HP versus Epson--opinions?

[carta]

I'm looking at buying an inkjet printer to make graphics samples to send to prospective clients (I make maps). The HP960 and Epson C80 are attractive, but... there are some advantages/disadvantages I hope to get your opinion on.

Epson:
• individual ink tanks
• Durabright ink is water-resistant on some papers (but possibly not on envelopes and mailing labels)

HP:
• front-loading paper supplier (fits my space reqm'ts)
• seems sturdier (subjectively based on what I see in high-volume stores)

In theory, individual ink tanks sound like a winner. However, in practice, changing all inks at once means maintenance is done all at the same time.

My Epson 740 constantly misaligns paper and I can't find the OS X utilities in their OS X software to correct things. So I'm leaning toward HP.

Any suggestions, opinions, experiences?

 

[menoinjun]

With the start of the 8 - series printers, Epson started making great quality printers. Here's my recomendation:

Forget the HP or the Epson C80. Get the Epson 820.

Why?:
1. Cheaper. It's only $100.
2. Individial ink tanks mean nothing...it's not any cheaper in the long run.
3. 6 different colors in the 820. 5 colors + one black means more colors to blend, therefore more colors you can get out of a picture.
4. True Black Printing. When printing a color picture that has black in it, the HP will use all of the colors to simulate black, while the Epson actually uses the black ink cartridge for true black and less wasted color.
5. PIM (print image matching) technology. Many digital cameras support PIM, and if you use the Epson and a supported program (epson programs, or photoshop, and others...etc.) to print, you will get EXACTLY the colors that your digital camera took. Printers without this will estimate the right colors, and usually get something wrong.

Trust me, I sell these things every day.

Also...the epson ink for the 820 is $20 color and $25 black, the HP is $30 color and $35 black!!

-Pete

 

[meta-ghost]

Epson's low level of Mac support has me moving back to HP. With my migration to OS X, I had to give away a perfectly good Epson printer due to their refusal to produce a driver for it. Admittedly, HP's Mac support has also slipped lately, but I still find it better.

 

[AlphaTech]

Go for the C80.

I have one of them and can tell you first hand that the quality of the prints is way up there. Compound that with 100% support for OS 9.x and OS X (I am running 10.1.4) and you have a winner. Printing out images onto the photo paper produces truely stunning images. You also can upgrade it to match the C80N model later (that is also something that I did) and network it to BOTH Mac's (OS 9.x and OS X) and peecee's (at the same time too). Setup of the Epson printers is a snap as well. Anyone that can read can set it up.

As for Epson's support of OS X, how many companies are creating drivers for dated hardware for the new OS?? People are saying that about almost all the hardware (printers, scanners...). I had an Epson 880 before I picked up the C80, for the durabright ink and seperate ink cartridges (with memory chips so that you get all the ink from them). I gave the 880 to my mother, and my sister borrowed it to print out her xmas cards last year. They were floored by how fast it was, and the quality (even on plain paper).

As for the footprint of the Epson, I believe it is less then the HP (when not in use) since the HP has fixed trays, where the output tray on the Epson folds up out of the way. The paper in tray is slanted on the back, and only extends out the back a few inches.

Bottom line... get the Epson, and you won't be sorry. Besides the fact that you can network it with a minimum of fuss (can you do that to the hp???).

 

[AlphaTech]

Originally posted by meta-ghost
Epson's low level of Mac support has me moving back to HP. With my migration to OS X, I had to give away a perfectly good Epson printer due to their refusal to produce a driver for it. Admittedly, HP's Mac support has also slipped lately, but I still find it better.

Which Epson model did you have??? How old?? I know that the 880 was 100% supported by Epson for OS X. As is the C80 (the C80, C80N and C80WN) series.

 

[TypeR389]

Originally posted by ptrauber
With the start of the 8 - series printers, Epson started making great quality printers. Here's my recomendation:

Forget the HP or the Epson C80. Get the Epson 820.

Yea, I agree, I went through this a few months back and got the 820, and love it! Yes, there are better printers out there, but I can hold my own with any printer under $250, and the photo quality on photo paper is outstanding! I would like seperate inks, but even with varied photo printing, I never see one of my six color inks being used much less than the others, they are always within 10% of each other. According to the little print util thingy...

 

[carta]

DuraBright inks?

So, with the Epson DuraBright inks, on what papers are they water-resistant? At the store, I got a sample printed on plain stock paper--it was hardly water-resistant.

I was wondering if DuraBright meant you could print mailing labels and envelopes that would survive the typical environment of mail delivery. Anyone try it?

Separate vs. tri-color inks: I really wondered if separates were cost-effective. If ink consumption is fairly even, then once one color goes out, the others will soon follow. But then, you'll have to interrupt the flow of printing in quick succession to replace the other colors, which could be pretty inconvenient.

 

[meta-ghost]

Originally posted by AlphaTech


Which Epson model did you have??? How old?? I know that the 880 was 100% supported by Epson for OS X. As is the C80 (the C80, C80N and C80WN) series.

Had the Stylus Photo (or Photo Stylus) 600. It was only two years old, printed fine but was useless without an OS X driver. They have no intention of producing one.