Hi all,

Just a request for your best (and worst) recomendations to the idea that at present I have an Epson C60 that is three years old, does stirling work, but has started to eat more ink in head cleaning than it uses in actual printing.

I was thinking of upgrading to the Epson R200 that will allow me to print edge to edge, print on CD's and have six ink cartridges.

Is it worth it? Are six cartridges really going to deliver economy over the two that just do BW and Colour. To replace my curent cartridges costs me £20, to replace six will cost nearly £40.

I have no objection to paying that if the quality is really better, but we only print the odd photo, but when we do we demand the highest standard available in a home printer.

Also, whilst the CD printing sounds great, I'm told that you have to use special CD's that are not that readily available. consequently a salesman in a computer shop suggested that so long as you put a blank CD cover on a disk, then you can just print to it as you would have done through the computers software. Anyone tried this? does it work?

Thanks as ever for the answers.

BB

I've got a Canon S820 (six tanks and removeable print head)
Tanks are £7-8 in PC World for Canon ink, but compatibles are available for £3. I refill the black, but replace the colours.
On the economy side, if you run out of a colour, you only replace what's needed, not ALL the colours.

It also prints to the edge, but won't print on CD's

The Epson prints CDs by using a flat feed system and a cardboard holder. Printable CDS are available from www.mediainternational.com or if you live in the E Mids, try www.ukfairs.net (100 for £13)
Put the CD in the cardboard holder then print it as normal.

Or using the Canon, print the label, then stick it on a CD. A cheaper way, as if you screw up the print, then you've only wasted a sticker, not a CD.

Epsons can be a nightmare if they are networked or through a printer sharing switch. If the data flow gets interrupted, they produce reams and reams of non-stop gibberish Theonly way to clear this is to pull the power cable out, then clear down the print queue and start again.

Time for one of my sideways looks.

Kept mum for a few months to see if anyone would mention it here's what I did and works very well for the family. Seeing as I view quality as a prime and hate running costs I went to PC world and bought a Samsung laser for 49 Quid. That is right - just under £50 GBP

The vast majority of (cheap) paper going through the machine is coming out at a 10th or less of the cost of any inkjet. In home use the toner will outlast your computer but if you do decide to print a few copies of 'War and Peace' it is 60 smackers for your next 20,000 pages of 'highjack this' logs.

The family now print snaps using online or high street shops - can't compete with the prices. Only photos they struggle with go through the home printer. The industry's own statistics show photo printing to actually be a minimal activity for the vast majority - something we tend to lose sight of in a forum populated by keen, computer literate people.

If you combine the cost of your next set of colour cartidges and a pack of photo paper you can actually have a laser working for the majority of your printing for the same money.

Regards
Rob Lloyd

Epsons can be a nightmare if they are networked or through a printer sharing switch. If the data flow gets interrupted, they produce reams and reams of non-stop gibberish The only way to clear this is to pull the power cable out, then clear down the print queue and start again.

Yep, been there, done that!

Thanks for the replies.

I purchased an Epson R200 recently (£69 from PC world), good quality prints advantage of the 6 cartridges are that you can replace them one at a time (office world were doing a deal 3 for the price of 2), but as you say it is expensive to replace all at once. The other thing is it can recognise non Epson cartridges but dont see any reduction in print quality.

It also has a paper sensor so it manages to work out what type of paper you are using eg plain or photo paper etc, also prints on 200gm card if required. Good output on acetate sheet as well.

Have tried the CD printing and the results are reasonably good.

Happy with the printer and the quality of the output bith text and photos.

Thanks Cuthbeg, but I'm going to have to come round to your house and strangle you! £69 for an R200?. My PC world in Stoke on Trent advertised them for £99.99 and thanks to a computer error I got mine for £85 this afternoon.

Still I'll let you off for the useful advice. I use Aktiv direct for all my replica cartridges and they have been excellent in quality and service.

They're here.

Aktiv Direct (http://www.aktivdirect.co.uk/)

BoeingBoy you may find these usefull Planet Micro (http://www.planetmicro.co.uk/default.asp) it's advertised there at £82, and it's only a 5 min drive from EGCC!

It depends to a large extent on your budget. 6 months ago I bought an Epson Photo 1290 [relatively expensive]. It does A3 and has an attachment that can take paper rolls for banners [included]. It has an impressive photo performance using Epson photo quality glossy film and has 2 cartridges [B & W and colour - costing £19 and £23 at my small local office supply shop]. I don't use generics - I have found them not to be a money saver and sometimes the colours are dodgy [not consistant].

It's home networked for 2 PCs and a laptop, and has never hiccuped once.

My last Epson was equally good and lasted 5 years...

Thanks Fjjp, I don't need A3 sizing so that is not an issue for me.

I did get the R200 for £85 while it was being advertised for £100. Don't know why, but wasn't going to argue!

I am impressed by the quality, and I hope by the economy. I have printed a few CD's (By just sticking the blank paper on before printing). Good results given the paper quality.

I also did some colour work and am bowled over by the difference. Whether it's the six cartridges or just upgraded printer headsand software, but compared to our old C60 this is definitely the dogs cohonas.


spannersatcx. Thanks for the link to Micro. I will give them a try next time I need something, and as you say, not far from work.

Guys!

I have an epson 640 printer and use ink from http://www.choicestationery.com/acatalog/Epson_Stylus_Colour_440.html which costs £14.49 for 4 colour and 4 black cartridges...and it is PERFECT.

They seem to supply ink for a range of printers. AND it arrived by post the next day.

SERIOUSLY worth trying...

Cheers...

FJJP:

I have a 1290 and use generic ink which is really excellent and costs 9.99 for 3 colour cartridges and 7.99 for 3 black. PM me for details of where to get it, if interested.

I have been using Epson printers for as long as I can remember, since I replaced my 18 pin brother dot matrix unit. All my epsons have been run on Epson ink - that is the cartridges that were supplied with the printer, but since then, no noticeable difference has been obtained with compatible cartridges acquired here (http://www.tonezoneuk.com). Excellent service, very cheap(!) carriage costs and I have been using them for years and years.

P.P.

I use a very old HP laserjet for normal B&W printing - it's excellent, totally reliable, and cheap to run.

I do colour work on a very cheap Epson C70. It uses more ink in head-cleaning than in printing, but once sorted, it's fine.

I tried cheapo ink cartridges, and some were rubbish. Aktiv are fine - and their photo-quality glossy paper is top notch.

Daughter works from home, and has a colour Laser. It's big, expensive, and excellent. Totally OTT for anything less than heavy business use, though.