What Printer for Digital Pictures?

[Gregg Machel]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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!

$.02

[Adam Grace]

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]

Eugene ... wow! That was an impressive review! Thanks.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

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?