Printer for small school

[BobWarner]

Need some expert advice.   My wife and I run a small private school - 60 kids ages 5 - 13.

Our color printer needs seem to fall into 3 categories:

1.  Business use:  8-1/2 by 11 fast inkjet - decent quality is perfectly okay:  calendars, educational sheets, newsletters, etc..   Printed on copy paper.

2.  We have a band/choir/dance program and 3 or 4 times a year we do a show for the parents.   I have been doing the programs (color programs 11X17 folded) and getting about 200 printed up for each show but it just seems to be stupidly expensive and I want to be able to print these up myself on a decent quality bond.  Want good quality but not photo quality.

3.  Color photos taken by me and the kids.  The kids are taught the basics of photography and can use the school's Canon 7D.  (Mac, Photoshop CS3)   I'm not one to skimp because they are kids, and some of them get really stunning shots so I want them to get a sense of professional quality.   I myself am just now venturing out of the film world (Pentax 67) and want to print my own stuff up to 16X20.    Considering the Epson 3880.  

My thoughts/concerns are:

1.  I think I could get a decent 11X17 printer for under $500 and use this as a workhorse for the calendars, newsletters, etc. and the very occasional 11X17 needs (school shows).  This would replace an ancient HP1220 for which I have nothing but praise considering the use/abuse its been put through - but's its now having some troubles.  And mine doesn't seem to like to be fed anything but rather lightweight stock.  I'd like to do the programs on something a bit heavier.  Would greatly appreciate any recommendations for a workhorse printer.

     For this printer, reliability is the major factor, followed by ink cost, followed by speed.  

2.  Obviously the Epson 3880 will get professional results......BUT, it's NOT going to get regular use and I'm worried about that.  Thinking about my use, and the kid's use, it might be needed one week to print 30  8X10s and 10  16X20s and then it might sit and do almost nothing for 3 - 4 weeks.   And I've heard about continuous ink systems to save ink costs but not sure if this works for a printer that it not regularly used.   In this area, I don't want to have a half-assed approach so I just need to be told the truth:  "Buddy, if you're going to get a printer like this, and you want pro results, this is what is required so just get your act together or don't jump into this world."   Now I just don't know much about printers, so if some are less finicky than others and still get pro results then that would be helpful to know.

Appreciate any advice.

Bob

[Dick Roadnight]

You can get prints acceptable for programs at a low cost per print using a colour lazer printer, but a good, big new one (with stitching and folding) is about £15,000!

You might be able to produce the file and get your local stationer to print it on their machine (many machines used as photocopiers can be used as printers, printing from CD or your laptop) or you could buy a small or 2nd hand machine, and perhaps hand fold A3 to A4, or A4 to A5, as I do for the (monochrome) 8 page brochures for my wife's ballet, tap and gymnastics school ( kids aged 2.5 to 18).

¿presumably, if you spell "colour" without a "u" you are not on the right side of the pond?

[Peter McLennan]

For this printer, reliability is the major factor, followed by ink cost, followed by speed.  
Bob

Most inkjet printers that are not used for paying work are severely constrained by the cost of printing.   You want to do volume printing for your calendars and newspapers and you want your students to be able to print without worrying about the cost.  Both of these demands offer no way of recovering the cost for each print as, say a wedding or portrait photographer would.

You need a Continuous Inking System.  Such a system will cut your cost per print by a factor of four.  Your newsletters will look great and your students will be inspired by the high quality of their work.  The prints will be beautiful and LARGE.  I print 17X25 images for a total materials cost of about $5.00

There are many such systems available, and I'd choose my printer on the basis of what CIS is available for that printer.  An Epson 4800 or 3800 is a workhorse printer, capable of everything you need to do and both have CIS systems available.  I have no experience with printers other than Epson.

I have good, long-term experience with CIS systems from CIS Associates and MediaStreet.