Really? Maybe i just always end up with bad or abused ones. My first home printer was a cannon and never printed out as shone on the screen. At work we had one that would stop printing in the middle of a page ect. ect... of all 6 cannon printers i have come into contact with none of them worked well enough to do any good....... maybe it is just me

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Moving along.

Past the 1/2 way point and stuck again.

I also had a canon to start with and it always left awful lines through the printing. I hated it. I bought a HP Photo printer and I'll never use another brand again. Switching to HP was the best thing I ever did.

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Kim

Allow me to add my voice to the HP brigade....I had an Epson originally. It was fine, but not a photo printer....this was 10 years ago. The I got an HP and noticed some real differences that have already been pointed out....HP was far easier to install, and I like HP paper better than Epson, and so being a purist I reccomend using the paper and ink that goes with the printer. I once used cheap ink in my printer...and gummed up the printer. Also would like to point out....I don't know about the archival quality of cheap ink either....but I do know what HP claims the archival quality for their inks is. This is important you don't want all your wifes scrapbook pages to fade in 5 years or even 25 years....you want them to last. We can't get the 12 x 12 printers up here.....so I am printing on borderless 81/2 by 11. I buy clear archival sleeves to put the layouts in and then bung em in a binder. Once a year they get spiral bound into a book at the local staples.....this works well for me. It's true though, that each person has their personal preference.....I am sure your wife will love the thought....wish my hubby would think that way (I get "useful" things....like a vacuum cleaner, etc LOL).

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Happy in the Digital World

And.. I'll bring my voice over to the Canon side.. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the majority of canon printers.. especially the i960 and i9900. They are both one of the highest rated printers on the market and I have had 0 problems with them over the years.. I use mine regularly to produce stunning prints. They don't clog and the ink carts are quite cheap and reasonable..

On the bad side.. all the printers discussed here have a limited lifespan for their prints. Since they are all dye inks, most will fade over time. Given scrapers typically put their prints in archival albums kept in the dark, this isn't as much of a problem and the prints will last longer. However, you will most likely use the printer for toher things like prints to display.. this could lead to faded prints.

Personally, I use my Canon dye printers for personal items that I can easily reprint if they do fade. The i960 churns out 100s of notecards for me each month. For prints that are going to customers from photo shoots.. I use a professional service like WHCC or MPIX. They are printed on professional equip with 200 year ratings... and the prices are very very reasonsable.

Oh.. and you can get a i960 for around $150 if you look around.. the i9900 (wide carriage for those 12x12 jobs) goes for outside your range.. $399. i960 will do a great job.. I love mine!

I'm a died in the wool, 100% Epson Stylus Photo gal and I highly recommend the Epson Stylus Photo printers. Their DuraBrite inks are to die for. I scrap at 8x8 and I print my layouts on 8-1/2 x 11 paper. I use only the Epson Heavyweight Matte paper and my printouts are gorgeous. Then I trim them so they'll fit in an 8x8 album.

I, too, recommend using the same brand paper and ink as your printer. It has made a noticeable difference in my printouts. My experience with off-brand ink cartridges was an expensive and unpleasant one. And I use only Epson papers for any printout that's important. They cost more than store brands but they look better than store brands.

Epson stand-alone printers usually have a larger footprint than HP printers because of the straight path for the paper feeder, but I find they also have fewer paper jams because of the straight paper path. I'm waiting for my current Epson printer to die so I can get one of the jazzier new ones, but it just won't die!! It just keeps printing and printing and printing. What's a gal to do?

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Did you know that I blog? Gypsy Gold Studio

you could drop something on it.. but seriously if it works for you why get a new one anyewayu?

All the printers are seriously going to be ok.. all have issues:
1. Epson tend to clog and love to eat ink
2. Canon dye inks don't have archival quality
3. HP jam and their heads dye..

but they all have pluses as well
1. Epson have archival inks for their smaller printers
2. Canon prints are eye popping in their color and they print amazingly fast
3. HP is usually miserly with their ink usage and have replaceable heads

It all depends on you.. again - for scrapping.. I wouldn't worry too much - you will be fine with any of these.. Go to a store.. get some prints samples.. and then make a decision. You can always return the printer if it doesn't work out.

As for using inks/papers from a company... while this will usually produce good results.. the offerings from high quality 3rd party paper companies will usually produce even better results on higher quality paper.. red river, hamershule, ilford are all fine products that wil work just fine.

For ink.. I agree with you. Unless you are going to setup a reservoir system with bulk ink... just stick with the official ink. Purchase online and save $$$ but ink by 3rd party vendors will destroy your printer over time.. especially if you don't print with it every day.

Anyway.. good luck!

personally I would go with a high resolution photo printer that you're going to use (either HP or Epson). then head to a local printer (photo lab) and get her a really big gift card!

After the 5x7 $140 gift album, I don't do too much printing at home anymore. *shrug* I was in a rush rush rush to get that album done so I didn't print 2-5x7 per page, just 1, but the bulk of my cost was in the ink. But really it came down to wear and tear on the printer -- I flat wore the thing out and it was a business class HP photo printer.

I am looking to replace it (assuming that it isn't just the power cord, which I am hoping) and I am looking at HP and Epson. I am leaning more towards another HP. I am looking for one with the 6 ink cart.

I prefer FujiFilm paper over the HP paper, personally.
I use HP inks except in my old old hp deskjet that isn't used for anything but paper printing.

I still don't think that printing at home is anymore economical if you shop around.

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~*~ Stacey ~*~
Mother to 3 boys | Digital Scrapbooking Junkie | Web Designer | Digital Scrapbook Kit Designer

Yes.. it is certainlyu not more economical.. but it is convenient and instantaneous.. Again - it depends on what you are printing and who your target audience is.. If you are just creating scrapbook pages for yourself.. basically.. and mid-range photo printer will suffice. If you are printing photos for clients.. you will want the more expensive pigment ink archival printers that are now coming out.

But again.. please don't dismiss Canon printers.. they are rated very highly and have the best color gamut of all the home printers.. the i960 (6 color dye) can be found cheaply and the speed and color renditin is simply amazing!