A few have asked about how the Epson 11880 compares in speed to the Canon ipf6100. Being the curious and sometimes bored individual that I am, I decided to see what I could come up with. I'm sure many don't care, and most feel it really isn't the most important thing to be evaluating (that's how I feel), but I can understand why it is important to some, and as I said ... color me curious on this one.
So I have completed time tests, and have sq. ft/ hour numbers for both printers at various resolutions. Before I post those numbers, there is some information that I feel needs to accompany them to put things in perspective ... that has to do with resolution and the actual number of dots the printer is laying down.
This is an apples to oranges problem - the two printers are quite a bit different in dot density. To be fair, I believe it is important to know exactly what each printer is doing. As an example, it is true that at MAXIMUM resolution, the Canon ipf6100 prints faster than the Epson 11880. However, the Canon is printing at 2400x1200 dpi, or 2,880,000 dots per inch of material versus the Epson at 2880x1440, with is 4,417,200 dots per inch ... substantially more.
Unfortunately after a couple of hours of searching (I'm not very good with Google), I cannot find information as to what the actual dot densities are for the other settings on either printer, as well as some of the other settings of the Epson driver itself. Since they can affect speed, I think it is relevant to understand when comparing printer speeds. So if anyone can point me to some information regarding Canon's dot resolution for its High and Standard quality settings at 600dpi, as well as Epson's dot resolution at 1440 and 720 dpi it would be most helpful. Regarding the Epson, I'm also curious whether super Microweave and Finest Detail affect the number of dots being printed.
If my guesses are correct on those dot densities, it appears that both printers lay down dots at nearly identical speeds, so it really is a matter of which quality level do you want vs. the speed you need.