Photo printer suggestions: My Epson stylus 1400 just died. I've had it for about 10 years with no problems. I've been looking and reading reviews and I'm looking at the Epson Artisan...

saparoo Loc: Atlanta, GA

My Epson stylus 1400 just died. I've had it for about 10 years with no problems. I've been looking and reading reviews and I'm looking at the Epson Artisan 1430, which is the upgrade to the 1400. It has pretty good reviews but one problem is with thicker paper. Anyone use this printer? I'm also looking at the Epson surecolor 400. This is more expensive and has some clogging issues. Any recommendations? Want to stay with Epson.
Thanks, Sylvia

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

Sylvia - you might try posing your question among friends in the UHH "Printers and Color Printing" forum which you can access by selecting "All Sections" at the bottom of this page. Knowledgeable folks there will be glad to offer experienced input and practical suggestions. /Ralph

daveptt

Go for the Epson Artisan 1430, it uses pigment ink, which is expensive but well worth it if you want exhibition quality prints that will not fade, I have an Epson Stylus photo R2000 it is from the same stable and print my exhibition and for sale work on it. you will be amazed at the improvement in quality of your output

WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

If you don't have a firm attachment to Epson you might want to look at the Canon Pixma Pro 100 which is an 8 cart printer that many of us here at UHH have. good price also. Under $100 if you include the rebate and the $45.00 worth of paper you get with it.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/893738-REG/Canon_6228b002_Pixma_Pro_100_Photo_Inkjet.html

saparoo Loc: Atlanta, GA

rjaywallace wrote:

Sylvia - you might try posing your question among friends in the UHH "Printers and Color Printing" forum which you can access by selecting "All Sections" at the bottom of this page. Knowledgeable folks there will be glad to offer experienced input and practical suggestions. /Ralph

Thanks rjaywallace, I didn't realize there was a forum of that title. I will look it up and ask there. Thanks for the suggestion.

The Watcher

daveptt wrote:

Go for the Epson Artisan 1430, it uses pigment ink, which is expensive but well worth it if you want exhibition quality prints that will not fade, I have an Epson Stylus photo R2000 it is from the same stable and print my exhibition and for sale work on it. you will be amazed at the improvement in quality of your output

The 1430 uses the same ink as the 1400, Epson Claria dye ink.

The best photo printer deal out there is the Canon Pro 100, it also uses dye ink.

The Epson P400 uses pigment ink, if you don't print often you could experience some clogging problems.

I have three photo printers, Two Epson and a Canon Pro 100, they are always turned on. When the printers are idle, I will make test prints the size of postage stamps every other day to keep the inks flowing.

The Canon printer has a internal timer that counts the hours between printing. If sixty hours have passed, the printer will do a ink purge before making another print. The longer the Canon sets idle, larger the purge.

saparoo Loc: Atlanta, GA

The Watcher wrote:

The 1430 uses the same ink as the 1400, Epson Clar... (show quote)

Thanks Watcher for the info. I think I'm going to go with the 1430. It does use the same ink my 1400 used and I got beautiful prints with it. I have always used Epson and since these two use the same cartridges, and I have ink left over, guess that helps with the decision. Thanks again for the help....

Erik_H Loc: Denham Springs, Louisiana

saparoo wrote:

My Epson stylus 1400 just died. I've had it for about 10 years with no problems. I've been looking and reading reviews and I'm looking at the Epson Artisan 1430, which is the upgrade to the 1400. It has pretty good reviews but one problem is with thicker paper. Anyone use this printer? I'm also looking at the Epson surecolor 400. This is more expensive and has some clogging issues. Any recommendations? Want to stay with Epson.
Thanks, Sylvia

Sylvia,
I have the Artisan 1430 and I can tell you that it's a great printer. Our house flooded last year and I put it in the attic before we evacuated. It sat there for six months in the Louisiana summertime heat and humidity, not to mention all the dust created when we rebuilt the house. I took it down a couple of months ago, blew the dust out of it, ran the head cleaning cycle once and it prints like brand new.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

Did anyone answer the question about thick paper?

Bill_de Loc: US

I've had a SureColor P800 for a while with no issues. It handles thicker paper really well.

--

Erik_H Loc: Denham Springs, Louisiana

BHC wrote:

Did anyone answer the question about thick paper?

I knew I was forgetting something 😀
I've printed on Epson premium matt paper, which is 27lb, 4.9 mil with no problem. Also on card stock and Avery business card stock.

The Watcher

saparoo wrote:

My Epson stylus 1400 just died. I've had it for about 10 years with no problems. I've been looking and reading reviews and I'm looking at the Epson Artisan 1430, which is the upgrade to the 1400. It has pretty good reviews but one problem is with thicker paper. Anyone use this printer? I'm also looking at the Epson surecolor 400. This is more expensive and has some clogging issues. Any recommendations? Want to stay with Epson.
Thanks, Sylvia

Since you are in Atlanta, I decided to do a Craigslist search for printers in your area. Below is what I think are worthy of consideration. Even knowing that you want to stay with Epson printers, I decided to throw in the Canon Pro 100. This is where I found my mine, new unopened box with the 13x19 paper, $150. Another thing to consider with the Pro 100 is the rear paper slot that allows you to print on thicker paper. You only need six inches of clearance behind the printer. The rear slot is required when printing on 13x19 paper. Another thought is buying Canon ink. If you buy it through Canon, they throw in free paper, all postage free. Also Epson paper works just fine in the Canon by using the Canon profile that is similar to the Epson paper.
As for the Epson printers on the list, I think you could save some money by purchasing one.

https://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/ele/6204946991.html

https://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/sys/6176583390.html

https://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/for/6212071325.html

https://atlanta.craigslist.org/sat/ele/6168490789.html

https://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/ele/6159107045.html

ygelman Loc: new -- North of Poughkeepsie!

The Watcher wrote:

. . . When the printers are idle, I will make test prints the size of postage stamps every other day to keep the inks flowing.

The Canon printer has a internal timer that counts the hours between printing. If sixty hours have passed, the printer will do a ink purge before making another print. The longer the Canon sets idle, larger the purge.

This is interesting.
Which uses less ink, printing a "postage stamp" or purging?

lsimpkins Loc: SE Pennsylvania

saparoo wrote:

My Epson stylus 1400 just died. I've had it for about 10 years with no problems. I've been looking and reading reviews and I'm looking at the Epson Artisan 1430, which is the upgrade to the 1400. It has pretty good reviews but one problem is with thicker paper. Anyone use this printer? I'm also looking at the Epson surecolor 400. This is more expensive and has some clogging issues. Any recommendations? Want to stay with Epson.
Thanks, Sylvia

I've had a 1430 since shortly after they were introduced. I always use Epson ink and for photo prints Epson papers (mostly Ultra Premium glossy) without any issues. I agree with Erik that it produces great prints. While I have had no clogging issues, I did have a failure of the WiFi connection, forcing me to use USB. I would buy it again in a minute, but I do wish ink was less expensive. Various Epson papers are readily available on Amazon for good prices.

The Watcher

ygelman wrote:

This is interesting.
Which uses less ink, printing a "postage stamp" or purging?

The purge uses more ink and on the Canon pro printers, after each sixty hours of idleness the printer does a larger purge. From what I've read, even if you unplug the canon printer it continues to record the down time.

I also leave my printers turned on to avoid the ink wasting startup purge.

On a Pro 100 that's always on, it's easy to know when the sixty hours have passed. You give it the command to print and it will first do an ink purge and then go into it's startup moves, one of which is smearing ink and cleaning the print head face. This can take several minutes. Print within the sixty hours and the printer goes into it's startup moves and prints within a minute.