whats a good A3 PhotoPrinter for my Mac

[costabunny]

As an ex windows user I am used to having the freedom to choose any peripherals I fancy.

I have a HP 2610 that I am happy with (4yrs old now), but I am looking for a nice A3 photo printer. I dont need studio quality, but I would like something better than my 2610. I print my shots mainly for framing and the local photographic society competitions (of which there are many).

Which models would suit me for this? Is there an option that will easily calibrate to suit my MacPro + Dell 3007?

any suggestions would be good as I can read reviews until the cows come home : Only user experience will point me to the shortlist that fits my requirements and budget. (oh thats anything sub £500, that doesnt need extra special care to keep tip-top)

Thanks

 

[costabunny]

Bump - anyone have a suggestion for me please? (pretty please)

 

[sickmacdoc]

OK, here's a couple!

As an ex windows user I am used to having the freedom to choose any peripherals I fancy.

I have a HP 2610 that I am happy with (4yrs old now), but I am looking for a nice A3 photo printer. I dont need studio quality, but I would like something better than my 2610. I print my shots mainly for framing and the local photographic society competitions (of which there are many).

Which models would suit me for this? Is there an option that will easily calibrate to suit my MacPro + Dell 3007?

any suggestions would be good as I can read reviews until the cows come home : Only user experience will point me to the shortlist that fits my requirements and budget. (oh thats anything sub £500, that doesnt need extra special care to keep tip-top)

Thanks

I have 5 printers that I use for various things on my setup and can heartily recommend a couple of A3 printers, both of which fall well within your budget amount (from what the currency converters tell me anyway! ).

First off, my newest printer is an Epson R1900 which is FANTASTIC for photo printing and quite fast on A3 size prints. I will let you look up reviews on it as there are plenty that a google search will find- but you can see the overview on Epson's U.S. site at: http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=63073901
According to XE.com conversion, that is currently about 253 GBP.

Another that I still use after 5 years that does a super job on large format prints (or smaller ones for that matter) is my Canon i9900. It has been discontinued, was replaced by the i9950 then THAT one was discontinued in favor of the newest version, Pixma Pro 9000. While I can't vouch for the newest one, I would feel certain that it is very nice based on my experiences with the i9900, but again some review reading would be in order. You can see an overview at http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/c...&fcategoryid=182&modelid=12892#ModelDetailAct

Converted that one would appear to be 228 GBP with a current instant rebate.

Well, there are a couple of alternatives that would do some great A3 prints that I am sure you would love, particularly on some of the specialty photo papers.

Good luck on picking a new one!

 

[sickmacdoc]

Btw

I can't believe this thread has been viewed 75 times and nobody made any suggestions! Usually getting us to shut up about our personal preferences in peripherals is the hard part!

 

[costabunny]

thanks guys - I needed a feel for the users experience (personally Id choose canon over epson but thats bias based on expereince from the early 90's)

I may now take a goosey at the pixma 9000.

<reviews are great, but you can't beat a bit of real world user comments and advice>

 

[Father Jack]

The Canon Pixma Pro 9500 is certainly worth a serious look. On the down side replacing all 10 ink cartridges is rather expensive.

 

[costabunny]

Is it true that you should run a photo print through the top end units about once a week to prevent head dry-ups ?

 

[mogzieee]

First off, my newest printer is an Epson R1900 which is FANTASTIC for photo printing and quite fast on A3 size prints. I will let you look up reviews on it as there are plenty that a google search will find- but you can see the overview on Epson's U.S. site at: http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=63073901
According to XE.com conversion, that is currently about 253 GBP.

Geese. It may be that cheap through conversion, but in the UK the printer is being sold for £398.99. Ouch. About £150 more than in the US.

Heres the link to the UK page: http://www.epson.co.uk/printers/ultrachrome_professional_printers/Epson_Stylus_Photo_R1900_printer.htm

 

[Father Jack]

In answer to costabunny:

Certainly wouldn't do any harm. Quite often you find the higher the resolution the more chance of nozzles blocking up with infrequent use.
In the past I found Epson photo printers suffer from blocked nozzles more than most. This was why I changed to Canon.

 

[costabunny]

Geese. It may be that cheap through conversion, but in the UK the printer is being sold for £398.99. Ouch. About £150 more than in the US.

Heres the link to the UK page: http://www.epson.co.uk/printers/ult...printers/Epson_Stylus_Photo_R1900_printer.htm

Yep thats normal - Us brits suffer all the time (I see something in $US and generally I guess I just need to swap the $ for a £ to do the conversion )

I have found a 9500 for £470 and the 9000 for £360 and I think the 9000 looks a better choice for now (we'll see...)

 

[sickmacdoc]

Yep thats normal - Us brits suffer all the time (I see something in $US and generally I guess I just need to swap the $ for a £ to do the conversion )

I have found a 9500 for £470 and the 9000 for £360 and I think the 9000 looks a better choice for now (we'll see...)

OUCH!! Sorry to have mislead you on that then! I was ignorant of that little factoid and just translating it literally!