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Author Topic: The most consistantly reliable printer  (Read 4988 times)

dougster_ling

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The most consistantly reliable printer
« on: November 03, 2012, 07:04:26 pm »

HP z3100 or the Epson 7900 for long term use.
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deanwork

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Re: The most consistantly reliable printer
« Reply #1 on: November 03, 2012, 08:31:47 pm »

The Canon IPF 8300 because all you have to do is keep the ink and paper in it and it just works day after day with no issues.


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chez

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Re: The most consistantly reliable printer
« Reply #2 on: November 03, 2012, 09:08:14 pm »

I have a 24" and 44" z3100 going for the last 3 years without issues. Don't print daily on them but when I need to print, they never let me down.
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Rob Reiter

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Re: The most consistantly reliable printer
« Reply #3 on: November 03, 2012, 10:12:25 pm »

The Canon 8300 (and 8100 before that) has been exemplary. Next year, it will be the 8400.
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Wayne Fox

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Re: The most consistantly reliable printer
« Reply #4 on: November 04, 2012, 04:40:52 am »

HP z3100 or the Epson 7900 for long term use.
define long term use.  If  you are going to print every day, then it's probably more about features and your perception of final quality (the 8300 and 7900 are newer generation printers ).  The more you print, the less issues you will have with all of these printers.  If you are printing a lot, the 7900 wins because it will rarely have issues if used daily, you can buy 700ml cartridges so ink costs are less the paper feed system is fantastic and is really nice if you like to use several paper types, and if you like to print on thick papers the Epson straight through paper bath is the best design.
 
If you are only printing every few days and live in a dry climate, the 8300 might be less trouble on a daily basis.  It also doesn't require swapping if MK/PK inks if you like printing on both matt and gloss papers.  When it gets a unclearable clog it will use a spare nozzle, at some point all the spares will be used and head needs replaced.  The dryer the climate and the less you run them, the faster the heads will wear out.  The overall TCO probably isn't much difference over the long haul (think years) - ink for the epson or heads for the canon (which cost several hundred and there are two) ... and the canon still uses quite a bit of ink.  I think the real issue is downtime getting the printer ready to run after letting it sit for several days.  Here the 8300 wins because you just leave it on all the time and it's always ready to go.

I have a 9900 and only print every couple of weeks (or longer), and haven't had a clog in 6 months.  But I also have a controlled room at a constant 69 degrees/45% humidity.  My 4900 isn't quite as good, it often has a missing nozzle or two if I don't print something at least every 4 or 5 days.  I do use it quite often, if I print every day or at least every other day I rarely see a missing nozzle.

Of course each person has their own perception of quality, I think the Epson is the best, Canon is terrific but a slight notch less and I've never liked the z3100 (I had HP setup a demo machine twice at my previous company, really wanted to make it work because of the GO, but just couldn't get the colors to look like I wanted.) the z3200 is probably better, maybe that's the one you meant?
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neile

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Re: The most consistantly reliable printer
« Reply #5 on: November 04, 2012, 09:27:53 am »

Having never used any of the other printers listed, I'll go with the 8300. It sits in the corner of my office, quietly, waiting for my prints to come its way. When it does it wakes up, prints perfectly, and then goes back to sleep.

Neil
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aaronchan

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Re: The most consistantly reliable printer
« Reply #6 on: November 04, 2012, 09:29:48 am »

I have all 3 most recent printers, 8300, 9900 and the z3200.

Z3200 - super slow, and not a machine for "every kinds of paper". it doesn't take paper which thicker than 320gsm such as hahnemuhle baryta FB. it will scratch. Color is ok to me but def. not the best for glossy paper. I use this machine now for Matte B&W print only since it does produce the best B&W matte print compare to the rest of the 2.

9900 - problems sometime, and i use it for alternative stuff now and i don't like to ink swapping idea, don't use it that often.

8300 - my everyday machine. i use this machine for 70% of my clients and work like a horse. never let me down and it takes all kinds of material that i feed in so far.

aaron

dcburleson

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Re: The most consistantly reliable printer
« Reply #7 on: November 04, 2012, 01:20:08 pm »

For me? My HP Designjet 130. Yep, it's a dye printer. Yep, It's long in the tooth. Yep, you are limited to a couple of papers from HP for longevity. But their Premium Plus Satin is a beautiful paper. I bought it used three years ago and made a roll paper holder for it. It has set for as long as three month between prints, powered it up and made a 18x24 without a hitch. Love this printer.

Duane
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Jim Cole

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Re: The most consistantly reliable printer
« Reply #8 on: November 09, 2012, 04:45:52 pm »

My Z3100 is going on 7 years of use. I printed heavily the first 4-5 years and then only a couple of times a month for the last 2 years. Only had one head issue that took a week to solve recently and had the star-wheel assembly updated a year or so into its life. Other than that, it survived a cross-country move and has always turned out great prints, whether color on HP Pro Satin or B&W on HM photo Rag Baryta. I dread the day she finally gives up on me.
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Ernst Dinkla

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Re: The most consistantly reliable printer
« Reply #9 on: November 10, 2012, 06:27:05 am »

I dread the day she finally gives up on me.

The Z3200 is still in HP's catalog. Like the Designjet 130 that is even older in design.


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chichornio

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Re: The most consistantly reliable printer
« Reply #10 on: November 10, 2012, 10:52:27 pm »

I have both the z3200ps 44" and the 130nr. Just a few minor issues so far. Both great and reliable printers. Both serves me as a printer for my printing business. Canon and Epson? Well, may be they are great, but no need to try them yet.
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Shate98

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Re: The most consistantly reliable printer
« Reply #11 on: November 12, 2012, 11:44:50 am »

We are currently running old hp djets (5500 and 5000) that we LOVE. We tried to replace them with z3200s. Both were broken out of the box. We had an hp tech here for over a month trying to fix them. Neither ever worked. We're not going to buy a new hp. We'll buy either a canon or epson after our most recent experience with hp. We love their old machines- can leave them alone for 2 months and then print 80 prints and they run like a workhorse spitting out prints. Would have been nice to see the 3200s at work, but well, that just didn't happen.
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