RICHARD46 Loc: New Jersey

Brother makes a photo printer? I always thought
They were an office printer not for photos

aggiedad Loc: Corona, ca

Elliott, please post your source for $6 Canon ink. I think many of us Canonistas would benefit greatly.

NJphotodoc Loc: Now in the First State

The 4420DW is considered an office machine, but the quality of the photo prints is quite good. It is certainly as good as Costco/Walgreen's prints and unless I'm doing anything bigger than 5X7 (maybe 8x10), then it certainly does the job.

Flyerace Loc: Mt Pleasant, WI

I just purchased the Epson ET-2550 (eco-tank) printer. ($300) There aren't any cartridges, just ink tanks. Each color (4) has a bottle of ink that gets emptied into the tank. The original amount given with the printer completely filled the ink tanks. (Actually, just above the "full" mark) You then let the printer bleed the ink to the print head. It was still over the "full" mark. I printed 6- 4X6" prints and the ink didn't even show that I did anything. The print is brilliant and clean. So far, I love it. If you have to print something from the internet, like a recipe or an email, it just flies through the printer. The cost of the ink is pretty cheap, just $12 per bottle. Cheaper than buying HP cartridges from ANY source. Just informational. Anyone looking to make a change, should do their homework.

cambriaman Loc: Central CA Coast

I gave up on HP years ago for the same reason you complain about. Ink hogs! I had a nice Epson for a while and found good results but had some profile issues. I bought a point and shoot Canon Power Shot camera for my wife and it came with a free Canon ink jet printer. I have been a satisfied Canon printer user ever since. I have both a Pixma iP7200 and a Pro9500Mark II. They both produce identical color prints that look just like my calibrated iMac 27 screen. Of course I went thru the Spyder calibration of screen and printers to get that but I never worry about if my prints will be good. I buy my ink from BHPhoto usually in combo packs or the extra large ink tank versions. I don't complain about ink costs. Costco is a great source for multiple prints, great prices, consistent quality but for one-offs up to 13 by 19, it's at home with Canon for me.

Gerald Watson

Try HP ink program the cost is 9.99 per month for rirst 300 pages then 1.00 for each 25 pages used. The ink is sent to you before you run out. It is much cheeper.

daf40 Loc: Mesa, AZ

I used an HP All-in-One for several years and was satisfied with the results. However, when I logged my prints and copies and calculated my total ink and paper cost, I found that it was cheaper (but not nearly as convenient) to have prints made by Costco than to print them myself. I didn't notice much difference in print quality. I eventually replaced the HP with a Canon MX922 printer. Love the Canon, but in two months' time, my ink costs have exceeded the cost of the printer! I have been frightened out of buying cheaper ink, but I'm beginning to seriously consider it, and would love to hear more comments about saving money on ink cartridges.

stan0301 Loc: Colorado

What you have to do is learn how (in my case) Sam's club prints--and adjust your image before you send it--properly done (Sam's doesn't buy cheap printers) I can't tell their print from one costing several times as much from my "pro" lab
Stan

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Unless you make prints larger than 5x7, or you require exacting color control, or maximum archival print life, or confidentiality, or VERY LARGE prints, or the ability to print on a wide range of substrates, inkjet printing is not the most economical choice. A good pro lab can be a much less expensive choice. Tony Northrup recently sent the same image to ten different labs, and he and Chelsea reviewed the prints in a YouTube video.

Personally, I like mPix, Millers, WHCC, Bay Photo, MasterColor, and United Promotions.

If you decide you want another inkjet, look at the PHOTO printer options from Canon and Epson. Know that the more you spend on the printer, the bigger the ink tanks get. The bigger the tanks, the less expensive the ink is per ounce. Know also that HP's primary niche is business printing. I've followed printers and printing for 20 years, and have never known them to make a photo printer that I liked. Epson's niche is two-fold: home and business document scanning and printing at the low end, and photo scanning and printing as a separate market. Canon's is primarily photo printing.

photoman022 Loc: Manchester CT USA

I usually print 11x14, sometimes 8x10, and some, sometimes 4x6 (when my wife wants photo of our grandson on the refrigerator); I use COSTCO and an extremely happy with the results. The price (for 11x14) is unbeatable; the quality is remarkable. Last week one of the prints came out incomplete (the paper jammed in the printer); they quickly reprinted the offending print (plus another one) and gave me 5 additional prints of each "for your inconvenience." My only advice is to let them autocorrect the print (especially for light/dark) unless your monitor is calibrated to the proper lightness/darkness.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Whether you print your own, or use a lab, two things can ensure optimal results:

1) Calibrate your monitor using a colorimeter and software solution (Datacolor and XRITE are the two biggest names in that field)
2) Get the ICC profiles for the lab or the paper and printer you are using, and enable them for "soft proofing" in your software.

Doing those two things will allow you to see on your monitor an image that will be reproduced very similarly on your printer or by your lab.

djfkeefe

I use the Kodak machine at CVS for anything more than 1 or 2 photos....pics slightly sharper than those from my Photosmart 8250, and the systme is very much faster if printing out any more than that. I select the ones I want at home on my computer, edit them, export them to a thumb drive which I take to the CVS, and there print them out. Bonus: the machine never runs out of paper or a single ink cartridge in the middle of a printing session. Probably more expensive than doing them all on the 8250, but it works for me. Incidentally, the Kodak/CVS machine can do up to 8x10s...Rite Aid has a similar service..I think both have some sort of phone ahead service for photos, but I've never tried it.

mdfenton

Costco fills cartridges for reasonable prices. Otherwise, unless you are REALLY SERIOUS about printing and want to spend the money, give it up. Use Costco.

NJphotodoc Loc: Now in the First State

If you do have Costco do a refill, make sure they thoroughly clean you old cartridge (clogged nozzles!). You can also go to Cartridge World. They do a good job on their refills. Plus if there is a problem, you can go back for an exchange without having to mail it back and wait.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

Consumers Report show the Epsons that they tested used slightly more ink for printing but ultimately save one lots of money because they used less ink to clean the print head. HP will use more ink than an Epson just because of cleaning the print head.