Any of the big printers trouble free?

**bob carnie** · 26-Aug-2012, 06:32

I own Epson and Cannon , both are workhorses and due to that there are ongoing head replacements, and small issues.. That I do not call trouble but ongoing maintenance.

I see prints from HP as well and they all seem to be good investments.. In my plans I always purchase equipment where I can get competent technicians to fix any issues.. That is hard to find with Epson , Cannon and HP.
For my large format laser printer , we are lucky to have Macula around.. World Class technicians , properly trained and financially motivated to be the best.. any thing can go wrong with the Lambda and this company can fix it next day with parts. At $500 per hour they better be good.

This is where the vendors of ink machines have really let the ball down, They are hoping the public (us) will use the machines for three years and buy the next great printer with and extra xyconiiannn ink set to make our prints that much better, and for any young people on this forum, this would be one area of expertise to learn if you are finding it difficult to make ends meet. Ink machine repair and Custom Profile services IMO would be a growth area in our industry.
To the OP I think you are very safe in purchasing any of the new large format printers, just make sure service or maintenance issues are considered with the purchase.

**Darin Boville** · 26-Aug-2012, 12:30

Any rumors of any whiz-bang new machines coming out at Photokina?

--Darin

**Brian Ellis** · 26-Aug-2012, 17:18

I've owned four Epson printers over a period of about ten years, the 1160, 1280 (still in use on a daily basis by my wife), 2200, and now the 3800. Never had a real problem with any of them. Cleaned the nozzles here and there, aligned the heads a few times, that's about it and even those things were very rare. The 2200 sat upside down in a box in my garage with the ink cartridges in the printer (mover's screw-up) for four months through an Oregon winter. Plugged it in, ran like a charm. I've owned them in humid climates (Florida), dry climates (central Oregon), and now humid summer in Wisconsin.