Largest format "trouble free" printer

[enduser]

Although I'm a Canon user, I think there's little doubt that the HP's head design is the easiest to live with.  Roughly speaking the cost of full head replacement is half Canon's and a quarter of Epson's.  And now Epson will no longer supply heads to users you have to add a mechanic's fee to the cost.

If my Canon ever quits Ill certainly go to HP.  Had a Design Jet 90 dye machine of theirs a few years ago and the images were stunning, but so temporary.

[nykr95]

The print speed, vacuum paper path, front loading and quality are great but I would avoid Canon for the following reasons:
The heads are expensive to replace - designed to be a consumable.  They tend to fail and burn out from 1 to 3 circuit boards in the process (just look at the number of used IPF300's being sold for $250 (they all have board failures).  When you have an error or need to replace a printhead they just burn through all your ink.  So the cost of troubleshooting a problem is ridiculous - even if you are under warranty - consumables are not included unless they feel sorry for you.  If you are out of warranty the flat rate repair cost is $1500.  Which is probably worth it because generally you need to replace several expensive boards.

HP 3200 is slower but rock solid - printheads cheap - very little printhead issues.

Don't know about Epson.

[Czornyj]

When you have an error or need to replace a printhead they just burn through all your ink.

I have no clue what you're talking about - I didn't notice any substantial ink waste while head change, not to mention "all my ink". There were some quality issues with a part of PF-05 print heads in the past, but a non defective Canon print head can print for ages - there's 2,4x more of nozzles than in HP (2560 vs 1056 nozzles per color), so there's more spares.

[hanzo]

I have an R3000.. for some, arguably not LF.. but I believe from tech perspective, not much difference.
Its been 3 years without a serious problem, nothing a clean cycle could not solve.
I only print occasionally, sometimes just once in a month. But I do live in a humid area

[deanwork]

I have all three of the major brands. My HPZ is by far the oldest at 7.5 years and still runs like it is brand new.  I was very surprised at two things.1. how long the $70.00 print heads go without replacing and how easy and cheap it was to replace them when they were needing it. 2. how long this I 1 internal spectra has operated without ever giving me any trouble. I really got my money's worth out of this printer and I've used it a lot for big prints for years on all media including canvas.

What is nice about their head design is that if one nozzle goes you only replace a head for two nozzles, not 6 like Canon or all of them like Epson. Epson LF heads have a slightly better dither than the others but when even one nozzles goes ( as my two year old 9890 has two nozzles that stopped) it is a really scary prospect. And their warranties on the heads stop at two years I've been told.  You are always in this position of do I replace the printer or pay over two grand to have a new head put in..and then have it happen again in two more years, or less, because of those damn pressure issues.

Canon has apparently improved their head design. I didn't notice any ink waste at all when changing that head, and of course you do that yourself, not with a $1,500.00 service call, not like I would have with an Epson. Since  they put in two new free heads for me, my 8300 it is working perfectly and like the HP with never a missing nozzle issue or requiring manual head cleanings, unless the head is dead. You do save some on the inks with the Canon if you buy the big carts like I do and you don't think about it much and its much faster. If you don't do a whole lot of printing and want a printer that will always be ready to go the Hp I believe is the biggest bang for the buck and it does everything very well, and their warranties are much cheaper than Epson or Canon. The only down side of the Z in my experience is that you have to replace that belt about every 3 years if you use the printer a lot, probably longer if you print modestly. So, I would either keep it in warranty for that reason or learn how to replace that belt yourself.

john

[enduser]

Canon's 8300 had a few head problems due to manufacturing problems arising from supply issues when the tsunami struck Japan. As Canon users will tell you, they got free replacements in most cases.

The real reason to go to a LF printer is to lower the cost of ink, it's much cheaper per ml in larger containers. However, as a pecentage of the costs involved in producing the art work, the cost of ink or head replacement is negligeable for Canon and HP.

[One Frame at a Time]

Another vote for the 3880.  I've owned it 3 years and left it sit each year for 4 to 6.5 months.  I store it in the basement near the floor with the thought the humidity is higher.  Humidity was about 30 pct in a nearby room.  The machine ran a cleaning cycle on its own this time after sitting half a year.  No clogs so far.

[chez]

Canon's 8300 had a few head problems due to manufacturing problems arising from supply issues when the tsunami struck Japan. As Canon users will tell you, they got free replacements in most cases.

The real reason to go to a LF printer is to lower the cost of ink, it's much cheaper per ml in larger containers. However, as a pecentage of the costs involved in producing the art work, the cost of ink or head replacement is negligeable for Canon and HP.

The reason I went to a large format, 44" HP, was to print large, especially canvas. Anything smaller than a 44" printer really limits the maximum size canvas you can print if you want to put it onto stretcher bars.

[Whimsey]

I have been using Canon LF printers for about 7 years.  And yes I have heard that they have improved their printer head technology.  I started to buy generic inks from this company online InkCloners.com and they didn't clog my printer head.  I mostly used the printer for printing store banners in New York. I've given up on that gig because of competition.

[PeterAit]

It's a crap shoot. Let's face it, no one has done valid comparisons between printers for long-term reliability. It's all about the individual experiences of various people. For example, I owned an Epson 4900 for ~3 years, used infrequently, and never had a major clog or other problem. Likewise for my current 7900. But, other people have run into serious problems with these printers (which, by the way, make gorgeous prints). Same for Canon, same for HP. So, choose a printer based on its performance and how it suits your needs, buy a service contract if desired, and get down to it (printing, that is!).