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Author Topic: Which 24" wide printer  (Read 8526 times)

RichFisher

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Which 24" wide printer
« on: August 26, 2009, 12:28:46 am »

I am considering a 24" wide printer and have heard lots of good and not so good things about different printers (Canon, Epson, HP).  I am currently using an Epson 2400 and have used both Epsons and Canon printers (all 13" wide in the past).  I like to print on gloss paper for snap and may move to Harman Gloss FB AI (warmtone) for most of my serious work.  I seldom print on matte so MK is not a concern.

How have other made this decision?

My concerns are that I don't print that often (I am a serious hobbist) but would like to have the great colors of the Epson 7900 but am concerned about their tendence to clog.  I noticed that Epson has "new reduce clogging" inks.  Is this really a change in inks or simply marketing hype.   How serious are the problems with the Epson if left shutdown for  a month or so (I live in the midwest and the winters are dry and summers humid).

Between the Canon and HP, any recommendations?  

Thanks

Rich
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Ernst Dinkla

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Which 24" wide printer
« Reply #1 on: August 26, 2009, 04:35:06 am »

Quote from: RichFisher
I am considering a 24" wide printer and have heard lots of good and not so good things about different printers (Canon, Epson, HP).  I am currently using an Epson 2400 and have used both Epsons and Canon printers (all 13" wide in the past).  I like to print on gloss paper for snap and may move to Harman Gloss FB AI (warmtone) for most of my serious work.  I seldom print on matte so MK is not a concern.

How have other made this decision?

My concerns are that I don't print that often (I am a serious hobbist) but would like to have the great colors of the Epson 7900 but am concerned about their tendence to clog.  I noticed that Epson has "new reduce clogging" inks.  Is this really a change in inks or simply marketing hype.   How serious are the problems with the Epson if left shutdown for  a month or so (I live in the midwest and the winters are dry and summers humid).

Between the Canon and HP, any recommendations?  

Thanks

Rich


I think you couldn't go wrong with an HP Z3200(-PS). The Z3100 and the Z3200 have been very reliable for me with intermittent use. No clogging issues, small carts, little ink waste, no head replacements. I leave the printer unpowered if I'm going away for a weekend or for weeks but keep them powered overnight when they are used more frequently.
The software has its quirks but I wouldn't like to exchange that flaw for issues with clogs or ink and time waste on strange cleaning processes. Then there is the gloss enhancer for gloss papers on the Z3100-Z3200 models.


met vriendelijke groeten, Ernst Dinkla

Try: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/
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hsmeets

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Which 24" wide printer
« Reply #2 on: August 26, 2009, 05:26:38 am »

Quote from: RichFisher
I am considering a 24" wide printer and have heard lots of good and not so good things about different printers (Canon, Epson, HP).  I am currently using an Epson 2400 and have used both Epsons and Canon printers (all 13" wide in the past).  I like to print on gloss paper for snap and may move to Harman Gloss FB AI (warmtone) for most of my serious work.  I seldom print on matte so MK is not a concern.

How have other made this decision?

My concerns are that I don't print that often (I am a serious hobbist) but would like to have the great colors of the Epson 7900 but am concerned about their tendence to clog.  I noticed that Epson has "new reduce clogging" inks.  Is this really a change in inks or simply marketing hype.   How serious are the problems with the Epson if left shutdown for  a month or so (I live in the midwest and the winters are dry and summers humid).

Between the Canon and HP, any recommendations?  

Thanks

Rich

Canon or HP: you probably can't go wrong with either of them.

Both are frugal with ink for printing and cleaning.

Canon 6100/6200 (at least were I live: Netherlands) is substantially cheaper to buy then the HP 3200, although if you need a new printhead (or 2) for the canon it is costly. HP Heads are chaeper.

The HP brings the integrated profiling along, if you print on many different papers and keeps changing those papers frequently that is an advantage.

Canon has a nice Photoshop plugin to print your file. And if you not use the plugin but print thru the print dialog of PS and OS-X and you have installed the 'Extra driver kit' you can also nest multiple images on 1 paper (like a RIP often allows you to do) a nice bonus if you want to print small images on wider roll based paper. I'm not aware wether the HP software allows this too.

I opted for the canon, although the 17" model, so I had no to "worry" about the HP (only epson 3800/4880).

I leave the canon always on standby, it daily wakes up to check/clean, if you print every few days it just starts to print. However after longer periods (more than a week i guestimate) of no printing it does an nozzle check/clean. 2 days ago I printed a small test print after 3 weeks of inactivity: before it started to print it did a nozzle-check - clean - nozzle-check - clean - nozzle check cycle.

Permanentlely clogged nozzles are remapped to other nozzles, incurring some speed loss, I have not yet noticed that it started to print slower, when a certain amount of nozzles is clogged/remapped is exceeded it will error out on 'replace head'.



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Ryan Grayley

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Which 24" wide printer
« Reply #3 on: August 26, 2009, 06:18:04 am »

Quote from: Ernst Dinkla
I think you couldn't go wrong with an HP Z3200(-PS). The Z3100 and the Z3200 have been very reliable for me with intermittent use. No clogging issues, small carts, little ink waste, no head replacements. I leave the printer unpowered if I'm going away for a weekend or for weeks but keep them powered overnight when they are used more frequently.
The software has its quirks but I wouldn't like to exchange that flaw for issues with clogs or ink and time waste on strange cleaning processes. Then there is the gloss enhancer for gloss papers on the Z3100-Z3200 models.

I second that.
I have a Z3200 44" and an Epson 7900 and the Z3200 has been far more reliable, productive and profitable for me.
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Ryan Grayley BA IEng MIET ARPS
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RichFisher

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Which 24" wide printer
« Reply #4 on: August 26, 2009, 08:25:01 am »

Quote from: Ionaca
I second that.
I have a Z3200 44" and an Epson 7900 and the Z3200 has been far more reliable, productive and profitable for me.

Thanks for the great insights.

How does the color gamut compare between the HP Z3200 and Epson 7900?  Is the Epson that much wider/punchier?

Rich
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Ryan Grayley

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« Reply #5 on: August 26, 2009, 09:10:56 am »

Quote from: RichFisher
How does the color gamut compare between the HP Z3200 and Epson 7900?  Is the Epson that much wider/punchier?

In practical usage I haven't noticed a gamut advantage with either printer.
Both machines produce great looking prints but I have found that the Z3200 takes much less effort and setup time.
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kaelaria

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« Reply #6 on: August 27, 2009, 12:52:12 am »

I love my HP!
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Kristian Tjong

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« Reply #7 on: August 27, 2009, 10:43:57 am »

I just went through the same process. I was looking for a 24" wide printer too about less than a month ago (Although, I ended up with a 44" instead  ). I was looking at the Canon iPF6100, HP Z3200 and EPSON 7900. I went the Canon route based on the fact that Canon units are more rugged in term of performance and and quality. It seems to me that EPSON has a big problem with the printing head clogging and wasting ink. The HP was ok but the distributor seems to have no clue about their product and I worried with their after sales service. Canon strikes the balance between the other two brands. In term of IQ, I could see the difference between the prints made on each of the brand but negligible, especially, if you are not comparing it side by side. That's my opinion. Hope it helps.
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dseelig

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« Reply #8 on: August 27, 2009, 02:46:46 pm »

I love my hp z 3100 it is so good with ink. It is fine with roll paper a bit of a pain with single sheets. Much cheaper to run then my old epson 7600. It is also the most archival according to Wilhelm. Canon second and epson last. David
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abiggs

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« Reply #9 on: August 27, 2009, 03:53:45 pm »

I have an HP Z3200 and a Canon iPF8100, both 44" wide units. They are totally different animals, but here are some simple bullet points:

Z3200 cannot cut canvas.
iPF8100 can cut canvas.
Z3200 calibrates based on each paper you use.
iPF8100 calibrates using a single paper for everything.
Z3200 isn't very fast, so it is perhaps a better 'fine art' printer than a production printer.
iPF8100 is a workhorse and is heavy heavy heavy. Better for production.
Z3200 houses the roll in the back.
iPF8100 houses the roll in the front.
Z3200 can create profiles.
iPF8100 cannot.
Z3200 cartridges aren't the largest.
iPF8100 (not sure about 6100) goes up to 700ml. That is a HUGE amount of ink. I use the 330ml carts myself.

Ok. Just some bullet points off the top of my head.
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Andy Biggs
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RichFisher

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Which 24" wide printer
« Reply #10 on: August 28, 2009, 01:27:29 am »

Andy

That is quite helpful.

I will print a few images at a time and may try difference paper types.  Don't expect to print on canvas, but that could change.  However it is not part of the equation for the moment.

Thanks

Rich
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kaelaria

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« Reply #11 on: August 28, 2009, 01:29:34 am »

The not cutting canvas is all but a minor annoyance.  I simply feed it forward and run a pair of scissors down it.   I would love to have larger ink well though, and especially FRONT loading paper.  That is the single biggest improvement.
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Ryan Grayley

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« Reply #12 on: August 28, 2009, 04:11:21 am »

Even if my Z3200 could automatically cut canvas, I would still prefer to cut the prints with scissors.
A few years ago I nearly blunted my Epson 9600 cutter after cutting three or four canvases and that is an expensive replacement.
To make things a bit easier I add a narrow black line at the edge of the image file and use this as a guide to cutting.
If I am running a batch of canvases, I submit them all at once and I don't cut them until the run is complete.
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abiggs

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« Reply #13 on: August 28, 2009, 07:53:37 am »

Yeah, the Z3200 does a great job printing on canvas. Output is beautiful. Even though an older Epson *can* cut canvas, it doesn't meant that it was built for it. Canon has the best cutter for that kind of job. I am not familiar with the new 7900/9900 printer, though, and would love to hear if the cutter is up to snuff for that.

I don't like using scissors at all, because I like perfectly straight cuts right off the printer. Call me anal, but that is how I like it. When I sell my canvas prints in a tube, and not stretched, I would like my customer to see that I pay attention to small details.
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Andy Biggs
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Ryan Grayley

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« Reply #14 on: August 28, 2009, 08:03:50 am »

Quote from: abiggs
Yeah, the Z3200 does a great job printing on canvas. Output is beautiful. Even though an older Epson *can* cut canvas, it doesn't meant that it was built for it. Canon has the best cutter for that kind of job. I am not familiar with the new 7900/9900 printer, though, and would love to hear if the cutter is up to snuff for that.

I don't like using scissors at all, because I like perfectly straight cuts right off the printer. Call me anal, but that is how I like it. When I sell my canvas prints in a tube, and not stretched, I would like my customer to see that I pay attention to small details.

Yes I am also very impressed with the canvas results I am getting with the Z3200.
Once I have cut the canvas with scissors, I can use my Rotrim or a cutting mat to tidy up the cut.
The Rotrim just seems to stay sharp forever and even it it became blunt, replacement parts are available at a sensible price.
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Ryan Grayley BA IEng MIET ARPS
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kaelaria

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« Reply #15 on: August 28, 2009, 08:08:05 am »

Exactly, a quick trim is all it takes.
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Jim Pascoe

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« Reply #16 on: August 28, 2009, 11:16:20 am »

I have the Canon ipf6100. It has run for a year and a half faultlessly, and I do a lot of printing.  One point to consider if as you say you do not print that often, is that the ink cartridges are 130mm and there are 12 of them.  In a year and half of fairly high usage, I have used 12 grey cartridges, 5 photo-grey, and most of the others are only on the third cartridges, and the photo-cyan only the second.  If you do such low volumes some of the cartridges could be in the machine for years.  Would the ink still be good?

Perhaps a smaller printer like the Epson 3800 with its smaller carts would be better.

Jim
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pindman

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« Reply #17 on: August 28, 2009, 11:19:21 am »

Andy,

Do you varnish your canvas prints before you ship them?

BTW, my 9900 cuts canvas perfectly.

Paul



Quote from: abiggs
Yeah, the Z3200 does a great job printing on canvas. Output is beautiful. Even though an older Epson *can* cut canvas, it doesn't meant that it was built for it. Canon has the best cutter for that kind of job. I am not familiar with the new 7900/9900 printer, though, and would love to hear if the cutter is up to snuff for that.

I don't like using scissors at all, because I like perfectly straight cuts right off the printer. Call me anal, but that is how I like it. When I sell my canvas prints in a tube, and not stretched, I would like my customer to see that I pay attention to small details.
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abiggs

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« Reply #18 on: August 28, 2009, 04:57:32 pm »

Quote from: pindman
Andy,

Do you varnish your canvas prints before you ship them?

I do, but I have somebody do that for me. Thank God, since it is a huge pain in the butt.
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Andy Biggs
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Roscolo

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« Reply #19 on: August 29, 2009, 01:22:05 am »



On the z3100, there is a narrow groove in the front of the printer so you can manually cut canvas perfectly straight with a razor or exacto.

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