Need advice on which printer to buy

[Anonymous]

AC Talkers
Our Epson 3000 has worn out it's welcome. It has been a workhorse, touchy paper feed, for a while, real problems with it's drivers during the ransition to OSX. With that said, it is still a usable printer. Anyone interested in buying it? It has an ethernet card and will print to 17" x 22" (C size) paper. We have a complete set (4) of ink cartriges (about $50 dollars each). E-mail me direct if you are interested.

herriges@centurytel.net

We are looking at either an Epson Stylus Pro 7800 or a HP Designjet 500. The Epson lists for about $3,000.00 but is ready to use on a Mac network (Firewire or USB). Epson seems to be more reliable when it comes to Macs. Do you agree?

HP lists for about $2,100.00 but by the time you get it to talk to our network it's price will likely be near the Epson.

The Epson is an 8 color ink system while the HP is only 4, but the way we are thinking, the 4 colors are more then enough and don't really see the need for Epsons 8 colors.

I would appreciate any thoughts that you have as to helping us make a wise descision.

Thanks in advance

[MSotero]

I purchased the hp500ps based on the recommendation of 2 architects who owned these machines.
However, I have been disappointed with my purchase on about every imaginable level.
Not only is the machine awful but so is the service and software.
Check out their user forms to get an ear full of complaints including the fact that hp keeps removing their (valid) complaints so others won't see them.
Hp will constantly bother you for an extended warranty that costs so much you may as well buy another printer instead. Further, they ran out my warranty replacing parts and stopped trying to fix it even though it was an ongoing problem.
Oddly, my buddies say they don't have printing problems, but after seeing one of their prints I have to conclude that they accept very low standards of print quality.
Now if you insist on buying the hp, I'd be happy to sell you mine so I can buy the epson.

[Ted Taylor]

I have had a little better luck with my 500ps than Michael, the machine has been mechanically reliable and the quality of the output is fine as long as you plot as opposed to print. But as far as support and software, that has been poor at best (2 years or was it more after I purchased machine before they came out with a print driver for the Mac that would sort of work -see prior rants)

According to HP website, the 500ps is discontinued. The 500, 800 and 800ps are still shown as available. I suspect that is going to make future support for the Mac even shakier.

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys; The information you have supplied confirms my fears about HP. They want $815.00 for a 3 year warranty, $525.00 for installation service, $175.00 for ethernet card, and $290.00 for a stand. All of these costs add up to $1800.00. The Epson includes these items or at least would not require the need for them. The decision is becoming guite easy. Once we get the Epson up and running, I will let everyone know how it went.

Don't forget, we still have the Epson Stylus Color 3000 for sale. If you are really on a budget. and are tired of running out to a print sevice. make an offer. C size paper will handle all but the biggest jobs.

Thanks again.

[Djordje]

I prefer Epson.

HP behaves and works too much like Autode$k or Micro$oft - all around, allegedly can do, really ... up to a point.

Whenever I used Epson, I had absolutely zero troubles. Unlike any HP.

[Chadwick]

Strange, I have had the exact opposite experience. Every HP I've worked with has been great. I have had a couple of Epsons that have had problems though. One thing I can think of inparticular was the print heads - they arent replaced with the cartridges like in a HP, so if they get dirty and clogged they have to be serviced which can get pricey. In fact, a colleague of mine had this happen and it would have cost more to diagnose and clean the print heads vs. what he paid for it. He could have been getting a raw deal on the quote, but nonetheless the print heads still had to be cleaned. Just my 2 cents.

[Anonymous]

Chadwich, Djordje, Ted & MSotero, Thanks for the replies. We still have not made a purchase. We have ruled out the HP. Now it is between the Epson Stylus Pro 7800 professional vs the Cannon W6400.

Does anyone have experiences, good or bad with Cannon printers? Has anyone used the W6400 -24" wide printer or the W8400 - 44" wide printer - In a Mac only environment.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[Anonymous]

Dr wrote:
Now it is between the Epson Stylus Pro 7800 professional vs the Cannon W6400.

Have you calculated the difference in the cost of ink? That new Epson 8-color ink set sounds expensive -- I'm always leary of new technologies that are only available from one source.

[rjwilden]

I have an Epsom 4800 and if you go by the info the printer gives you then an A2 with plenty of colored shading cost approx 20 cents NZ per page. Who knows if this is accurate. I have to say that I have spent more on ink in the last 6 months than I used in the previous 2 years with my HP 400 C One thing to note is that loading up the printer for the first time uses a lot of ink, and changing over from matt black to photo black also uses a lot. And of coarse I was experimenting with different print setting etc to see what the printer could do, any A2 color sheet is going to be pretty thirsty. In my opinion the tray feed will pay back any investment in plant and consumables with a time saving in dealing with the paper.

Richard

[Anonymous]

Adding my voice to the chorus in praise of Epson. I have always liked the Epson printers I've used with the sole exception of the original 1500 (c-size with a wonky network card and strangely limited print width).

I have not had any direct experience with their large format (d-size +) printers but have heard good reports. I also understand that at least some of them can print directly to 1.2 mm illustration board, which seems like it would be really cool.

On the other hand, HP seems pretty lukewarm about supporting the Mac. It turned out to be impossible (per the HP repair tech) to rotate a print job so that a d-size sheet could print across the width of a 36" roll (plotting was fine so this was just a problem using InDesign in this case). Basically the tech said that the HP OSX drivers for the 1050C just weren't that good and probably wouldn't be updated.