Copier Question: Best photo quality copier?

[rich584]

I need some help. My wife wants a copier that will produce "photo shop quality" prints. Her birthday is Jan 8 (or 9, I can never remember which) and I would like to have it in hand a day or two earlier.

She was looking at a scanner, copier, printer combo from HP at Costco and I've never been a big fan of combo devices.

What she wants to do is bypass the process of having Costco make the prints.

Anybody have any thoughts about brands? Are the combos now worth buying? I know a few years ago, if you cared about what you were printing, you were better off with a good individual printer, individual copier, etc. Has that changed?

Thanx,

Rich

[Fontano]

Honestly,

The only advice I have is about this section right here:
"What she wants to do is bypass the process of having Costco make the prints"

The problem with that is, the cost per COPY on what ever machine you get is going to be magnitudes more then COSTCO, Shutterfly, Walgreens, and others.

If it is for one or two, or just a small amount through out the year, then okay. The difference isn't that big of a deal.

But if you are talking 20, 30 , 50 copies of the same photo.
It add's up and fast.

This year, my wife switched her holiday business.
Previous year, she would design and print the holiday card for people here at the house.

This year, she did the designs, printed a sample, and then gave people a high quality data file. With recommendations for shutterfly and other places.

It worked out so much better, both financially for us and for the people she was doing it for. As when they need 5 more, they didn't have to contact us or nothing. They were able to go Target or Walgreens while they were shopping and have it done.

------------

As for the equipment recommendation.
For color printing, combo units. I have become a big fan of the EPSON line over the last few years. CANON I had too many mechanical problems with, and I just don't like the direction HP has gone with their ink jet line.

[txtommy]

I've got one of the HP combo units and am very happy with it. The only reason I won't bother recommending it is that it is no longer available. HP seems to change their model numbers more often than most people change their socks. I've read that Canon models are also very good but have no personal experience. I have a friend who is very happy with Epson.

My HP is economical for what I do with it at home. I print a few photos a month, send/receive a fax occasionally, print a few documents per week and scan/copy something every few days. If she would be a heavy user of the printer then the ink cartridges will become very expensive but for light use it can't be beat. Just keep in mind that for most of these units the up front cost is just the beginning. They could probably give away the printers and still make money selling the ink.

Check Newegg.com for the latest units. They'll have more than Costco and also be cheaper. Also HP has some pretty good buys at their own website.

[Cholly]

Newegg has the HP 7280 all in one for $200 with free shipping. I've been an HP bigot for over 15 years and have had no complaints. I like the 7280 because it uses HP type 02 cartridges (6 separate cartridges) -- I have an HP 3210 (no longer available) that uses these cartridges and the print quality is excellent.

[tcusta00]

I need some help. My wife wants a copier that will produce "photo shop quality" prints. Her birthday is Jan 8 (or 9, I can never remember which) and I would like to have it in hand a day or two earlier.

She was looking at a scanner, copier, printer combo from HP at Costco and I've never been a big fan of combo devices.

What she wants to do is bypass the process of having Costco make the prints.

Anybody have any thoughts about brands? Are the combos now worth buying? I know a few years ago, if you cared about what you were printing, you were better off with a good individual printer, individual copier, etc. Has that changed?

Thanx,

Rich

Rich,

FWIW, I'm with Fontano. The price per copy is ridiculous when you figure it out, and then add in the cost of the actual printer as well. I looked into this as I was contemplating buying one myself but in the end I couldn't justify it. I use Adoramapix.com (http://www.adoramapix.com/PriceList.aspx) and the do a fantastic, professional job on Kodak paper for 15cents per 4x6. If you were to buy this paper it would cost about $0.50 per sheet, plus ink. Well worth it to pay a professional to print it. You can even use printrates.com to shop for the lowest rate on what you're looking to print.

That being said, if you're dead set on getting the printer, I'd recommend going with a dedicated printer as opposed to an all-in-one. I have had three multifunction printer/fax/copier/scanners over the years and none have done a good job making good prints.

[rich584]

Honestly,

The only advice I have is about this section right here:
"What she wants to do is bypass the process of having Costco make the prints"

I just asked her again and she is aware of the difference in cost between Costco and doing the prints herself. She wants to make her own prints occasionally and probably only when she is teaching a scrapbooking class or for those times when she needs a quick photo for a card. So, for bulk prints she will stick with Costco and now I need a to find a "photo-quality" printer. She agrees with me that the three or four function combos are not what she needs. We have a good scanner and that will suffice.

I have had a Brother black and white laser printer for a while and like that, but she needs color.

Rich

[rich584]

Newegg has the HP 7280 all in one for $200 with free shipping. I've been an HP bigot for over 15 years and have had no complaints. I like the 7280 because it uses HP type 02 cartridges (6 separate cartridges) -- I have an HP 3210 (no longer available) that uses these cartridges and the print quality is excellent.

Hi Cholly!,

I have the same bias towards HP products and will probably go in that direction.

Rich

[harsh]

I will go out on a limb and state that there are no reasonably priced solutions to the problem.

A high quality scanner with good software and a photo printer will go much further if the originals are hardcopy.

If the originals are digital, there's little point in using a copier. The spousal unit would be much better served in buying a good page layout program and taking some classes.

If she needs dozens of copies, the service bureau (FedEx, Costco) is the only sane answer.

[bobnielsen]

I've never used one, but Kodak (http://printers.kodak.com/) claims that their printers have a much lower cost per print than the competition.

[koji68]

I had a few canon printers with good results.

I use now the Canon Pixma iP2600. It is only $50 online and has low per copy cost.

[rich584]

I will go out on a limb and state that there are no reasonably priced solutions to the problem.

A high quality scanner with good software and a photo printer will go much further if the originals are hardcopy.

If the originals are digital, there's little point in using a copier. The spousal unit would be much better served in buying a good page layout program and taking some classes.

If she needs dozens of copies, the service bureau (FedEx, Costco) is the only sane answer.

I agree and she does too. What started all this was the combo units she saw in Costco the other day. Never have liked the idea of combo anythings since I took apart a Sammy DVD + TV unit and saw what crap we had paid over $400 dollars for. Just wondered if things had changed in the last 10 or so years.

By the way, the "spousal unit" was amused when she read your post and has now begun to call me her "spousal unit" along with calling me her "manservant" (many thanx to VOS for that one).

Rich

[rich584]

I've never used one, but Kodak (http://printers.kodak.com/) claims that their printers have a much lower cost per print than the competition.

Turns out it is not a matter of money, but a matter of convenience. When she is teaching a scrapbooking class and needs a photo she wants to be able to just pump one out.

I did read those Kodak claims and they do sound good. Never had a Kodak printer, but...

Rich

[Fontano]

Turns out it is not a matter of money, but a matter of convenience. When she is teaching a scrapbooking class and needs a photo she wants to be able to just pump one out.

I did read those Kodak claims and they do sound good. Never had a Kodak printer, but...

Rich

The scrapbooking piece.

My wife was a scrapbooker, and I purchased her a LARGE format printer that could handle the 12x12 pages so she could go all digital.

It was the Epson 1600.
The one big thing about it, the ink was designed for archiving.
IIRC it has something to do with the acid levels in the ink.

So factor that in as well.

You may be better off going with a dedicated printer, and then a USB powered scanner that you can keep in a drawer. Really epends on the volume of scanning and copying you are doing.

[rich584]

The scrapbooking piece.

My wife was a scrapbooker, and I purchased her a LARGE format printer that could handle the 12x12 pages so she could go all digital.

It was the Epson 1600.
The one big thing about it, the ink was designed for archiving.
IIRC it has something to do with the acid levels in the ink.

So factor that in as well.

You may be better off going with a dedicated printer, and then a USB powered scanner that you can keep in a drawer. Really epends on the volume of scanning and copying you are doing.

Got a good scanner. Will pass the info about the 1600 on to her. Thanx.

Rich

[djlong]

I'm *desperately* looking for a photo scanner with a 'hopper' so I can feed in 50-100 photos at a time. Coming out of a divorce I have *thousands* of pictures to scan as we have to split things up. the sheer volume makes going to a 'service' far more expensive than a scanner.

[bobnielsen]

My biggest gripe with inkjet printers is that since I don't do much color printing (I use a mono laserjet for text) most of the time I try to use my Epson the cartridges have dried up and the cleaning procedure only works some of the time.

[compac]

Hey All,

We went w/ the Canon mp620 ~$99, although almost half of a printer price for 4 pack ink cartridges when the starter ones go dry...

Set was easy, and even included a usb cable, not as common as it should be.

Printer doing well.;)

[billsharpe]

Very happy with my HP Officejet 5610 all-in-one, which was free with the purchase of a Compaq laptop last August at Staples. Machine even has an automatic feeder for multiple-sheet scans up to about 10.

Scan quality is very good and HP Premium Photo Paper was about $12 for 100 4 by 6 sheets, again on sale at Staples. That's 12 cents a copy.

When you factor in the cost of ink, Costco or Staples print service is probably cheaper for quantity orders, but you sure can't beat the convenience for occasional prints at home.