New printer for OSX 10.4.3

You don't give nearly enough information to get a good recommendation.
For example:
- What do you print? (pics from a low end digicam? high end DSLR? Scans?
graphics? letters?)
- How much and how often? (tons every day? occasionally?
- Size? (only letter? posters?)
- On what? (just on regular paper; photo paper; heavy stock?)
- For what? (archival? proofing?)
- What's reasonable speed? Most printers today are "faster" compared
with those of a couple of years ago, but you still might not consider
them "reasonable".

After you decide what you need, you might look at DPReview.com printer
forums, or read some printer reviews. I have a number of printers and
find them good for different things. I print a lot of high quality
photos and like the ability to go "B" size occasionally.
- Epson 1270: a bit old, but produces excellent prints.
- HP8250: a very nice networked printer that does a decent job on color
photos (can't do high or subtle detail) and excellent on black and white
and text documents. It also has built in Ethernet, which is a plus for
me. Drawback to HP: inks aren't very water-fast. Epson is much better
here. If you want a bit of water resistance from HP, use Ilford papers.
- Epson C84 (current model is probably a C86 or C88) is reasonably fast,
does a decent job on photos, and is a nice all around printer.

I've just bought an Epson R2400 to replace the 1270. If you have the
funds, you'd be wise to look into the R1800 and R2400. The only thing I
wish the Epsons had was a good Ethernet option. HP seems to lead with
that.

Epson and HP seem to have better print longevity than current Canons,
but I've not followed Canon recently. From what I've read and seen, the
R1800 and R2400 may be the current cream of the crop for large format
archival color printers, unless you own a pro lab and can afford BigBux
for a printer.

Abbott


In article
<earle.jones-5E74C1.16092526112005.TakeThisOut@comcast.dca.giganews.com>,
Earle Jones <earle.jones.TakeThisOut@comcast.net> wrote:

> What is the best photo printer for me? I will always be running the
> latest Mac System software. Is a Canon or HP a better bet for me?
> I want high picture quality and some reasonable speed.
>
> Many thanks!
>
> earle
> *
 >> Stay informed about: New printer for OSX 10.4.3 

Earle Jones <earle.jones RemoveThis @comcast.net> wrote:

> Greetings!
>
> I'm about to replace my old Epson Stylus Photo 780 with a new photo
> printer. The Epson works well (in System 9) but it's very slow.
> The picture quality is great.
>
> I have tried this printer with the Epson GIMPS/CUPS drivers that
> come in Sys X 10.4.3 but they are not nearly as good as the original
> System 9 drivers that came with the printer. Unfortunately this
> driver will not run in "Classic" mode -- I have to devote a
> partition to Sys 9.2.2 and boot up there every time I want to print.

Except that - as Elmo points out - 9.2.2 does *not* need its own
partition. But you don't wat to rebbot, right ?

> For example -- the Epson drivers have paper size selection that
> includes all of the Epson papers and sizes, including the
> "no-perforations 4X6 Premium Glossy Photo Paper".
>
> Using the Sys X driver, I can't do borderless printing.
>
> What is the best photo printer for me? I will always be running the
> latest Mac System software. Is a Canon or HP a better bet for me?
> I want high picture quality and some reasonable speed.

I have no experience with newer HPs, but most HP inkjets I have seen
have made a very poor impression mechanically. They appeared ready to
fall apart at any time - and most of them in fact did. Take a look at
the new Canon PIXMA series - I have an iP4000 and I am thrilled.

--
I recommend Macs to my friends, and Windows machines
to those whom I don't mind billing by the hour
 >> Stay informed about: New printer for OSX 10.4.3