Printer Dilemma

[jkrolleston]

Another "what to buy" I'm afraid.....i'm deliberating over an Epson R2400 or an HP B9180. I have used an HP 8750 and been very pleased but want to move up to the pigment inksets. I only print colour on either Hahnmuhle Photo Rag or Epson Archival Matte papers and up to A3+ SIZE. The general feedback seems to be that Epson do "the" inks to have, and have lots more experience in top notch printing.....but...is all that just hype from the "none other than Epson " brigade?

[Scott Martin]

Ii'm deliberating over an Epson R2400 or an HP B9180.
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The comparable Canon to also consider would be the Pixma Pro 9500 - it would be the only printer in this group to have red and green inks in addition to the usual 8. The R2400 would be the only one that requires black ink switching. HP has a rebate which can bring the B9180 down to just under $600 which is probably lower than what you could find the others for.

As for the "none other than Epson brigade" I think we've all come to appreciate the recent competition from HP and Canon in the fine art market and appreciate each brand for different reasons. Between these three brands there is no clear winner, except perhaps the consumer.

[jkrolleston]

The comparable Canon to also consider would be the Pixma Pro 9500 - it would be the only printer in this group to have red and green inks in addition to the usual 8. The R2400 would be the only one that requires black ink switching. HP has a rebate which can bring the B9180 down to just under $600 which is probably lower than what you could find the others for.

As for the "none other than Epson brigade" I think we've all come to appreciate the recent competition from HP and Canon in the fine art market and appreciate each brand for different reasons. Between these three brands there is no clear winner, except perhaps the consumer.
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many thanks for your kind reply.

[John77]

Hello,

I was in the same buying process two weeks ago. It ends up in buying the HP B9180. I bought it in Europe for 600€ (ldlc.be). I make my prints from an Apple, using Lightroom.

As this printer linearize itself to manufacturer specifications (what it is called calibration), you can feel comfortable with profile exchange (e.g.: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/hp9100Series/files/).

So far, I have printed without issues on HP Advanced Photo Gloss, Semi-Matte, Epson Archival matte, Red River Aurora, Red River Ultra Gloss 2.0. On gloss papers, gloss differential under some angle exists for sure, but these viewing angles are rarely the one used to properly see an image. Usually, I dial the brightness level in the driver between +7 or +10 to compensate the passive rendering of the paper correctly lighten against the active CRT monitor @110Cd/m². I have a good match with my CRT but a little less my laptop, even if both are calibrated.

As a low volume amateur and beginner in the print matters, I wished not to spend too much money or at least spend it for the best price/quality ratio. The HP was in my range. Recently my brother in law was looking for the R2400 but he bought the Epson 3800 as the price/quality ratio is higher due to the lower ink costs and he got the A2. As a wedding amateur photograph, his print volume are much higher than mine. For what I've seen so far, I am not jealous of his prints and pretty satisfied with the HP. The price difference has left me some money to buy papers...

Regards,

John.

[usathyan]

All 3 are good and comparable printers - you cannot go wrong with any of them. Just make up your mind and stick with it (every printer has its own set of issues as well

Just my 2 cents!

I have a HP B9180 - and i wish sometimes i had a 2400...but again, the prints from my B9180 are incredible!


If you ask me - buy one thats the cheapest of the lot - you will end up spending $$$ on ink and paper anyways

[mbridgers]

Vincent at Photo-i recently did a comparison of the 2400, Canon 9500, and HP 9180.

http://photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/printers/Pigs/page_1.html

I think it'd be difficult to go wrong with any of them, but at the Fry's electronics down the street here the HP is about USD150-200 cheaper...

[ed j]

Another "what to buy" I'm afraid.....i'm deliberating over an Epson R2400 or an HP B9180. I have used an HP 8750 and been very pleased but want to move up to the pigment inksets. I only print colour on either Hahnmuhle Photo Rag or Epson Archival Matte papers and up to A3+ SIZE. The general feedback seems to be that Epson do "the" inks to have, and have lots more experience in top notch printing.....but...is all that just hype from the "none other than Epson " brigade?
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i would gladly buy a hp printer but at 2 to 3 x the price, its not gonna happen

i have 3 epson printers right now

9800 just died after going thru 25,000 sq/ft of material. needs about $1800 worth of work. selling it as is. i replaced the head on the 9800 at about 14,000 sq/ft
plus the dampers costing me around $900 i did the work my self

current printer is a r1800 and a 7800 i just bought both
1800 is about 6 wks old and 7800 will be here a week from monday

i had a r2200 and several others loved them all

big complaint with some users is swapping matt black  ink. i never use it so its not a problem. also matt black ink is not water proof . the other inks are. if matt black get mixed in say a red that color is no loger water proof either.

 i have no loyaltie to any print mfg only my wallet

i did 1 job with the r1800 that paid for it plus.  i'll recoop my $ on the 7800 in about 1 -1/4 months.


most print jobs are 24" or smaller in width 90% of them. when some one wants something over 24" in width  will just farm it out.

if hp had a 100%  pigment printer 24" print area for under $2400 . i'd buy it

can get a 7800 new for under $2500 delivered

canons have a good price but not all the inks are water proof. i hear that blue and of course the matt black are not h2o proof

epson 2400can be had for under $700-   3800 for under $1200, 4800 for under $1800


my r1800 is used for 4x6, 5x7 and 8x10 prints

cost is about .90 cents per square foot for full coverage
my costs on the 9600 where about 70 cents per sq/foot of full coverage
not including material and laminates, or over head.

Ed

[Scott Martin]

i would gladly buy a hp printer but at 2 to 3 x the price, its not gonna happen...
epson 2400can be had for under $700- 
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But as several people have mentioned the HP B9180 is *less* than the Epson R2400 jkrolleston is considering.

[jkrolleston]

Thank you all so much ! Its been very informative.....now to go and buy one !!
JKR

i would gladly buy a hp printer but at 2 to 3 x the price, its not gonna happen

i have 3 epson printers right now

9800 just died after going thru 25,000 sq/ft of material. needs about $1800 worth of work. selling it as is. i replaced the head on the 9800 at about 14,000 sq/ft
plus the dampers costing me around $900 i did the work my self

current printer is a r1800 and a 7800 i just bought both
1800 is about 6 wks old and 7800 will be here a week from monday

i had a r2200 and several others loved them all

big complaint with some users is swapping matt black  ink. i never use it so its not a problem. also matt black ink is not water proof . the other inks are. if matt black get mixed in say a red that color is no loger water proof either.

 i have no loyaltie to any print mfg only my wallet

i did 1 job with the r1800 that paid for it plus.  i'll recoop my $ on the 7800 in about 1 -1/4 months.
most print jobs are 24" or smaller in width 90% of them. when some one wants something over 24" in width  will just farm it out.

if hp had a 100%  pigment printer 24" print area for under $2400 . i'd buy it

can get a 7800 new for under $2500 delivered

canons have a good price but not all the inks are water proof. i hear that blue and of course the matt black are not h2o proof

epson 2400can be had for under $700-   3800 for under $1200, 4800 for under $1800
my r1800 is used for 4x6, 5x7 and 8x10 prints

cost is about .90 cents per square foot for full coverage
my costs on the 9600 where about 70 cents per sq/foot of full coverage
not including material and laminates, or over head.

Ed
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