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Archive 2015 · Printer: Canon or Epson

  
 
nugeny
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Printer: Canon or Epson


My faithful Epson 3880 started to act up after 6 years of service. I don't think I can save her. Now I "need" a new one. This time I want a 24". I never know any other than Epson. But I am aware that there are Canon and HP out there, Just checking on the web, Canon seem less expensive. But I am keeping myself open.
Are there any one in here who know both? I would appreciate some opinions.



Jun 29, 2015 at 08:09 PM
gdanmitchell
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Printer: Canon or Epson


I know people who use both. Some prefer one and some prefer the other. I can't tell which was used by looking at the prints.

Do you have any Epson ink cartridges still lying around? If so, that might be your decision point.



Jun 30, 2015 at 10:09 AM
ShotByTom
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Printer: Canon or Epson


I have an old Epson 7600 24" printer that I love it, but if I were to buy a new one I would get the canon. They have user replaceable print heads that can save a lot of money if they get clogged.


Jun 30, 2015 at 11:24 AM
Keith B.
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Printer: Canon or Epson


The newer -900 series Epson printers have many anecdotal reports associated with them of severe, eventually un-fixable head clogging if they are not heavily used(printing every day without fail).



Jul 01, 2015 at 02:57 AM
Peter Figen
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Printer: Canon or Epson


From what I hear, it's going to be at least another two years before Epson replaces the current models, which leaves the 79XX series six and a half years old now. They've been busy applying the current head technology across as many applications as they can to milk it for as much as they can. Not a bad thing for a company to do, I guess. I still think the Epsons are the best out there but they absolutely are prone to clogging, and not Appalachia style. I replaced the heads on my 9900 at five years and it ran about $1800. It's the same head and same labor for a 7900, which is probably not worth it on the smaller model, but if my 9900 lasts another five or six years, I'll be happy. To be honest, I don't think Epson gives two craps about small users like us. They are only concerned with larger facilities that pump through huge amounts of ink and paper - where they really make the money.

If I were in the place of the original poster, I would take a representative sample of image - at least half a dozen or so, and have them output on both Epson and Canon and see if you can tell the difference on the types of images, you make. Even if you have to pay a couple hundred dollars for test prints, it will be money well spent and you'll feel much better about your eventual decision.

With Epsons, it seems that keeping the Relative Humidity between 40 and 60 percent in your printer room, running test prints and nozzle checks every few days and changing out the rubber wiper assembly once a year, are all very good preventative measures. In fact, recently, I was having some clogging issues with mine that didn't seem to respond to cleaning how you'd expect. It had been a little over a year since the new heads. I had ordered three extra wiper assemblies at the time of the repair - so I replaced that little $15 part and now the clogging is completely gone.

There is of course, Erik's huge thread about his experiences with the 7900 over at Luminous-Landscape, but that might be light looking at youtube videos of your upcoming type of surgery - sorta not recommended, but good to know it's there.



Jul 01, 2015 at 03:14 AM
nugeny
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Printer: Canon or Epson


Epson just issued the P800,that replaces the current 3880.

Now I am eyeing Canon imagePROGRAF iPF6400 24" Printer, What do you guys think about this printer? How long can it print? and how small can it print?



Jul 01, 2015 at 09:34 AM
gdanmitchell
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Printer: Canon or Epson


A friend who does a lot of high end printing was over last night — we are part of a periodic print review group. He has experience owning and using the largest printers from Epson, HP, and Canon and he recently acquired a Canon printer.

We know the issues with the [edit!] Epsons when it comes to clogging. There will be periodic clogged jets requiring one to run the cleaning cycle, most often the ink pair cycle, occasionally the cycle for all heads, at times the stronger cleaning, and on rare occasions the need to run it more than once. It would be nice if this weren't necessary, but some regard it is the price of making inkjet prints.

The Canon printers deal with clogging in a different way, as I understand it. The jets still clog, but there are far more than necessary for each color, so the Canon printers remap them to bypass any that are clogged. It can continue to do this for some time as a portion of the jets clog up. Once too many are clogged the print head is user replaceable.

I thought that sounded like a pretty good idea since it means an alternative to running cleaning cycles as often as on Epson and then, if and when things really jam up, the ability to do my own replacement rather than calling Epson and paying a lot or simply choosing to junk the printer. But then my friend mentioned that someone else he knows using the Canon printer had only gotten 18 months out of the first head before having to replace it. Doing so is less expensive than having the same thing done on the Epson, but 18 months is quite a short interval to have to do this, and if the shorter replacement cycle turns out to be true it negates some or all of the cost advantage over the Epson.

One data point, and I have no idea whether or not it is representative.

Dan



Jul 01, 2015 at 10:19 AM
OntheRez
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Printer: Canon or Epson


Real hard question to answer as I believe both brands have strengths and weaknesses. Personally I had a Canon - I think it was something like a 9900i crap out in less than a year so switched over to Epson 3880. A quite competent machine though not capable of 24". I believe there's a significant price delta to make the jump from 13" to 24". I live deep in the desert so maintaining 40% humidity is just a joke, particularly in the winter and spring when it will run 5-7%. I do get clogged heads, but running the power clean cycle (on rare occasion 2x) has bailed me out. I did get one that clogged 2 years ago and couldn't get it clean so got a deal on a replacement. Later I found that Jon Cone had a solvent rinse that must be used before switching to pizeography. Ran it. Nozzle cleared. Now have superb B&W printing.

Have also heard complaints about nozzles on bigger Epsons, but hearing and knowing aren't the same thing, so I really can't say. Thus far for my money, I've stuck with Epson.

Robert



Jul 01, 2015 at 05:18 PM





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