Which photo printer?

GetBusyLiving

GetBusyLiving

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Caroline
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I have a printer, it is a Canon IP 28xx. It prints documents, it can print in colour using a tri-colour combined cartridge with a separate black one. Even after not using it for months, it sets itself up for use within a minute. It can print photographs, but only up to 6 x 4 apparently, but I only use it for documents and it makes a damn good job of that.

I'd quit like an A4 photographic printer but looking around they seem like big hunks of plastic and metal with a giant footprint. What I want is as follows:

It should be quite small.
It should not take eons to start up because I'll often want to turn it on to print just one letter.
It must print A4 photographs on glossy photo paper to a reasonable standard.
I don't mind expensive cartridges but they have to last and not chuck most of their ink into a dump while taking ten minutes to clean themselves (probably throws out Epson).
I don't want it to be a FAX machine (who uses them anymore?!) or a scanner.
It should be WIFI but that's not a deal-breaker.

Am I being unreasonable? Do printers like this exist?
 
You might want to look into the Epson EcoTank printers - they are a bit more expensive initially, but the savings on ink are huge, and they don't seem to mind sitting unused for a week or two.
They are multifunction devices (IE also Copiers and scanners), but it's a bit like having video on your camera, it doesn't actually cost you anything, as it's cheaper to make a single combined model than to have a lower sales volume option without the feature.
We have the ET-3850 as the general family colour printer (but also used by my wife to print out handouts for her work, which could be 20 copies of a 30 page document) and have been very pleased with it.
I've not tried it for photos (as I have an A3+ photo printer), but when other similar questions get asked I've seen comments by people with EcoTanks that say the photo quality is good - hopefully someone will comment who has used one for that.
 
Purely FWIW
I bought my ET-8550 a few years back with aim of printing more photos but to date have not done as many as I thought I would.

It is oh so frugal on ink and is also use as a general household printer plus the scanner has come in useful.

On Epson papers and even some old Canon gloss papers it is very good

It is WiFi only used and sometimes the first print takes a few moments to come out even though it is in 'standby' mode.

PS and lastly covered by any other answers......what is your budget?
 
I have an Epson XP-970 that would meet all your needs including a 6 colour set of cartridges
 
realspeed said:
I have an Epson XP-970 that would meet all your needs including a 6 colour set of cartridges
Click to expand...
Too big, it's an A3 printer. I used to have an Epson 3000 A3+ printer but it took so long to start up after a period of downtime, that by the time it was ready, I'd almost forgotten why I switched it on.
 
Box Brownie said:
PS and lastly covered by any other answers......what is your budget?
Click to expand...
Pretty open about that. TBH, it's the physical size that's high on the list of requirements, I just don't want a massive block of plastic sitting around. Not trying to compare apples with oranges but my current document colour printer can be picked up with one hand. I am expecting a photo printer to be somewhat larger but I have limits as to space.
 
GetBusyLiving said:
Pretty open about that. TBH, it's the physical size that's high on the list of requirements, I just don't want a massive block of plastic sitting around. Not trying to compare apples with oranges but my current document colour printer can be picked up with one hand. I am expecting a photo printer to be somewhat larger but I have limits as to space.
Click to expand...
Yes, my ET-8550 is the A3+ size printer but they do have its smaller brother the ET-8500 A4
AFAIK it is still a relatively bulky printer i.e. two handed lift and positioning sort of weight.

So, in regard to weight and size and granted it was an ink drinker on even XXL carts I would say my old and sold Canon TS8250 (no doubt superceded a few models over since then) worked well and printed decent record photos.

NB I only ever used Canon inks in that and typically bought extras when on offer. IIRC I spent approx £150 to £200 per year on inks.
On my Epson, full set of inks when on Epson discount offer costs approx £80 an that last over 2 years at my current level of printing.

All the best with your decision and what you end up buying:)
 
Do you expect to make many photo prints and what will they be used for?
 
I have the Epson ET-2951, bought it a couple of weeks ago to replace a HP Cartridge printer that was 10 years old, I was on the Ink subscription system but they keep putting the prices up. So I bought the tank printer, it is only 3 colours but has a smaller footprint than the HP Printer/scanner it replaced, and not to heavy. It is only the base model, but comes with a duplexer for a4 printing. I have used photo paper A4 & 10x15 to print photos and It does what I need. It is fine for run of the mill printing.
 
GetBusyLiving said:
Too big, it's an A3 printer. I used to have an Epson 3000 A3+ printer but it took so long to start up after a period of downtime, that by the time it was ready, I'd almost forgotten why I switched it on.
Click to expand...
wrong it is the same size as an A4 printer 18" wide and 14"deep and 15" high


A4 paper on top to show actual size , but can print up to A3 size Epson XP-970

a4.jpg
 
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I'm another Epson eco tank 8550 user and yes, it's not what you want size-wise but assuming that their A4 eco tank printers are similar the savings on ink are phenomenal and the quality of photo prints have won me a few awards at my local clip, and I'd say it's one of the best purchases I've ever made to do with photography.
 
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