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fox10078

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 6, 2009
467
86
Hello, I'm looking for a high-quality large format printer. Any suggestions?

Thanks :cool:
 

puttputt

macrumors regular
Sep 12, 2006
153
48
Michigan
Epson printers are great. Reliable. But your decision depends on what you will print. fine art? outdoor banners?
 

CW Jones

macrumors 6502
Nov 24, 2009
301
0
CT
I use an Epson Workforce 1100 with Cobra Ink pigment CISS installed from Cobra. I really do love it. Went with the 50ml tanks and got a full set up their 100+ml refill bottles. Quality wise its good and I am happy with it. The cobra system installed and filled by them is WELL worth the money, no need to run the lines yourself, or fill and bleed the tanks.
 

mlblacy

macrumors 6502a
Sep 23, 2006
524
40
the REAL Jersey Shore
Go canon... For tabloid printing at least

a photographer friend and I have a running debate on Epson vs Canon, and we have had both. I recently replaced my large format Epson for a Cannon Pro 9000 Mark II. I paid around $300 (there were some sales and a $100 rebate), although you can find some steals on EBay for mint never unboxed ones (there were some offers that have away the printer with the purchase of a certain camera back). I think I dropped around $800 for my previous Epson...

The 9000 is blazing fast, especially when compared to most Epsons which are notoriously poky. I can print a 13x19 in about 5 minutes, whereas my Epson took easily five times longer. The Epson seemed to chew through ink even when not printing... Startups, preprinting, calibration, head cleanings... But even that didn't stop the continual head cloggings. Pigment ink just tends to dry out and clog a lot more.... Especially if you are not running it every day. I had only had a job every other month, often I had to replace the cartridges... Making the per print price pretty darn expensive. It produced beautiful prints, but I also had to swap black cartridges depending on if I was printing on matte or glossy papers... Pretty lame.

The canon can go borderless at 13x19. It does drink ink at a frightening rate, but at least it does that whle printing, lol. Buy ink at Amazon, get it on a delivery schedule and you will save even more. I pay about half what it costs at staples for ink.

Need a real large format printer? Then I would probably say go Epson...
Cheers,
Michael
 
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