<$200 Photo Printer Recommendation

Hey all,

I've spent a good bit of time researching printers and can't even come up with a short list .

What would you recommend for $200 or less? I'm most concerned with nice-looking 8x10 prints that I can frame and hang in my house or give as gifts. 13x19 would be nice, but def not necessary. They don't need to keep for 200 years or anything. Replacement ink costs would also be a big factor.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Your biggest problem with "economy" photo printers is that the business model for printer companies is to sell the printers at close to or even below cost and make up for the profit loss by selling low volume ink cartridges at high profit margins. Sorry, but that's how they do it.

But, for practical purposes, run down to a big box store today (Black Friday) and they may have some good sales: Epson, Canon and HP are brands that have good photo printers at that price. I'd make sure to get one that is designated for photos. Just about anything at that price will print an 8x10 (there are some mini-printers that just spit out 4x6 prints but the letter-size printer is all over the place). If you see cartridges on sale for the printer you choose, grab them because that over time is your biggest expense. The same goes for good quality photo paper.

A 13x19 printer is, as far as I know, out of the question for your price point.

I've got one of these plus an R2880. 8 X 10's on identical paper are too similar to see any appreciable difference (from the same file using the same printing profile) and it makes fantastic 4 X 6's. On Sale at a very good price leaving money for ink & high quality paper, and I strongly recommend starting with Epson paper.

http://www.epson.com …artisan800_299-170ir_pos1

It's Black Friday and Staples has the Epson 1400, which is 13x19, on sale for $179.98 after a $50 rebate.

Canon MP990 makes excellent 8x10s and has a mid-grey tank for b/w. It is, however, a waste of space since it includes a scanner, etc. Also the ink replacement is not cheap.

TheHoff wrote in post #9092420
Canon MP990 makes excellent 8x10s and has a mid-grey tank for b/w. It is, however, a waste of space since it includes a scanner, etc. Also the ink replacement is not cheap.

I think the ink is reasonable buying from B&H. I just bought a 4 pack of color ink for 39.95 and no shipping. Ten bucks a cartridge is reasonable in my opinion.