Need new printer: Epson or Canon

[ymc226]

I am using an Epson P900 (bought new but 3 years old now) which is giving me several significant problems including black smudging on the trailing > leading edges and more importantly, the trailing edge of the print moves slightly giving a "blurring" and shifting of the paper so the print starts off centered and straight but at the end, it is askew. It's like the printer is not holding down the trailing edge hard enough that the paper slips while finishing the print.  These are the most recent issues and with 8 1/2 x 11" paper to boot which never had an issue.  While the printer worked well initially and loaded precut 13x19" and 17x22" straight, quickly it developed an issue where these paper sizes were taken up a little askew requiring me to keep modest pressure on both print guides.  Prior to this I had the 3800 which had none of these issues.

I have been using ImagePrint which has been managing the printer controls so nothing has changed.  Wanting to stay at the 17" format, I am considering a new printer as reading on various forums regarding the P900, it seems Epson is not able to fix these issues and more or less recommends a new printer which no guarantee of proper future performance.  I then looked at the P53470 but forum postings also indicated paper take up which can be askew.  Are there other reported issues with this model?

As ImagePrint also supports Canon printers, I am considering this manufacturer as well.  How is the Canon Profgraf Pro-1000?  Has it been more trouble free or are there issues such as this that causes time, ink and paper to be wasted?  It seems this printer is widely backordered.  Is it that popular or is a new model imminent? 

[Chris_Brown]

I went from Epson to Canon and haven't looked back. I prefer the thermal printhead 'cuz it doesn't clog nearly as much as the Epson. Canon also provides for user-replaceable printheads on their large format printers. Very convenient.

The difference in printhead tech is: Epson uses a piezoelectric tech to distribute ink on paper and Canon uses thermal/heat tech. The Epson "dots" are smaller (measured in picoliter) than Canon's. The thermal tech also [supposedly] isn't as precise, but that was only visible to me when viewing the ink patterns under a 10x loupe.

Since you'll use ImagePrint, you don't have to battle Canon's printer driver.

I'm not sure about the color gamut, perhaps another member will chime in.

[ymc226]

I just spoke to Epson support regarding the P900 and the rep told me there were multiple signs of hardware failure and to take it to service.  He also gave me the number for product support to learn about the the 5370 if I was interested.  Calling that number, I also told the second rep about the P900 issues and he stated that the top rear feed feeder was not meant for art paper such as Epson Hot Press Bright or Exhibition Fiber Paper and that eventually the mechanism will wear and cause the issues I am experiencing.  He suggested using only the front feeder for thicker art paper.  I will try this and if this works, it is good but it means I have to relocate the printer to a spot which has at least 16 inches of space behind the printer to lead the largest pre cut 17x22" paper.   Most probably, I will place it on the floor.