Which Epson printer?

steven589

Morning all,

I'm looking to buy an Epson printer that will

a) Print pictures from my digital camera
b) Print labels for my dvd discs

Does anyone know which would be the best value for money printer to have?

The most basic one that will do this seems to be the Epson Stylus Photo R220, so should I go for this one? Or will I need a better model to get good quality pictures (there are so many to choose from, e.g. R240, R300, R320, R340, R800 etc)!

Any help and advice is greatly appreciated

Steve

intel

If you want to get a printer just for labels for DVDs and normal printing I would
go by price and spend about £45.00 ish as for printing photographs I wouldnt
bother as that's a false economy it would work out at about £1.29 per print
as proved on the gadget show.

Your better off getting them done by a developers.

Epson C48 or lower.

jjames_3

Canon iP3000.

The problem with the Epsons is that compatible cartridges are being stamped on by Epson and removed from sale.

The Canon is generally more reliable, slightly cheaper and cheap compatible carts are more readily available.

By the way, I would avoid putting labels on DVDRs. They're a lot more sensitive than CDRs and you'll find that a DVDR simply won't play on a lot of DVD players if it has a label on it. You'll need a printer which can print direct to disc (and a big pile of printable blanks) if you want to print to them.

And the Gadget Show's report was misleading; they were comparing printing with genuine carts vs printing in a shop. Compatible carts are MUCH cheaper.

But having said that, at 10-15p a print, and less hassle, an internet-based picture printer is the way forward.

windym_2

I have an R300 and it is excellent. When my Epson ink ran out I changed to compatibles and use https://www.northdevoncomputers.com which is only £1 a cartridge. I cannot see any difference in my photo printing.

The R300 also prints directly onto Cds so you don't have to buy labels etc. You buy specially coated cd/dvds and just feed them into the printer. There is supplied software to make designs and I find that great.

I would thoroughly recommend Epson, but especially the R300. Cheapest I could find on a quick search was 78.99 from Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000UYS7G/pricerunner-21/ref%3Dnosim/026-6843581-0584409

Hth.

mbamick

My friend opted for the R300, over my R200 choice, simply because he intended to use the built-in memory card on the R300. I had no need of it. We have both had the printers for over a year, and both of us have had no complaints.

We also used to use the paper-based CD/DVD labels, but changed to the full-face printable DVDs available from https://www.blankdiskshop.co.uk - They are only 12p each, and far less fiddly.

You will not got far wrong with either printer.

intel

jjames wrote:

And the Gadget Show's report was misleading; they were comparing printing with genuine carts vs printing in a shop. Compatible carts are MUCH cheaper.

How can that be misleading as anoyone worth there salt will mostly stay away from non genuine cartidges as they will invaribly clog the pint head
if you are going to use non genuine print quality is lowered so whats the point
of printing a high quality print with inferior ink.

Non genuine are ok for ducuments and not photos and you should always
put in a genuine cartridge after about 2 to 3 non cartridge installs.

I would also say the gadget show do their research.

matty_c608

The problem with the Epsons is that compatible cartridges are being stamped on by Epson and removed from sale.

I completely disagree with you here? How can Epson stop the sale of other peoples products.

I have no problem buying cartridges, I buy my Epson CX3200 Cartridge compatibles for under £1 each (94p when bought in bulk)! See the Consumables Board (or what ever it is) - there is a whole thread in there about different brands cartridges prices etc.

Oh. And my prints are just as good! In fact I think they're even better, because the ink that's making up the photo is CHEAP!!!!

jjames_3

matty_c608 wrote:

I completely disagree with you here? How can Epson stop the sale of other peoples products.

I have no problem buying cartridges, I buy my Epson CX3200 Cartridge compatibles for under £1 each (94p when bought in bulk)! See the Consumables Board (or what ever it is) - there is a whole thread in there about different brands cartridges prices etc.

Oh. And my prints are just as good! In fact I think they're even better, because the ink that's making up the photo is CHEAP!!!!

Sadly it's not opinion it's fact, and has only come into force in the last few days.

Have a look here:

http://www.blankdiscshop.co.uk/acatalog/epson.html

Important Note: We regret that Epson compatible cartridges from
the following manufacturers are presently unavailable:
Datawrite, Datasafe, Ridisc, ImJet and Smartjet

In addition our range of Jet Tec Epson compatible
cartridges have been temporarily removed whilst we await
clarification as to whether they infringe Epson patents.

We do not know when this current situation will be resolved
(so please don't e-mail us to ask!)

Compatible carts for Epsons are living on borrowed time. Epson have an injunction stopping manufacturers of compatible cartridges because they use a patented sponge device inside the cartridge. The compatibles are going to have to be completely redesigned.

intel

Also changes are a coming...

http://www.dqchannels.com/content/reselleralert/105120801.asp

jjames_3

intel wrote:

How can that be misleading as anoyone worth there salt will mostly stay away from non genuine cartidges as they will invaribly clog the pint head

Not sure where you get that from.

I have used approximately 100 compatible cartridges in my Canon and the heads have never clogged. Going by the amount of ink the Epsons waste head-cleaning every five minutes I suspect this is an inherent Epson problem, their printers have never struck me as being particularly well designed.

If you're using genuine cartridges then HP printers are generally cheaper to run and more reliable than Epsons.

intel

jjames wrote:

Not sure where you get that from.

From about every single customer I see who have bought inferior ink.

jjames wrote:

I have used approximately 100 compatible cartridges in my Canon and the heads have never clogged. Going by the amount of ink the Epsons waste head-cleaning every five minutes I suspect this is an inherent Epson problem, their printers have never struck me as being particularly well designed.

If you're using genuine cartridges then HP printers are generally cheaper to run and more reliable than Epsons.

Ive never liked epson also I think they are poorly constructed.