please recomend a good scanner and printer

[walkien]

I'm looking for a good scanner and printer, I currently have a HP 2210 Xi, the print quality is ok, but the scanner is terrible, can someone here sugguest or recomend a good scanner and printer. Thanks in advance

[PEACHMAN]

My printer is a Epson r-800....love it ! I wish it would print larger sheets than 8 1/2 x 11 inches. It will print longer but no wider. It uses archival inks with a pigment base vs a dye based ink. My problem was fading in a year or so...I have had prints in direct sun lit exposure and no problems.. Quiet printing of very clear photos, high resolution. Ink is a bit pricey but in my poinion well worth the extra if you are printing photos to show the world...read the adds and believe. Next to my camera (300D) it is my favorite piece of equipment..... I recently bought a lower end Canon scanner, the mod number I can't recall and it is at home so I can't go check until this evening, but it does slides as well as pictures at an amazing resolution/speed...some where around $90. Quick and easy to use..I have had some problems with it scanning the proper location for the placement of the slide carriage. Some times it scans 1/2 the slide and 1/2 the carriage...........But for photos and printed material it works great !

[Hellashot]

If you have the money, get the Epson R1800 that is coming out any day now. It is in stock in just a few stores.

[Black Ricco]

The Epson RX 620 will give you a lot of bang for your buck.

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=54782584

[UncleDoug]

The Nikon LS 9000 would do you justice for a scanner.
35mm or MF.
If you ever wanted to get into wet-mounting your transparecies, there are carriers made for this purpose for the 9000.

[NickC]

What do you plan on scanning? Do you need a flatbed, a flatbed with slide/film attachments, or just a film/slide scanner?

Low end flatbeds can be powered via USB but I've had a few of those and the scanning element hiccupped sometimes if the computer was doing too many things. So I went and got a scanner that you have to plug into the wall AC. Also, at certain price points the scanning element and light source type change to better components and different technology, thus you get a better dynamic range.

Firewire ports seem to add $100-200 unnecessarily to the price.

Higher optical resolution also adds to the price and most people simply don't need to scan paper documents at anything over 600 dpi. Film/slides is different however and you probably need 2400 dpi and up.

Under $100 I'd get a Canon LiDE. Around $150, a Canon 8400F. At $700 an Epson Expression 1680. At $2500 an Epson 10000XL. :cool: I've no experience with film/slide scanners except that flatbeds don't do that very well.

If you're on a Mac, stay away from HP. Their scanning software sucks on the Mac. Don't know about their software on PC's. I've also had a Mustek or two, and they aren't very good for image quality. I don't have any experience with Microtek scanners either -- I think they're really ugly :p

Yeah, I buy scanners more often than I buy shoes. :D

[Jack W.]

I have the HP 7960 printer. Prints are terrific.
Also have the Epson 4180 scanner. Does a great job on anything I scan, including 35mm slides.

[PEACHMAN]

AAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!.. Good call Hellashot !!! Just read the reviews...didn't know that was out there. After seeing the quality of prints from my r-800 I know the r-1800 is the printer for me !!! My r-800 will be on the market as soon as I can find one of the 1800's......