I need a 13 x 19 printer

[UglyCasanova]

Ok, I need a 13 x 19 printer for my design classes, and I can't decide between the <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch.hmx?SCriteria=1464810">Epson
Stylus Photo 1280</a> or the Canon i9900. I can get the Canon for $407, and the Epson for $362.50, but the Epson also has a $100 mail in rebate.

I've been reading up and they both print borderless 13 x 19, and both supposedly have pretty good print quality, but I can't decide if the Canon is worth the extra money. Supposedly the Epson has issues with the ink clogging up, and also the Canon's ink comes in different cartridges so you can replace just the color you need to while the Epson's doesn't. And to top it off, the Epson uses a 6 color ink system while the Canon uses 8 giving it more colors to work with.

The Canon does seem to be the winner, but both are supposedly good printers (from what I've read anyways) and I'm not sure if the Canon is worth the extra money or if having different color cartridges will save me any money.

 

[Zepper]

The Canon will likely save you any price difference in ink costs in short order if you do a lot of printing. I buy all my Canon ink from USAInkjet on eBay (set of 4 for my Pixma iP3000 costs $12. shipped last time I looked) and am very happy with it. Plus the Canon heads aren't as clog happy as the Epsons.
. They might have the equivalent to the i9900 in the new Pixma series out now. Just looked - nope the iP8500 has 8 colors but only narrow paper width... Probably a new one out soon though.
. There is a deal going on from Canon if you need a digicam too: Linkage - buy a printer and a digicam and get up to $100. Visa gift card. Don't have to be bought at the same store either so you can get the best deal you can find on top of the gift card.
.bh.

:moon:

 

[UglyCasanova]

Ok, another problem is supposedly the Canon only works well with Canon paper, while the Epson can use different brands of paper. Will this be much of a problem as I live in a somewhat hick town and all we have is an Office Depot and I've never checked to see if they sell Canon paper. Or would it be cheaper for me to order paper online?

 

[Zepper]

Kodak paper works well with my iP3000. Kodak's web site has info on the settings to use for their papers with lots of popular printers. And you can get that anywhere. I know Staples carries Kodak, HP, Epson and perhaps JetPrint - not sure about Canon or about large sizes of paper...
.bh.

:moon:

 

[DrVos]

Did you ever decide on a large format printer? I'm a design student too and am trying to decide between the two.

 

[Erasmus-X]

You're comparing an apple to an orange. The 1280 uses photo dye inks and is also 3-year old technology. The i9900 uses archival-quality pigment inks and has a much wider color gamut due to having additional colors at its disposal.

But make no mistake: the 1280 is a good printer and Epson manufactures a wide array of papers for it. I have one and it has served me well...and never once an ink clogging issue; more on this later. It's $300 after the $100 rebate and the inks are reasonably priced ($25 for black, $30 for color). With the way I've been printing lately, I tend to run out of all the colors at about the same time, so ink waste doesn't stand out as an issue - mileage varies, of course.

If you're going to compare the i9900 to something, compare it to the Epson 2200, which uses pigmented UltraChrome inks and has a 7-channel printhead. The Epson 2200 does cost quite a bit more though ($700 versus $500 for i9900), but it has more features: roll paper support w/automatic cutter, prints up to 13"x44" (versus Canon's 13"x19") and there's more paper stocks available for it. Whether or not you have a need for those features will likely determine whether you would want to spend the extra $200. Now what I'm waiting to see is a revamp of the 2200 using the R800 print engine (which has a gloss optimizer and smaller droplets)...

Now about nozzle clogging. I wouldn't necessarily say that the Epson is more prone to clogging than a Canon counterpart. As with any printer, if you don't keep ink running through that printhead, it'll clog over time, requiring cleaning cycles. HP and Lexmark avoid this by integrating the printhead on their cartridges instead. Another thing that contributes to premature printhead clogging is people who never turn their stinking printers off. If the printer is left on and isn't printed from for a long period of time, ink will dry and nozzles WILL clog. Turning the printer off parks the printhead in a "closed" position, preventing air from drying out the ink. I've seen this happen to Epsons and Canons alike. I have 2 or 3 dead Canon s300s with printhead problems. I also have a dead Epson C82 with a clogged printhead. Poor neglected printers....

 

[UglyCasanova]

Awesome, thanks. Well I sold my pc to my parents so they can give to my brother, and for it they are buying me an Epson Perfection 3170 scanner and a Canon i9900 printer. Not bad for an ol' Dell. Now....

where's a good/cheap place to buy ink and paper?