What printer to buy? Please help!

I know this question comes up lots. But technology and products change all the time. I need some help PLEASE on what printer I should buy..
I mostly print 4x6 but often am printing 8x10. I would like a larger format printer but that isn't as important as good quality 8x10.

Of course the greatest concern is the cost of the supplies. I would like something that prints well and doesn't cost too much for supplies.

I currently have an epson 300 and it isn't bad. But I would like something a bit better quality. I find the epson picky about the ink and paper used. I would like to be able to make cards and things and sometimes they are just not available in the paper I want to use.

I don't want to spend a fortune but would be willing to invest a good amount of money if the payback was a consistant good quality image.

What do you think about dye sub printers? Would you stay with ink jet? I hear there are some high end laser printers that are near perfect image quality also.

Please let me know what you think or any current sites/posts that you think may help me.

Thanks!!!
Mike

I picked up a olympus P-440 dye sub and love it. I used to have a Lexmark Z53 ink jet but I didn't use it enough and the jets were clogging all the time. It doesn't help that the humidity where I live is really low ... tends to dry out ink jets. The only issue I've had with the dye sub is if I leave it uncovered and the ribbon gets some dust on it then the first print can have some strange colors in it.

I print my photos on an Epson R320, and I love it. It'll print up to an 8-1/2" X 11" (letter size) print. I usually print those instead of 8X10's, simply because I can't seem to find 8X10 paper anywhere.

I did see one printer; forget the brand, that would print 11X14 prints. It was priced around $450.00 or so, and was pretty tempting...

Steve

For that price, I'd stick with an i9900 if you weren't stuck on getting a dye sub. Consistently impressive results from mine. Never been less than satisfied.

I have an HP, I have to say pretty amazing stuff comes out of this bad boy. I've also heard pretty good things about the i9900.

I went with a pixma ip6600D and using Kodak premium I can't tell the difference between my prints and those that came from the professional lab and the Frontier lightjet (I believe it's a lightjet) printer. I'm not saying the quality is exactly the same, but I'm saying that at 8x11.5 I can't tell the difference at all.

Anymore, it seems that any photo quality printer from the big 3 mfgs. produces quality results. If cost of consumables is an issue, then look for a printer that has individual ink tanks for all colors. Budget is also an issue. I have a Canon ip8500 (little brother to Ron Jrs. i9900) which is their top letter sized printer, and streets for around $300. Would most people notice a differance between it and elTwitcho's ip6600D which goes for about 1/2 the price, probably not. For a larger format printer you're getting closer to $450 - $500, with the added cost giving you added printing size, but not necessarily better prints.

No question that the i9900 has the ability to create lab quality prints, as I have experienced with mine. My only problem with Canon is that:

(1) Photo Paper Pro (which is clearly the best quality of Canon paper), is not available in a 5x7 size.

(2) Canon does not offer an 8x10 paper size. The closest size is a ridiculous letter size of 8 1/2 x 11. This is especially problematic for several reasons:

(a) there is no driver support to print an 8x10, especially borderless printing.

(b) you cannot print to the 8 1/2 x 11 size without some major cropping of the image. For instance, enlarging an image from 4x6 to 5x7 (an increase of 1 inch) works fine. To get to the next standard size of 8x10 from a 5x7 is an increase of 3 inches, which is also fine. But to get to an 8 ½ x 11 print size, you have to increase the size disproportionately to the original and then crop to the 8 ½ x 11 size.

In short, Canon needs to offer the Photo Paper Pro in a 5x7 size and offer an 8x10 size print, and driver support, in its line of papers.

I don't understand your argument about cropping. 8.5 x 11 is closer to the Camera's 3:2 ratio than 8x10 is. There is less cropping for an 8.5x11 than an 8x10 so how is it "easier" to crop to 8x10? Also, what do you mean "increase" the size?

Are there any 8x10 papers that are compatible with Canon printers? Maybe I better return these 8x10 frames.

you can always use a rotory trimmer at your school/office/printsho​p?

3:2 (2:3) = 4x6 = 8x12. Framing your image to crop 2 inches from the top or bottom to create a true 8x10, is pretty much the same as pushing the size to 8.5 x 12.5 and then cropping 1.5 inches off for letter size printing. Cropping to 8x10, in fact, requires less work.

I have thei9900 and I love it for color prints. Not so great for black and white but o.k.
I print 8x10 all the time on letter size paper and just cut it. No big deal.

You are way overcomplicating this. To frame your image properly, you have to crop off a bit on one side, with the letter sized print you have to crop off less than with the 8x10. You don't bump it to 8x12 or any other such thing and then increase the size to 8.5 or whatever else, that's not how it works.

You take your image file. Use the selection tool set to a rectangle with a ratio of 8.5:11 and select the area you want to include. With the selection tool set this way, your image, REGARDLESS OF SIZE while be at a ratio of 8.5:11. You crop, then you print. You don't have to bump it to this size, then that size, then the other size. You crop the image so that it has the proper aspect ratio, and you're done. With a letter print you crop less than with an 8x10.

Okay, I'll just need to figure out what kind of tool to use for accurate cutting at home. Any recommendations before I hit the office supply store?