Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Need Printer Help...

I was wondering if any of you kind gentleman could recommend a good printer that can print some good looking quality pictures? Budget would be between $120-$170. My mom has a 3.2 megapixel digital camera and wants to print some pictures. Ease of use and cheap cartridge replacement would be nice. Any help would be appreciated.

I've used Cannon and Epson for the past 10 years (printing photos) and like them both.
You could probably get an Epson 820 or simular model for around $100.00-$200.00.

Just looked online, and you can get an Epson 820 for 77 bucks. Thats a great printer for that money. http;//inoax.com/viewitem.php?IndexID=8850RefTag=Nextag

Matt, one thing you should definitely consider is the ease / ability at which you can refill the printer cartridges. I haven't shopped for a printer for years but a friend recently did and mentioned that the canon's where some of the best in terms of refilling flexibility. His Epson of past was near impossible to use refill services which in the end added alot to his post purchase cost. So I'd definitely find one that was the most flexible in this regard and I've heard from my bud and sales people that the canons are good this way.

Happy shopping, Mike

Ive got a Canon i560 that i got at costco for 80 bucks, i have printed 8x10's on canons glossy photo paper with good results from my 3.2MP camera. The ink tanks are cheap and seperate for each color. Ive been very happy with it.

As far as refilling printer carts with those refill kits, its not a good idea (in the canon anyway) because the ink is lower quality and ruins the print head which IIRC is more to replace than the entire printer costs

I recently picked up a Canon PIXMA iP4000. With a discount, I got it for around $140. You can get it a little cheaper online, but I wanted the ability to return....a must w/ printers. The picture quality with this thing is amazing. Depending on the source picture, it's hard to distinguish it from what you get from your local developer, etc. It can whip out a 8X10 borderless and leave you wondering how you can get that quality from a simple 'printer'.....a long way from my old HP Deskjet from years ago. Plus, it dual has feed (base tray and top-load). It also has a novel ability to print on both sides of the paper in one printing....just sucks it back in and prints on the other side. Haven't used this feature, but it might be useful for printing text on the pack of a picture. It requires special paper for that.

I was looking closely at the competitive Epsons, as well as the lower model PIXMAs. In the case of the Canons, the lower models don't have separate blacks for photo and text. Plus, the 4000 just looks slicker than the 3000, which was pretty close in price w/ the discount I was getting. The Epsons put out a good picture, as well. However, what put me over the top in favor of the Canon was the speed at which the thing prints. With normal documents and low-res pics, it's fast. If you read the reviews out there, speed is one of their selling points right now. Take that, along w/ the wonderful picture quality, and you have yourself a great photo printer.

FYI...I also have a Kodak printer for my camera that does 4X6 only. The picture quality on this is generally superior to the Canon, but that's to be expected from a dedicated photo printer that uses a totally different technology (dye sublimation) for printing.

Good Luck

Thank you all for the speedy replies. I will definitely look up those printers. As far as refiller ink, the whole cartridge would have to be replaced as I don't want my parents having to deal with that. Both of their jobs don't require computer use. I will definitely be buying the printer new and not refurb or online. It's just more convenient for my parents if there is a problem. My main concern is decent picture quality. No need for Top-of-the-line quality, just better than cheap, low quality. I'll keep looking around, but if you guys have any more tips they will always be appreciated.

Matt - you need to take a look at the Canon i960. I bought one last year for $200 based on the consistently fabulous reviews I read, which still rank it at the top for text and absolutely photos. It continues to amaze me.

It uses 6 ink tanks (and manages each one individually so you only change the tank that is low/out of ink rather than tossing a semi-full cartridge.) The picture quality is absolutely unbelieveable. It also has a feeder sytem that allows you to keep 8.5" x 11" paper (or photo paper) loaded with a little cartridge in the mix that allows you to also keep 4x6 photo paper loaded.

I can't recommend this printer highly enough - it's that good. At this price, it qualifies for "Grand Theft Printer". They won't last long at this price. If you want to get it locally, I think CompUSA has it for $119 after a $50 rebate.