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View Full Version : What Printer for Digital Pictures?



Gregg Machel
03-22-2005, 05:59 PM
What printer do you all use for printing your digital pictures? I've been considering updating my printer. Do any of you use the printer where you insert the memory card into it directly, with the little monitor on it? Is that a good thing to have, or is it redundant if you already store your images on your computer?

Jay Murakoshi
03-22-2005, 10:26 PM
Gregg,

I've been using a Epson PictureMate printer. It prints 4"x6" without a computer. Just plug in the flash cards and select the pictures and print.
It's about 29 cents per print.
Great color and no computer

Jay

Gregg Machel
03-22-2005, 10:48 PM
I've got a Kodak EasyShare DX7440 and they have a docking station that comes with a printer that I have been looking at for around $150, but then I think to myself, I'm a computer guy, so why am I buying this, I should get one of the big fancy computer printers. It would add an extra step by using a regular printer (that accepts flash cards), but it would also make the printer less accessible to the rest of the family. Ahhh, the decisions that we are forced to make!

Adam Grace
03-22-2005, 10:58 PM
With all of the pictures that I have taken lately I have not printed any of them. Crazy. I own a HP Deskjet 3650 which I received as a X-Mas gift. I need to give it a try soon.

Gregg Machel
03-22-2005, 11:50 PM
Good point, I wonder how often I would end up printing anyway? When I'm shopping for a printer of course the thought is I would use this all the time, but after the fact, I probably wouldn't print that much anyway. I'm leaning towards the computer printer now with flash card support.

Eugene Graham
03-23-2005, 08:10 AM
Currently I am using a Canon I560s (approx cost $100. This is a four color printer that used four seperate cartridges for each color. It does edge to edge, and has been a great printer. This printer is also quite fast. Normaly each cartridge is about $11, but I have been buying non OEM ones on ebay for about $1.85 each.

Before this I had always used HP's but my last photo printer with them was just a headache. Ink prices were way high and the quality was lacking. Photo life with this printer is approx 20 years

If I was to by another printer now, I would get the Canon IP6000D. This is a Six Color Cartridge (same type of cartridge as my I560s), has the screen and card reader built into it. I believe the price on this is just under $170. Photo life with this printer is approx 20 years

I also have access to the HP Photosmart 375. This is a compact 4X6 printer with screen and reader. You can also get a battery pack with this. This would work well to take on a trip and print photos on anywere. The quality of this printer has been exceptional. The colors are extremely vivid. This goes for about $150 - $200 . Photo life with this printer ip approx 80 years

One thing to consider when printing is to make sure you use quality paper. Make sure it is Pro. This might be a little more expensive, but it determines how well your photos will turn out. My favorite paper is made by Ilford. You can get this at Sam's Club and comes in both 4X6 and 8X10. This has the best price per sheet of any other high quality paper about $22 for a package of 200 4X6 at Sams Club. This paper is quick dry, heavy, and shows a good photo.


STAY AWAY from ROYAL BRITES, as this is the worst paper I have ever seen. They fool people with their cheap prices. The quality is horrible. The paper takes at least 48 hours to semi dry.

The four considerations I look at when checking out printers are Price, Quality, Fade Life, and Ease of use.

MSP
03-23-2005, 08:53 AM
I own a Cannon S900 photo printer that rarely gets turned on. With everyone except my parents owning a PC and or a DVD player that will do slide shows, I simply copy my photos on a CD and play them on the Big Screen. My TV also has a memory card reader and I can just put in my memory card from the camera and check them out that way. The only disadvantage is obviously not having a DVD player with you at all times. I have plenty of boxes of photos cluttering up the house from the olden days and decided a CD is much easier to store than boxes of pics. I believe they will not tend to fade over the years either! :lol:

$.02

Adam Grace
03-23-2005, 09:35 AM
Mike, you're a funny dude :!:

I too will tend to keep most of my pictures on disks.

If I want a print of a picture badly enough I can take my photo CD to any photo development establishment have them print out particular pictures for me.

If I am too lazy to drive to a Longs I can print out pictures at my place with my own printer and expect a lower quality for instant gratification.

Gregg Machel
03-23-2005, 10:47 AM
Eugene ... wow! That was an impressive review! Thanks. :)

Bill Kiene semi-retired
03-23-2005, 11:39 AM
Lots of people just take their card or disc to Costco, Sam's Club, Longs, etc for prints.

I think that HP, Epson and Canon are all putting out pretty nice ink jet printers.

Andy Guibord has a speical large format 11 x 17 Epson which puts out some pretty nice large prints.

I guess it has a lot to do with your needs?

HackleJockey
03-26-2005, 07:03 PM
Sam's Club has a machine that does the prints for either .19 or .29 each. Can't vouch for the quality, but at that price, sounds like it's worth a try...no investment needed.

HackleJockey
03-26-2005, 07:14 PM
Sam's Club has a machine that does the prints for either .19 or .29 each. Can't vouch for the quality, but at that price, sounds like it's worth a try...no investment needed.

Eugene Graham
03-26-2005, 08:19 PM
I have used Sam's Club on Watt ave for quite a few prints. They tend to be decent for the price 14 Cents for a 4 X 6. They print these in one hour. They print up to 8 X 10 in the store, and are able to do up to large poster sized via their webpage.

I was imressed with the 16 X 20 I had printed via the web (cost about $15 each), and framed them myself. The colors were correct. Just make sure you shoot with a higher resolution if you are doing larger prints.

BigBuddha
05-03-2005, 02:32 PM
I have been using an HP 7550. You can just plug the card into it and it has a viewing screen so you can veiw the pic before printing it. There are two card ports and it takes a variety of cards.

Adam Grace
05-03-2005, 02:51 PM
For 4x6" prints only the Epson Picturemate is a great photo printer.

The picturemate is only for printing 4x6 pictures. The quality is great and you can purchase photo paper and ink in one easy package. One of my roomates and fellow Best Buy employees owns that printer and it produces great looking pictures.

SullyTM
05-03-2005, 03:16 PM
...and to think I used to develop my black & white film in my bathroom when I lived in Berkeley! Times have changed! All the digital talk is making it easier for me to shop for a camera. Thanks.

jbpreston
07-08-2005, 04:39 PM
Costco Online!
http://www.costco.com/photocenter/photocenter.aspx?cat=2781

Even though I work for an outfit that produces great quality printers, I have to say nothing is easier than uploading your pics on costco online and paying for them when you pick them up. They are usually done before you get there at 14 cents a pic. There's no way to print at home for anything close to 14 cents.

Even though the stores have increased their machines from 1 to 3, doing it from home reduced the risk of getting in line behind a bunch of people that are sorting through their pictures for the first time one by one.

One other thing. the paper quality is much better at Costco. It seems to be twice as thick as the Sam's club paper. I keep a membership at Costco just for the printing.

Alastair
07-11-2005, 01:50 AM
I have a Hewlett Packard Photosmart 7660 and I love it. It just does it all. I would agree that you need to buy good paper for photos.

crashq
09-07-2005, 06:05 PM
You can also order the prints online through various places if you want to wait. I saw comparison between home and online printing (unfortunately I don't remember where it was, but I do remember it was from a reputable source like one of the top computer or photo magazines). The investigators found that most of the online places had better quality photos for cheaper than you could print them on your home printer because they have very high quality, fast printers.

Ofoto.com (now kodakgallery.com) was best, but the others were right up there, too. There are a lot of these places Yahoo photos, Snapfish, etc. The only drawback is that you have to wait for them to mail them to you. For small quantities they are $0.19-0.25 per print. Some have a special price for first time orders, too.