Best Inkjet/Photo Printer for the money?

wolfeye155wolfeye155
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Hi all what's up? I just bought an HP LaserJet 1200se for my new PowerMac and I have to say that it's the best laser printer I could find for $400. It was a real pain in the ass to find to!



Now that I have a good laser for text, I'd like to get a very nice color printer for PhotoShop work. The most that I want to spend is $400 and I'm partial to brands like HP, Canon, Epson, and Brother but if there is another good alternative please tell me. The printers that I'm looking at now are:

<a href="http://consumer.usa.canon.com/printers/s750/index.html"; target="_blank">Canon S750</a>

<a href="http://consumer.usa.canon.com/printers/s900/index.html"; target="_blank">Canon S900</a>

<a href="http://products.hp-at-home.com/products/detail.php?id=C6431B&j=1"; target="_blank">HP DeskJet 940c</a>

<a href="http://products.hp-at-home.com/products/detail.php?id=C8925A&j=1"; target="_blank">HP DeskJet 995c</a>

<a href="http://products.hp-at-home.com/products/detail.php?id=C2695A&j=0"; target="_blank">HP DeskJet 1200cse</a>

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    nijiniji Posts: 288member
    hp 990 series is the best.

    it is one of the few that you will not have trouble with in os x, either.
  • Reply 2 of 12
    mac's girlmac's girl Posts: 556member
    i just bought the 960...it's the same exact thing, but the 990 has bluetooth! both have OS X drivers. (make sure whatever you buy has OS X support...just check on the company's website to see the latest driver info.) just dont expect any of the "free programs" that come with HP printers to work on your mac. the main reason i chose HP over epson this time was because i needed better text quality. but you already have a laser, so just find yourself a good photo printer. the epsons are a little noisy but excellent. i've never used canon.
  • Reply 3 of 12
    wolfeye155wolfeye155 Posts: 425member
    Thanks for the replies! The HP 940c is probably what I'd go for if I were to buy an HP because the 9** series is pretty much the same except the higher you get, the faster they print. I was looking at the Epson C80 but I got discouraged after reading some reviews. I'd like to have a printer that prints out images that are photo quality like going to a store and getting real prints. If the HP can do that very nicely then it would be great. The guy at Best Buy told me that Canon printers usually have the best image quality so I'm also kind of leaning towards the S750 or S900. Does anyone have any personal experience with those printers?
  • Reply 4 of 12
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,425member
    [quote]Originally posted by wolfeye155:

    <strong>&lt;snip&gt; The guy at Best Buy told me that Canon printers usually have the best image quality so I'm also kind of leaning towards the S750 or S900. Does anyone have any personal experience with those printers?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    &lt;shudder&gt; while cannon does have nice printers I'd temper the recommendations from a Best Buy employee. Bring in a camera or your media and do some actual prints if they let you. If you're going to drop 400.00 U might as well walk out the door convinced that you bought the perfect printer for your needs.
  • Reply 5 of 12
    wolfeye155wolfeye155 Posts: 425member
    <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" /> <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" /> <img src="graemlins/lol.gif" border="0" alt="[Laughing]" /> Yes I'd have to agree on that. When I put that in the post I thought the same thing. I will try to see if they'll let me do some print samples on it but when I went they didn't have it hooked up to anything.
  • Reply 6 of 12
    solosolo Posts: 89member
    I got the Epson 1280 and boy is this this spectacular! If you buy some of that glossy paper and print out a photo it looks just as good if not better than when you send you digital photos into some shop to do it. It has 2 cartridges for black and color printing and had OS X drivers. It is a little on the pricey side but go check out the reviews at cnet and you will see what I am talking about.
  • Reply 7 of 12
    steve666steve666 Posts: 2,600member
    [quote]Originally posted by wolfeye155:

    <strong>Thanks for the replies! The HP 940c is probably what I'd go for if I were to buy an HP because the 9** series is pretty much the same except the higher you get, the faster they print. I was looking at the Epson C80 but I got discouraged after reading some reviews. I'd like to have a printer that prints out images that are photo quality like going to a store and getting real prints. If the HP can do that very nicely then it would be great. The guy at Best Buy told me that Canon printers usually have the best image quality so I'm also kind of leaning towards the S750 or S900. Does anyone have any personal experience with those printers?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    The canon image quality is no greater than the HP-they both have 1200x2400 resolution and the HP, due to their technology has better gray scale images, better text and less graininess. The Canon, however, has seperate ink tanks which will save you money. However, you will have to replace the printhead at some time and with the HPs you never have to.



    The HP to get is the 960 because the black ink tank in the 960 has almost twice the ink that the 940 does. It also prints text better because of that better cartridge.



    I would get the HP personally...........................
  • Reply 8 of 12
    wolfeye155wolfeye155 Posts: 425member
    Interesting. I'm really looking for the best image quality though because I already have a laser for text. I'll take a look at that Espon.
  • Reply 9 of 12
    neutrino23neutrino23 Posts: 1,562member
    If you look back at some of the MacWorld reviews I think you'll find that Epson generally had the best photo-images among ink jet printers. We have several wide format Epson printers and are quite happy with them but I haven't compared them to others lately.



    We recently just purchased a PM-4000 from Epson (sold only in Japan). It uses a new pigment based dye. We haven't had a chance to really test it out yet.
  • Reply 10 of 12
    mac's girlmac's girl Posts: 556member
    [quote]Originally posted by wolfeye155:

    <strong>Thanks for the replies! The HP 940c is probably what I'd go for if I were to buy an HP because the 9** series is pretty much the same except the higher you get, the faster they print. I was looking at the Epson C80 but I got discouraged after reading some reviews. I'd like to have a printer that prints out images that are photo quality like going to a store and getting real prints. If the HP can do that very nicely then it would be great. The guy at Best Buy told me that Canon printers usually have the best image quality so I'm also kind of leaning towards the S750 or S900. Does anyone have any personal experience with those printers?</strong><hr></blockquote>



    dont buy the hp 940, go with at least 960. besides, if you buy the 960 or 990, you can get a $50 plus a $25 (total $75) rebate from HP. check their website for the form. to qualify, you had to have bought a new computer before april 15th. even an imac qualifies or any apple computer qualifies. it's a really good deal. and with stores giving away gift cards, i got my $200 hp 960 printer for $50 after all the rebates.



    i thought the epsons were always really good at photos. they totally suck at text. dont get the c80, instead get the photo whatever number theyre on. the c80 tries to be an all-around printer, but you dont need that.
  • Reply 11 of 12
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,425member
    [quote] i thought the epsons were always really good at photos. they totally suck at text. dont get the c80, instead get the photo whatever number theyre on. the c80 tries to be an all-around printer, but you dont need that.



    <hr></blockquote>



    That probably goes for all inkjets. HP's are better but that means that they just suck less at text than Epson. Injkets that market "laser quality" or "razor sharp text" are deluding themselves and their users. Like wolfeye155 I'm looking for a combination of Laser Printer and Photo Inkjet. Rarely to I find that I need great text and great Photo printing on the same page.
  • Reply 12 of 12
    barvowbarvow Posts: 64member
    I disagree about the Epson C80. It's not the greatest at text, but it's better than previous low-priced Epsons at text. However, the strength of the printer is its color output. I have had several Epson Photo printers, costing MUCH more, and I was still shocked at the photo output of the C80 that sells for $179. I'm wondering what reviews you read that put you off of it, because I've read some very good ones. Still, my recommendation comes from using it.



    Go try all the printers out in person. If you're really looking to use the printer for Photoshop work, I assume you're looking to use the highest quality settings on the best papers. Don't base your decision on a plain-paper printout like you might see lying around the printers in a store. The difference between a plain-paper sample and a glossy photo paper can be amazing, so ask to see a sample printed out the way you would be using the machine.



    [ 04-08-2002: Message edited by: Barvow ]</p>
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