What is the best photo printer to buy?
May 29, 2010 by Inkjet Printer Reviews
Filed under Photo Printers
Can you answer Mommyof1’s question about Inkjets?:
I want to buy a printer for my home to print excellent quality 4×6 and 5×7 photos. I would love to print larger sizes as well. I currentsly have the kodak printer dock which produces beautiful quality pictures but it broke. So, I am trying to find a larger printer so I can print larger sizes. I would love to find one that has the same quality as the kodak printer dock if that exists in home printers. I would consider paying up to $200. Thanks for your help!
Color Inkjet Printer Comparison
I want to buy a printer for my home to print excellent quality 4×6 and 5×7 photos. I would love to print larger sizes as well. I currentsly have the kodak printer dock which produces beautiful quality pictures but it broke. So, I am trying to find a larger printer so I can print larger sizes. I would love to find one that has the same quality as the kodak printer dock if that exists in home printers. I would consider paying up to $200. Thanks for your help!
Color Inkjet Printer Comparison
Inkjets Feedback: Coming from a graphic designer, there are no home printers under $200 that print exceptional quality, nor print in an economical or affordable way.
It is cheaper to get your pictures printed somewhere else, but if your willing to pay for convenience (which in reality it isn’t because you still have to go out and buy more ink), then just take a look at some major company websites like Target, Wal-Mart and Staples.
Laser printers are the best type of printers to get, however your looking at paying $400 plus. Some of them have picture quality printing capabilities.
Keep in mind also that in our “physical” world we use CMYK or C=Cyan, M=Magenta, Y=Yellow, and K=Black for printing. RGB, or R=Red, G=Green, and B=Blue for computers, TV’s and other electronics. Some printers use 6 color cartridges, but often the prints end up being muddied. Beyond CMYK, unless you have your printer or computer set to a lower gamut, you will be printing what you want as long as you know how to use a computer for these settings.
I quoted department stores, as I have not used every single type of printer available on the market. It has to do with personal opinion. No printer under $100 is going to get you quality prints, or be affordable for ink.
I have a $60 photo printer, and the ink cartridges cost $30 black, and nearly $50 for color. That is not affordable in the least. To get refills, costs me $20 less for each, but the ink quality is crap.
I stopped using it, and it costs me a lot less to get it done in a photo shop.
The person below may have thought I don’t know what I am talking about. That is fine for him to think so. But I print a LOT. 5-6 times a week, both photo quality and print quality. I tried using my printer for this reason, and I was paying for ink cartridges left and right.
Inkjets Feedback: How about the Epson R280 photo printer for $60? It’s on Christmas special from Epson here:
It will print the sizes you desire, up to paper sizes 8.5″ x 44″
It’s a fantastic printer at a fantastic price. Spend the rest of your money on ink and good photo paper.
Also, I will disagree with the “graphic designer” about the home printer remark. Giclee prints in art galleries use inkjet printers–the same ink and technology used in a home printer–to make Giclee prints (Giclee is French for….inkjet). Going to an outside printer won’t get you a better print and often the prints are of lower quality due to a smaller color gamut (think: smaller number of colors from which to choose to make a picture). Also, you asked what you should get, not what department stores to look at. It’s apparent to me that the graphic designer doesn’t know what he/she is talking about, and so I would actually ignore that answer.
Inkjets Feedback: You can get a printer with performance that’ll knock your socks off for under $100.
However, the cost of ink and paper is ridiculous.
Go down to your local photofinisher and check out their print prices.
Hope this helps.
Inkjets Feedback: My experience with the Epson R280 is that it is cheap, the ink expensive and it produces great pictures. The only problem, which I think is serious, is that it has a glitch in the latest driver and doesn’t allow you to print in landscape, which means you cannot print envelopes either; no matter which combination and permutations of printer settings and sheet type use try to use. I f anyone has an answer to this issue it would be very much appreciated. Technical support is awful. Epson does not seem to provide a telephone number. You submit your query over the Internet and it says you get a response in a few hours at most. I have waited for days bordering nearly 2 weeks and still no answer after multiple tries day after day. The resell vendor doesn’t know much about the problems; they just say they sell the units and if I am not happy I can return it for a refund. So all in all it is not a useful situation.