Printer recommendation?

[photogmomma]

Hi! I need to get a new printer that meets the following requirements and would LOVE some suggestions! (And if there is something that I should have found that suggests some, I'd love that link...)


less than $500, or even less than $300
works with OSX (My HP 7550 does not do this well at all - plus it prints crooked now. Bleh.)
prints good photos for fun - not to sell (I like the labs I use)
prints documents well
At least 8.5x11, not necessary to be larger, but wouldn't suck, either!See, not a lot of requirements! I just don't need to do a ton with it - mainly printing docs for clients (what to do, contracts, general information) and will sometimes print photos for myself so I'd like it to be good. But since it's not a pro thing, it's not critical for it to be an amazing printer for that. (Although that would be nice! LOL!)

Thanks so much in advance!

[darkdragon]

You might not beleive me because of the price of this printer, but I recommend the Epson Stylus Photo R280. I have the older R260 that I've been using for about 2 years or more, exlusively with my Mac (OSX). I purchased it ($80) for doing printing on DVDs, but it became my "everything" printer for the Mac.

It works great, printing text pages is flawless - full coverage DVDs flawless. I also print 4x6 and 8.5x11 photos, I was actually very suprised at the qualit this thin put out (I use Epson 5* paper for photos). I've ever only had one issue and that was printing a high-key portrait, the grays looked a bit blue - My guess is that i could be corrected with an ICC profile (i'm still new to that part).

In short I highly recommend this printer. I actually have seen it on sale for as little ast $70 but normally find it at MSRP of $100.

LINK (http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/consumer/consDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&oid=63069504)

[swintonphoto]

Whatever you get, make sure it is an Epson.

[photogmomma]

Whoa! That sounds VERY interesting! And I didn't even think about printing on DVD/CDs! That's actually a GREAT idea for my clients... Doh!

I'll definitely check that printer out! :thumb

And thanks for the tip on Epson, Swintonphoto. I'd heard that before, but had forgotten!:thumb

[heatherfeather]

I use Epson RX700- it has the scanner/ copier cd printer etc and I looove it. I have had it for 4 years. My one beef is the cartriges are so expensive and I can not get them locally AT ALL. (Of course being in AK that is to be expected sometimes, but I sure wish CompUSA hadn't gone out of business up here.)

It does a pretty great job at printing prints as well as regular documents. The software isn't that shabby either. But I would say that printing on the DVD's are about the best thing- and will print on a hub printable disk no problem.

[Tee Why]

I'd recommend a Canon iP4500. It's about $130 and prints upto letter sizes.
It's very fast, has two trays, one for regular documents and one for printing photos.

Compared to the Epson RX 580 which I replaced with the Canon, it is much faster and has a slightly more vibrant colors. I also found it to use less ink (it may be b/c the free inks provided with the Epson printer does not have much ink) work well with my Canon's DPP since I already use a Canon camera. I had difficulty printing with DPP/Epson combo. It worked fine in MS document viewer/printer but not in DPP.

[photogmomma]

Hey, all! Thank you SO much for the recommendations! I started out looking at the $80 one, but decided that if I could get a better one for my budgeted price, I would. I finally settled on the Epson Stylus Photo 1400 for about $250. I'm BLOWN AWAY with the quality, the speed and the quietness of it.

It does everything I need and more and I know I"ll have it forever. (I had my last one for many years.)

Thanks again for all the help!!!

[JDouglas]

Good choice. I have the Epson 1400 on OS X. I like it.