end up with a lot of spares laying around.

I'm a low volume printer. Only the "good ones" make it to paper. So far, I've not been stopped from printing by lack of ink.

Thombar Loc: Hominy, OK

Thanks for the input!

Spiney Loc: Reading, PA

If you search your local Craigslist you can often find the Canon Pro-printers for $150 or sometimes less. This is for a new unopened box with the pack of B size paper. People got these when they bought a Canon Camera, cut off the proof of purchase to get the rebate and then sell them. I see them often and have thought of picking one up myself to replace my non working HP PRO-B 8190 that HP abandoned us buyers with. Great quality prints from a UN reliable printer. So many problems HP abandoned the Semi-Pro Photo printer market.

I bought mine because you could print either gloss or matte B&W without switching cartridges or purging lines. Something you had to do with Epson at the time. Also the images were awesome. But they broke a lot, even with a 3 year extended warranty and free replacements.

Back to your question, check Craigslist for the Canon printers.

Jim Bob

Not that again. Printers use ink. Ink costs. The OP asked about best quality printer. He didn't ask for best quality printer with the lowest ink cost.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

That is going to be true for any printer under $500 or so.

The Pro-100 is still the best deal at that price point. Long term, it is better to spend more on the printer up front.

philphotog Loc: Perth, Scotland

Hi. For a HOME printer and general dog's body, I feel that Canon has the edge. I currently use a (ageing) MG5250 and it has served me ell with both general document printing and (at the moment) giving me excellen photo printing results. A wee bit on the noisy side but (touch wood) long may it continue to give me excellent results at a competitive price. Dare I say it - and I hope Canon aren't reading this - I am using compatable cartridges from Choice supplies and really, I can't tell the difference in quality. Hope this helps but, remember, these are MY opinions based on what MY printer needs. Regards. Philphotog, Perth, Scotland.

sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

I have an Epson Artisan 837 and think it does a poor job. Nest will be a Canon Pro series. Probably a 100.