clixpix wrote:
Hi Folks:
My HP Officejet 5200 series printer has bitten the dust and I need to get another printer. Many here have suggested the Eco Tank printers from Epson. I am interested your collective thoughts as to which model I should consider. I print some photos and other colored objects along with the general b&w stuff. As others have suggested the cost of ink is going out of sight and the eco tank system may be a good, less expensive, option. Any thoughts, model numbers and why would be appreciated. Thanks in advance for the forthcoming information.
Regards====Joe
Hi Folks: br br My HP Officejet 5200 series print... (
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Epson makes two EcoTank printers for photo printing. The ET-8500 prints up to 8.5x11 inches, and the ET-8550 prints up to 13x19 inches. Both are six-color dye ink printers using Claria inks that come in bottles.
The key to printing with these "borderless" printers is to NEVER print borderless. While they WILL print borderless prints, doing so oversprays ink inside the printer, and that ink gets on the rollers and other guide parts, then transfers to subsequent prints. So long as you print on paper larger than the image dimensions, overspray cannot occur, and is not a problem!
The keys to successful home inkjet printing are:
> Print frequently... Make at least one 8x10 photo print per week to keep your heads clog free. Ink dries out within six months of opening it. New, unopened ink lasts about two years in the bottle. So don't buy a home printer if you won't use it!
> Don't expect a home printer to save you money. That is NOT the reason you buy a home printer.
You buy a home printer for these reasons:
> You're a control freak when it comes to color. You bought a decent monitor designed for graphics and photography. You calibrate it monthly with a kit from Datacolor or Calibrite or X-Rite. You use downloadable profiles for all the photo papers you buy. You don't buy third party inks.
> You need something immediately. Inkjets are great when time is a concern.
> You need privacy, because you print sensitive material. (Nudes, surveillance, forensic investigative images, corporate secret projects, etc.)
> You make BIG prints frequently. The economics of making large prints are in favor of inkjets, once you reach 24x36 inch poster size or larger.
> You need to make odd-sized prints for scrapbook projects, presentations, etc.
> You want to print on special surfaces such as art board, canvas, archival rag papers, baryta photo paper, "lab grade" photo paper, etc.
> You want better print longevity than you get with silver halide chromogenic lab prints. The dyes in traditional color photo papers from Kodak, Fujifilm, etc. fade faster than just about any other process except cheap third-party office inkjet printer inks.
All that said, I don't recommend using photo printers for general office correspondence and such. I don't recommend using office printers for photos, either, although you can get "acceptable" results with them if you use OEM ink and OEM photo papers, and play by the rules of good color management. Quality goes out the window when you start to "cheap out" on supplies, or you don't take the time to learn about color management.