HP or Epson 44" printers..

**RAINBOW** · 7-Feb-2008, 13:36

Hello, I just joined this forum and It's a great forum

Me and my wife is running a design/printing business and been using Encad novajet 750 all this time.
We decided to purchase a 44" wide format printer and I've been looking into
HP Z2100, HP Z3100, Epson 9800, and Epson 9880.
We need a printer for 50% indoor and 50% outdoor.
We need a printer that can print on Back lit film, banner, glossy & non glossy, and photo papers. Also, we need a print that can last a long time without fading.

Please help us decide which printer is better..
I'll appreciate Pros and Cons for each printers including personal experience.

Thank You
&
Have a Great Day.

Dan

**Jeremy Moore** · 7-Feb-2008, 14:23

Dan, why don't you check one of the Large Format Printing groups on Yahoo? This is a forum for Large Format Photography which means photographing with cameras which use sheet film.

**Bruce Watson** · 7-Feb-2008, 14:32

This forum is primarily about LF cameras -- view cameras. While there are some wide format printer people here, and even some with signage backgrounds, it's not the primary focus.

I suggest that you ask on the yahoo group Wide_Inkjet_Printers. A better place to get your question answered maybe, because that group's purpose is to compare and contrast the different wide format printers.

**RAINBOW** · 7-Feb-2008, 15:01

Thank you for the help.

**RAINBOW** · 7-Feb-2008, 15:50

I do take studio photo of mainly food and products for my clients.
Then I print posters and large displays..
Seems like Epson is mainly for the photographers and HP is for everything..

That yahoo website wasn't too good by the way..

**Ted Harris** · 7-Feb-2008, 16:47

The HP z3100ps GP, IMO, is the gold standard for wide format printers in the 44" size. The only advantage of the Epson 98xx printers is price. The HP is a good bit more but worth it because of the builtin paper profiling, better handling of black and white, far less problems with clogging and the addition of red, green and blue to the ink mix. If you trust the Wilhelm ratings then i believe it also has the longest specified print life. Having said all that you should also look at the Canon 44" printer. If you don't need the builtin profiling and already own a RIP that will work with the Canon it has all of the other advantages of the HP; additionally it is blazingly fast which could matter in your operation.