Current consensus on best A3+ printer?

[Craig Arnold]

I assume it's not easy to make a poor choice anymore but...

I am thinking of selecting between:
1. Epson R2880 (£584)
2. HP B9180 (£459)
3. Canon Pro 9500 MkII (£559)

Paper selection:
Happy to print on "glossy" media - will probably use Ilford GFS as it's Michael's favourite and I am happy to take advice. I don't anticipate switching to matte papers very often, if at all.

I print maybe 80% BW, 20% colour.
I will be printing from Lightroom (and have the various LL tutorials).
Running Snow Leopard on a 2007 MacPro system.

Currently I print by printing to JPG in Lightroom with a downloaded profile from Photobox. The results are very good in most cases, but I have been thinking it might be worth having my own printer for quicker turnaround.

I usually print at 8x12, but the extra size of the A3 printer will be very useful for margins and the occasional A3 print.

Concerns:
1. I tend to go through patches where I will print quite a lot, and then it goes quiet for 4-8 weeks. Are any of the printers better at coping with quiet periods without it causing any calibration problems? Head problems? Ink problems?
2. Is there a consensus which printer is best for colour or BW? I would err on the side of best BW printer. I presume this is mostly a concern of days past.
3. Are any of these printers particularly good or bad in terms of ink costs, both with respect to the underlying inks and also cartriges for these particular printers? For example the Epson 3800 is available for £869 - would it actually be cheaper over the lifetime of the printer to get one of those because of ink cartrige costs?
4. Driver issues with Snow Leopard?
5. Are any of these printers going to match or exceed the quality of the prints from Photobox's big Polieletronica Laserlab (Lightjet?) style printers? It's a bit of hassle using them, but the quality dramatically exceeds most of the inkjet prints I have been able to produce with my now old-ish Epson R800, or from highstreet print shops with their big Epson/HP printers. I have no confidence that I have seen the best that can be achieved from inkjet prints however. Also of course the price of prints from Photobox is probably no more or possibly less than the consumables I would use printing at home. An A4 print costs £2 from Photobox.

Thanks for any advice.
Regards,
Craig

[Jeremy Roussak]

The 3800 is a very fine printer, and given the imminent availability of the 3880 there will probably be some good deals to be had.

I print rather as you describe your intentions: a good deal of B&W and long periods of disuse. I've had no problems with clogs.

As to ink, it seems very economical. Cartridges (genuine Epson) are available at good discounts from places such as Inkmasters, whom I recommend. In a bit over a year, I've printed about 70xA4, 20 or so A2 and a few 5x7; I've just had to replace my first cartridge (the LK), which bearing in mind that about 30% of the first batch of cartridges is used to prime the lines, seems pretty good. I suspect that over the lifetime of the printer, you'll save a lot by being able to use large cartridges.

It's also remarkably small for an A2 printer.

I like mine, as you'll have gathered!

Jeremy

[NigelC]

The 3800 is a very fine printer, and given the imminent availability of the 3880 there will probably be some good deals to be had.

I print rather as you describe your intentions: a good deal of B&W and long periods of disuse. I've had no problems with clogs.

As to ink, it seems very economical. Cartridges (genuine Epson) are available at good discounts from places such as Inkmasters, whom I recommend. In a bit over a year, I've printed about 70xA4, 20 or so A2 and a few 5x7; I've just had to replace my first cartridge (the LK), which bearing in mind that about 30% of the first batch of cartridges is used to prime the lines, seems pretty good. I suspect that over the lifetime of the printer, you'll save a lot by being able to use large cartridges.

It's also remarkably small for an A2 printer.

I like mine, as you'll have gathered!

Jeremy

Just checked Inkmasters website - they don't list 3800 - I find it a real problem finding suppliers for these - I think Epson is cheapest for 3800 cartridges because postage is free

[NikoJorj]

As most here : for me the best 13" printer is a 17" printer, basically because it is cheaper and better built.

The 3800 seems now tempting if prices fall enough, but I think that the day it meets its fate, I may replace my R1800+CIS with an iPf5100 (I do need roll paper for long panos).

If you're on a tight budget, a 13" with a CIS may still be cheaper than the 17" - the InkJetFly ink I use is 10 times cheaper than R1800 ink, and still 5 times cheaper than 3800 ink.
It's of course a bit more complicated (tubes and tanks...), and you need custom profiles which also have a (moderate) cost. And yes, quality is good!

[neil snape]

If it has to be an A3+ printer the 2880 is the best in the above list.
If you can spare the roll feed go to the 3880. I like the HP of course, but it's long in tooth, needs to be replaced.
The Canon 5100 is a good choice too but the footprint is huge so it may be too big physically for your needs.
Yes printing costs on the 2880 will be much higher than the others in your list if you consider the 3800-3880.

[Alan Goldhammer]

I have a 2880 and it does give stunning prints, both B&W and color.  My printing runs about 60-40 in favor of B&W and the Epson ABW print driver is excellent once you find the right setting for your paper.  My understanding is the technology in the 2880 (both hardware and software) results in slightly better prints than the 3800.  If your budget and space permit, I would get the 3880 as it will in the long run save you money with the larger ink cartridges.

[jcote]

Craig,

I will echo what the others have said. I have owned the Epson 3800 since the day it was introduced. I have never had a clog even during periods when I am gone and don't use it much. The ultrachrome inks are hard to beat for BW or color. Up until I recently made a few prints on a friend's 7900 I think the 3800 made the best inkjet prints I had ever seen (the 7900 is better on wide color gamut images).

As others have said, if you plan on using the printer much at all you will save a bunch on ink over the littler printers (not that ink is cheap).

Best

[Jeremy Roussak]

Just checked Inkmasters website - they don't list 3800 - I find it a real problem finding suppliers for these - I think Epson is cheapest for 3800 cartridges because postage is free

They sell 3800 cartridges, nevertheless: give them a call and talk to them. I've found them very helpful.

They frequently offer 10% off their usual prices, as well. I paid £62, including delivery (which might have been free; I can't remember) for two cartridges back in May. As far as I recall, Epson charges at least a third more.

Jeremy

[NigelC]

They sell 3800 cartridges, nevertheless: give them a call and talk to them. I've found them very helpful.

They frequently offer 10% off their usual prices, as well. I paid £62, including delivery (which might have been free; I can't remember) for two cartridges back in May. As far as I recall, Epson charges at least a third more.

Jeremy

Thanks I'll give them a bell but at the current rate I'll still be on my original cartridges at Xmas

[Craig Arnold]

Thank you all for the comments.

warehouseexpress has the 3800 listed for £869 inc VAT. That kinda seems like the printer is the same price as the 2880 but you pay for some extra ink. The 3880 is more in line with what one expects: £1144. The 3800 does seem like a very good deal at the moment, especially considering I mostly do BW.

I'm not sure though that I have the space in my office for a 3800, and for that matter I'm not sure how I'd manage to carry it up 3 flights of twisty stairs without doing myself an injury. :-)

Much food for thought anyway. Thanks again.

Edit:...
Holy cow - £869 with £150 cash back from Epson!! => £719 v £584 for a 2880, a difference of only £135.

[Photo Op]

...will be printing from Lightroom (and have the various LL tutorials).
Running Snow Leopard on a 2007 MacPro system.

Thanks for any advice.
Regards,
Craig

Craig- I'm not sure it has been mentioned elsewhere in the thread, but my major concern (aside from cost) would be Epson's continued support, by way of driver updates in the case of the 3800, for a machine that will be out of production once the 3880 hits the stores. Their latest driver is listed as "compatible", but I would suspect that the 3880 will get more attention going forward than the 3800. Same rationale can be made with regard to the 2880.

--Dave

[howseth]

Europeans! What is A3+ size? or A2, etc.... I am a backwards American - we still think in inches.    

Howard

[BradSmith]

Europeans! What is A3+ size? or A2, etc.... I am a backwards American - we still think in inches.    

Howard

Look it up in Wikipedia "paper size".   And I think that A3+  is 13"X19"

[Murph]

I did the same maths for my Epson 4880 w/ 110 ml @$55 each ($440) vs 12 ml for the R2400 at $14.95 each ($120), but I get 9x the ink for the real cost of $440 vs.  $1076 for the R2400.