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Author Topic: Need Advice re: 17" Printer to Replace Broken P800  (Read 2117 times)

BradSmith

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Need Advice re: 17" Printer to Replace Broken P800
« on: May 31, 2018, 06:01:33 pm »

My out of warranty P800 is probably terminally broken.  Needs a new print head and maybe more. I've always disliked the black ink switching and fine art paper feed hassles and crimped sheets that come with it.  But I loved the output.  I probably have $300 worth of ink in it that I could use if I get a new P800.  But I'm tempted to switch to the Canon P-1000.  The one negative about it that I'm aware of is a maximum length print of approx 25". 

Does a new Canon P-1000 come with full 80ml carts, or does it ship with "starter" cartridges like the Epson?

Any other advice is appreciated.
Brad Smith
« Last Edit: May 31, 2018, 06:13:28 pm by BradSmith »
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Need Advice re: 17" Printer to Replace Broken P800
« Reply #1 on: May 31, 2018, 07:10:57 pm »

It comes with full 80ml cartridges, but is that really a determinative factor in choosing between these models? Both make excellent prints but there are substantial operational and feature differences between them. If I were you I'd be reading the reviews, the various forum discussions and then ranking the priority issues to see which best meets the needs.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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NAwlins_Contrarian

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Re: Need Advice re: 17" Printer to Replace Broken P800
« Reply #2 on: June 01, 2018, 12:18:46 am »

Does a new Canon P-1000 come with full 80ml carts, or does it ship with "starter" cartridges like the Epson?

Any other advice is appreciated.

Assuming you're in the U.S. and the current rebates and promotions last until you decide, you can spend $999 and have a Pro-1000 with 960 ml of ink and chroma optimizer, or you can spend $945 and have a P800 with about 1012 ml of ink. Both the net price and the ink you'd end up with are so close as to me IMO inconsequential.

So depending on your uses, needs, and preferences, what differences are potentially consequential? IMOPO:
* the Pro-1000 has chroma optimizer for printing on glossy- and luster-type papers, but the P800 does not;
* the Pro-1000 cannot print on sheets longer than (IIRC) 26.6 inches, but the P800 can print from roll paper and longer (not sure of the limit);
* the Pro-1000 does not have PK/MK switching, but the P800 does; and
* the Pro-1000 uses inks that preliminary test results suggests are significantly less fade resistant than the prior Canon inks, but the P800 uses inks that preliminary test results suggests are significantly more fade resistant than the prior Epson inks, so now the fade-resistance leader has changed.
If you read the reviews that Mark has on LuLa, and Keith has on Northlight Images, you might well come up with other distinctions that could be significant to you.
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Alan Goldhammer

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Re: Need Advice re: 17" Printer to Replace Broken P800
« Reply #3 on: June 01, 2018, 06:05:30 am »

In My Own Personal Opinion = IMOPO
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NAwlins_Contrarian

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Re: Need Advice re: 17" Printer to Replace Broken P800
« Reply #4 on: June 01, 2018, 09:40:22 am »

WHAT DOES IMOPO mean?

Sorry, I thought IMOPO was a well-known abbreviation. As Alan said, it means "in my own personal opinion", and I use it slightly differently from IMO ("in my opinion"). To me, the former suggests that others my reasonably disagree, where the latter suggests an opinion about what I suspect is an actual fact / truth.
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Rand47

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Re: Need Advice re: 17" Printer to Replace Broken P800
« Reply #5 on: June 01, 2018, 09:54:53 am »

My out of warranty P800 is probably terminally broken.  Needs a new print head and maybe more. I've always disliked the black ink switching and fine art paper feed hassles and crimped sheets that come with it.  But I loved the output.  I probably have $300 worth of ink in it that I could use if I get a new P800.  But I'm tempted to switch to the Canon P-1000.  The one negative about it that I'm aware of is a maximum length print of approx 25". 

Does a new Canon P-1000 come with full 80ml carts, or does it ship with "starter" cartridges like the Epson?

Any other advice is appreciated.
Brad Smith

Brad,

I just finished setting up a Canon P 1000 for a client.  Nice printer.  Output is on par with Epson.  The way the top feed works is vastly superior to Epson.  It has slides that center the paper pretty precisely, making loading a breeze compared to the SC P800, IMO.  The paper length restriction, lack of roll paper option, and recent fade test results make it a no-go for me, and I absolutely DETEST the Canon’s printer driver UI.  Overall, though, if the limitations mentioned above are not critical, there’s a lot to like about this printer.

I had an SC P800 and while I loved the output, I didn’t like much else.  The paper loading was abysmal.  It was “tinny” compared to my 4880.   I sold it and bought the SC P5000.  Talk about worlds apart.  If cost isn’t the critical issue for you, I can heartily recommend the 5000.  I’ve had very little, and easily handled, nozzle clogging (perhaps twice in the year).  There are images where I can see the HDX ink set “doing a little better” in fall foliage color ranges.  It is built like a tank, loads easily, has decent size ink carts.   Downsides are price (comparitively - I think the price is a good value for the quality/features) and the larger footprint (if that is a critical issue).

One place where Epson can really learn from Canon is in the paper handling extensions.  Epson’s are fiddly, stick easily when trying to “slide back in.”  Just a very sub-optimal design, IMO.  Canon’s are all nice “fold outs” that you don’t even think much about when using, as opposed to the two-handed dance one must do with the Epsons’.

Rand
« Last Edit: June 01, 2018, 10:05:58 am by Rand47 »
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Rand Scott Adams

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Re: Need Advice re: 17" Printer to Replace Broken P800
« Reply #6 on: June 02, 2018, 06:47:44 pm »

Can we get some understanding of what happened to your P800?  The 3880 it replaced was regarded at the time as one of the most reliable printers that Epson had made, despite occasional jammed black ink switches.  The P800 seems similar, other than problems with the front paper path.  The whole P series seems to be getting a pretty good reputation for reliability.  So some understanding of what happened to a printer that breaks that trend would be helpful.
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BradSmith

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Re: Need Advice re: 17" Printer to Replace Broken P800
« Reply #7 on: June 02, 2018, 09:22:14 pm »

Ferp
I've had problems with the fine art paper feeding methods since the very beginning.  Doing it as they suggests has never really worked, so I've adopted what Mark Segal has suggested which is feeding fine art from the rear, then fiddling with it so it will come out the front on top of the fine art tray rather than where it wants to go, which is below that tray. Then line it up with the front of the fine art tray, hit LOAD, then print the image.    None the less, that is not what sent it in to the repair shop to see if they can save it. 

It has started leaving ink smears/blotches along one edge of the paper path.  Not every time but maybe, one out of 3 or 4 prints.  I was printing a big bunch of Red River pecos gloss 7x10 greeting cards, (one by one....this paper feed can't correctly extract 1 sheet from a thoroughly fanned and riffled stack of 10 sheets in the top sheet feeder.  After about 15 cards, I started getting a black glob of ink in the margin of the sheet at the right hand edge of the paper as well as some apparent slight blemishes into the image/surface next to the blob.  I've cleaned the head with the folded paper towel soaked in cleaner in the lower track once before with AOK results.  I did it again this time.  Same print problem - didn't work.  I cleaned it again, seemingly the same way with no obvious problem.  When I tried my next print, it jammed, the printer started making terrible sounds and I scrambled to pull the plug.  When I pulled the paper out, the paper was all chewed up.  Tried to print again, same results.  I must have done something to the head or the track/feed mechanism under the head. 

I recognize that I probably did something really bad when I tried to clean it.  But it was unusable with ink blobs, smudging and slight print abrasions.  I know that Epson warns us not to clean the heads and it will void the warranty, but what are we supposed to do when the prints coming out of the printer have ink blobs and streaking?  I had a 3800 for 9 years and it was great.  Occassional nozzle clean and it always worked.  Not my P800.   Oh and by the way, I returned my first P800 under warranty to Epson because of inconsistent paper feeding.  Epson replaced it with this one. 

Brad
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Ferp

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Re: Need Advice re: 17" Printer to Replace Broken P800
« Reply #8 on: June 03, 2018, 08:49:45 pm »

Thanks.  I don't know what to make of that.  The fact that a printer has a good reputation doesn't mean that there won't be isolated, hard-luck problems, although that's little consolation if you're the one with the problem.

I imagine that some readers will conclude that it was your cleaning routine that caused your jamming problem.  While it can't be ruled out, plenty of people have done that routine without encountering those problems.  But you do need to be careful.  I seem to recall that InketMall have a video on the procedure for the 3880, and expect that the P800 would be similar.

The report back from the repair shop will be of interest.
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Need Advice re: 17" Printer to Replace Broken P800
« Reply #9 on: June 03, 2018, 09:01:48 pm »

Brad, if this is a replacement printer, it is probably an Epson refurb. Usually they tell you or you can tell from the hue of the blue tape. If it's a refurb it's possible that it wasn't refurbed properly so it is giving you trouble. Or the card stock you are using is too heavy for the FFA feed and the top feed, so it damaged the printer on the way through. Beyond a certain thickness the media needs to pass through the front flat feed. Hard to say. Do let us know what feedback you get from Epson. If it's still under warranty I suspect they'll replace the printer again and you'll be good to go.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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dgberg

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Re: Need Advice re: 17" Printer to Replace Broken P800
« Reply #10 on: June 03, 2018, 09:36:09 pm »

These printers, 3880 and P800 take pretty thick stock. 1.5mm to be exact which is slightly more then 1/16” thick. Hard to imagine you had card stock thicker then 1/16”
Front feed straight feed with platen at the widest and you should be good to go.
When I was printing ink aid coated metal I always had my micrometer near by just to make sure.

If I could find a new in box 3880 I would buy it in a heart beat just to put it on the shelf.
« Last Edit: June 03, 2018, 09:39:45 pm by Dan Berg »
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leuallen

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Re: Need Advice re: 17" Printer to Replace Broken P800
« Reply #11 on: June 04, 2018, 01:37:11 am »

Quote
If I could find a new in box 3880 I would buy it in a heart beat just to put it on the shelf.

They do exist. I have one.

Larry
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