Printers

[ratsrcute]

I give up trying to get a custom ICC profile for my HP Deskjet 5550. It's an older, very basic home printer and the driver has no option to turn off printer management, so I don't know even how to print a test sheet that could make a profile from.

Also the cartridges are very, very expensive. The three-color cartridges (and you need 2) are $40.

I was wondering if there's something better that's available now. Perhaps a basic Epson.

Could I have your comments, mainly about (1) is it easy to get a color profile and (2) what's the ink cost. I'm not worried about ultimate quality.. just want to do better than I'm doing now, and maybe a newer printer has lower ink cost.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[Flash Harry]

Though epsons are good their branded cartridges are expensive, I have an epson r1800 which gives superb quality but only buy other make inks for it, you can pick up an A4 epson printer for around £65 over here, probably cheaper in the US. H

 

[D-50]

what inks are you using in your r18000 I had a bad experience with non epson inks so I stick to using only Epson ink but if you are getting good results from a nonepson brand that is cheaper I would love to know.

 

[ratsrcute]

Though epsons are good their branded cartridges are expensive, I have an epson r1800 which gives superb quality but only buy other make inks for it, you can pick up an A4 epson printer for around £65 over here, probably cheaper in the US. H

Do you know how Epson ink cost compares to the other major brands, like Canon and HP? They are all expensive... just wondering which one is least expensive.

 

[MX962]

I think you may want to find out what or how large of prints you are going to want printed at home then search online like at B&H compare feature and prices,find what you like then compare inks and paper that work for the printers and for you ! Personally I use the Canon i9900 does all I need and more but cost of a total refill of ink is about 90 bucks cost per 13x19 with it seems to be around $4

 

[ratsrcute]

I think you may want to find out what or how large of prints you are going to want printed at home then search online like at B&H compare feature and prices,find what you like then compare inks and paper that work for the printers and for you ! Personally I use the Canon i9900 does all I need and more but cost of a total refill of ink is about 90 bucks cost per 13x19 with it seems to be around $4

Thanks for the tip. The main problem with shopping online is that there's no way to compare ink costs. You can see how much one cartridge costs, but you don't know how many prints you'll get from it. You can see how much paper costs, but you don't know what paper you really need until you've tried it. And the really frustrating thing is that you can't know how the driver will work, or if you can even install color management. That's why we all need expert help.

Mike

 

[MX962]

Thanks for the tip. The main problem with shopping online is that there's no way to compare ink costs. You can see how much one cartridge costs, but you don't know how many prints you'll get from it. You can see how much paper costs, but you don't know what paper you really need until you've tried it. And the really frustrating thing is that you can't know how the driver will work, or if you can even install color management. That's why we all need expert help.

Mike

I agree with you it is frustraiting to try and figure out. I have tried to figure out cost per print and how many prints I can get before I run out of ink,I dont think its posible to know becouse every print is different the lighter the print is the less ink will be used and vise / verse,so it always changes .I know with Canon and Epson you shouldnt have any trouble finding profiles these are the only 2 formats I have alot of experience with so they are the 2 I would recomend in seriouse printing