older inkjet printing

[RodgerThePhotographer]

Looking for an older (5 year old ?) inkjet printer. I don't even need to use original inks, I just need to be able to print up to an 11X17 size on nothing special paper. Probably only use it to print 1 image once a week.
Any recommendations as for quality and longevity?
Many Thanks,
Rodger

[Tin Can]

All printers suck...ink and money, if you want cheap, print online at Costco.





Looking for an older (5 year old ?) inkjet printer. I don't even need to use original inks, I just need to be able to print up to an 11X17 size on nothing special paper. Probably only use it to print 1 image once a week.
Any recommendations as for quality and longevity?
Many Thanks,
Rodger

[Dave Gesell]

Good, cheap older printers are often easy to find for very good prices. Last year I acquired two Epson Stylus Photo 2200's (10+ years since they were introduced), and about eight complete colour ink sets in trade for a bottle of Glenfiddich scotch and a bag of chips. I've set up one to do B&W exclusively. Deals can be found, but be prepared to invest some time cleaning them. For example, one of the 2200's was good to go after a few self cleaning operations, the other needed a week plus of repeated manual cleanings of the print head with strips of shop towel wetted with carpet cleaner.

Good luck hunting.

[Brian Ellis]

The Epson 3800 is more than five years old and is better IMHO than the comparable earlier Epson printers such as the 2200 (which I owned) and the 2400. I don't know the used prices but about $300 maybe. If that isn't feasible then with all due respect to Dave above I'd get the Epson 2400 rather than the 2200. I don't remember the details, I'm sure you can find them on line, but IIRC the 2400 was a significant improvement over the 2200 in some long-forgotten respects. There probably are other, less expensive printers that would do a good job but I've only used the 1160, 1280, 2200, and 3800.

I've used Costco for several 20x30 prints and they did a surprisingly good job for something like $10 (surprising because the cost was so low compared to more typical labs). But I want my own printer right on my desk so I can edit and change as I go along, experiment freely, print at midnight if I want, and in general control everything myself. Also, Costco limits you to one or two types of papers, with your own printer you can try as many as you like.

[RodgerThePhotographer]

One thing I enjoy the most around here...ask a simple question and get a trove of information. It really is quite nice.
Looks like I need to find the 1160. I need an inkjet, not dye, and the A3 max size of the 1160 might just be perfect. The newer inks won't work for this process, I should have stated something like 10+ years or older! :cool:
Thanks Everyone!
Rodger

[Brian Ellis]

One thing I enjoy the most around here...ask a simple question and get a trove of information. It really is quite nice.
Looks like I need to find the 1160. I need an inkjet, not dye, and the A3 max size of the 1160 might just be perfect. The newer inks won't work for this process, I should have stated something like 10+ years or older! :cool:
Thanks Everyone!
Rodger

An 1160? That was my first Epson printer. I'm not sure you can even find one today but even if you can I don't think I'd want a printer that old. My wife still uses my old 1280 so it's lasted a long time but the 1160 that preceded the 1280 went to the junk yard a long time ago.

[Nathan Potter]

Does anyone know what kind of ink Costco uses for their printing service. Dye or pigment? What printers? The results I've seen seem decent to fair.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[photobymike]

I love Epson printers ...i have a closet full of them...... i also have a 4800 forsale pigment printer but can be converted.....but it weighs about 80 lbs... so hard to ship

[Greg Miller]

Also be prepared to invest in a custom printer profile for each paper that you use. The aren't very expensive and will save you money in the long run v.s. wasting paper/ink on prints that don't look correct). Also, there is a psychological advantage in knowing that you are working with apples to apples (printer vs. monitor (assuming your monitor is properly calibrated and profiled too).

[Lenny Eiger]

This idea scares me. There are two issues. The obvious one is that sometimes, with whatever ink you use, the heads clog up. Some of the time - for good. Replacing a head would cost more than the machine. I wouldn't suggest a machine with plastic parts, I'd probably got with a 4800 or 7500/7600.

The other issue is time. Those of us who have used 1160's for example, can tell you it took many minutes for a print to come out... way too long for any sense of comfort.

The final issue is that you only want to print once a week.... If you do, the heads will clog. You need to run a cleaning cycle in between.... every couple of days.

You might do better in terms of saving money with going with refillable carts and ink from Jon Cone (inkjetmall.com). The difference in buying ink in 4 oz bottles vs the highway robbery of those carts, is considerable. It might take a little to get those savings at the very start.... but you will. I buy the ink in liter bottles these days... Huge difference in price.

Good luck,

Lenny

[Peter Gomena]

I own an Epson 2200. It was second-hand when I got it, hadn't been used in a couple of years. I put new ink cartridges in it, ran a couple of cleaning cycles and it has worked perfectly for me for about 18 months now. I frequently use the Quadtone Rip for b&w printing and am very pleased with the results. A couple of days ago, I helped a friend sort out some printing problems with his Epson 3800. We ran a couple of QTR samples. I was amazed by the quality. It's not just a "sharpness" but a "fineness" (resolution, I suppose) that is superior to my 2200. Dang it. I'm going to have to upgrade one of these days.

[sanking]

Older Epson printers like the 2200 and 3800 make great monochrome prints if you use QTR and a an all gray ink set like Eboni-6 or Cone K7. Really no comparison in print quality in my opinion compared to monochrome printing with the Epson color ink set. The difference in print quality is clearly visible in finer grain and detail in the upper mid-tones and highlights.

If you decide to go with an older Epson printer either buy cheap or make sure that the head is in proper working condition. The nozzles on heads will clog if the printer is not used, and sometimes this is irreversible. The best way to prevent this is to use the printer often, or run a cleaning cycle every week or so. If you live in an area of very low RH you may need to use the printer, or run a cleaning cycle, every day or so to prevent the nozzles from clogging.

Should your plans include making a lot of large prints you might want to consider a large format printer like the 7600/9600, 7800/9800, 7880/9880, 7900/9900, etc. as the larger cartridges will save a lot of time and money, especially if you use refillable cartridges. For monochrome prints with Eboni-6 or Cone K7 gray ink sets there is no difference in printing quality between any of the printers 7600/9600 forward, though the newer printers are faster, and may offer more options (gloss or matte, split-toning, etc) than the older printers, depending on the specific ink set and driver.

For the record I prefer Epson printers over Canon and HP because the Epsons permit use of Roy Harrington's QTR driver. This is a great tool because it allows control of nozzle output at the printer level. And QTR costs nothing to try, and you can own it for about $50. If your goal is to make fine prints, either directly with an inkjet printer, or platinum or carbon transfer prints via digital negatives, QTR is absolutely the best buy in software in my opinion. Some guys here are using RIPs that cost hundreds of dollars, but none of them offers more control at the printer level than QTR.


Sandy

[sanking]

For monochrome prints with Eboni-6 or Cone K7 gray ink sets there is no difference in printing quality between any of the printers 7600/9600 forward, though the newer printers are faster, and may offer more options (gloss or matte, split-toning, etc) than the older printers, depending on the specific ink set and drive


Sandy

A slight caveat. For making digital negatives for alternative processes my experiences is that the Epson printer X800 and newer (K3) give better results than the older Ultrachrome printers of the 2200/4000/7600/9600 generation. The older printers were more prone to what some call "venetian blinds", a kind of slight banding in the direction of the movement of the printer head, most visible on the print in the even tones. The X800 and newer printers are not immune from this problem, but it appears to be far less common.

Sandy

[Brian Ellis]

Does anyone know what kind of ink Costco uses for their printing service. Dye or pigment? What printers? The results I've seen seem decent to fair.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

I believe this information is available on the Costco photo web site. Or you might find it here. http://photsy.com/blog/?p=457

IIRC the Costco I used, and perhaps all of them, used two different printers for different sized prints but I don't remember the details.

[Nathan Potter]

Brian thanks. That site is highly informative. If there is a weakness it would seem to be the non archival paper. But K9 inks at 16X20 for $5.99 seems pretty incredible. My ink use for a 16X20 runs about $15 to $20 each.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[RodgerThePhotographer]

Does anyone know what kind of ink Costco uses for their printing service.
Nate Potter, Austin TX.
I don't trade with Costco, couldn't help sorry

[RodgerThePhotographer]

Thanks for your caveats Lenny. I'm not really worried though. I need 'a cheaper the better' inkjet for a class I'll be teaching on photo reliefs to watercolor paper. I use to go to fedex with my thumbdrive but they've recently changed to all lasers and those don't transfer very well. The hunt is on!
But I now know which way to go when I get ready to buy my own for my 8X10 scans!
Best