Camera Labs

Hi all

Well having worked for a major retail company i have found many finds selling printers to the consumer..

Basically some facts.

Returns (which brand was returned the most due to faults)

Lexmark (rubbish) [atleast once a week a return]
HP [once every 2 weeks]
Canon [once every 3 weeks]
Epson [Once every 5months]
Brother (best) [Once every 8months - support from brother is amazing, they send an engineer to your house if its a internal fault even on the cheapest]


Most features for money:

HP (Rubbish)
Lexmark
Canon
Epson - Brother (best)


Printing Costs (roughly, using NO official Facts, finds on ink costs)

Lexmark (Costs a bomb)
Epson
HP
Canon
Brother (Just right)


Print quality:

Lexmark (wouldn't touch this)
HP (depending on which model most prints are average!)
Canon (Good prints and has the highest DPI depending on model)
Brother (good prints but bad points are front feeding paper tray which curls paper back out onto itself)
Epson (undoubtedly Epson prints are fantastic from lowest range to the highest, good prints and some of the best with the high ends. Rear feeding paper tray which wont bend the paper or more importantly card!


As my findings are from a sales men point of view i don't recommend the Lexmark, maybe to somebody i didn't like!

Epson is my favourite hands down with good quality builds on all models

Canon are ok, but the build is very plastic!

Brother, wow these guys come a long way from what they was, good systems less maintenance than the epson but i feel epson is simple to use and brother are adding to many features it don't need like a handset and fax and god knows what else

HP, these guys really get up my sleeve! for starters they bring out a new model each month, and with an model number increment with some upgrades the previous model should have, Be careful with print heads on this range! some are not in stock in the uk!

Considering i haven't worked for the company in over a year as i got a dream job now. i still wouldn't buy a Lexmark!

_________________
Toolkit: iMac 20" C2D

Hi Flux, nice post! It's always useful to hear from someone who actually sells these things and speaks to a wide variety of customers and suppliers...

Cheers!

Gordon

Hi Flux,

you didn't tell us what most people bought at that time! Epson#1 and Canon#2?

_________________
Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

What ever i sold them, i was a sales man after all. I must admit if i liked the person i would have sold them an Epson. if i didn't think to much of them id sell them what was in there budget. I never tried selling items they simply could not afford.

I will admit also when we had promotions on and had a target to beat other stores (same company) we would force sell the items and and there are methods of talking people into any printer we liked.

Always do your research before you buy a printer and just buy it. a good tactic with all sales is to look at one model slightly cheaper and ask if the manager can do a better price or you would simply go buy the cheaper one!

Out off sales figures and the amount of people who are asses i would say the lexmark sold more because its cheap and most of the time was the cheapest printer in store.

(I judge if i like people by the way they treat me and talk to me when they first walk into a store. as anybody who has worked in retail will know that some people are friendly and most are very rude and treat you like scum and talk down to you in every respect)

_________________
Toolkit: iMac 20" C2D

I;'m sold to Canon

Yeah, see my addition to the thread here http://www.cameralabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=356

_________________
Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

I live close by to HP's printer research center. HP makes great printers. My 940c still runs good after years of service. Dont know what I will replace it with.

_________________
rv65
C-5050Z | SD700IS (IXUS800 IS) | JamCam | Quantaray RZ 800 w/ 50mm prime lens (just found but broken) (aka Cosina CT-7, Various other brands) | EOS 50D

We have too many probs with the HP printers in my office, that I'll never buy one personally!

_________________
Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Are the problematic HP printers the sort that forum members are likely to own or are they rated for high volume office work?

Bob.

_________________
OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

If HP cannot write drivers, I'm sure that does not depend on office or home-printers. And LOTS of probs were driver-related stuff...

_________________
Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

I agree. HP printer driver writers come from a different planet.

Bob.

_________________
OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

To cut to the chase: What's the best large format photoprinter for the Intel iMac? I've used Epson printers for years and years, and now -- possibly because of internal policy changes -- they seem to be headed into the toilet.

I've been upgrading all my equipment. I bought a new Intel iMac with a 20-inch screen, and just recently traded up to an Olympus E-510. I might even go farther and get the new P-1 when it comes out at the end of the year, plus their new 70-300 mm Zuiko zoom lens (equiv. to 140-600mm).

The big problem is the printer. My old Epson $100 warhorse finally bit the dust, and so I thought I'd buy an all-in-one to tide me over. So I bought the Epson CX5800F. What a piece of crap. The first one kept turning itself off and on whenever it felt like it. When it worked, it was great, but I never knew when it was going to conk out. And it guzzles ink like mad. So long story short, I used the warranty program and exchanged it for another. Lo and behold, same damn thing, only faster! It's sitting dead as a doornail while I wait for yet a third one. Meantime I found out they discontinued the model and are sending me refurbished ones! So I need two printers: one (an AIO if possible) for housekeeping and a really good one for large-format photos.

I'd been settled for months to buy the Epson R1800. I'd seen what it can do over at Samy's Camera in L.A., and the prints are fabulous! Then I started reading the reviews: "Can't get a proper driver for the Intel iMac!" It "drinks ink like a camel at an oasis" according to another man with a photo biz. Help! What do you all recommend?

Best regards,

Leonard

_________________
It's about how you treat yourself and others.

Hi leonard,

apart from the driver question for an iMac I can testify for being very content with the Duo Canon Pixma MP780 AIO and the DIN A3+ Canon Pro 9000. "apart from the driver" means, I don't know about Apple drivers

_________________
Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Thanks Thomas, you've given me a new road to explore. So far there appear to be drivers for the Mac, but no mention of whether they will work on an Intel iMac. The Canon website seems to be hiding contact phone numbers...

Leonard

_________________
It's about how you treat yourself and others.

Anyone here uses Epson printers that can print A3 and does not drinks ink like water ? Any recommendations preferable with individual ink reservoir ?

I've been using Epson 830 for some time (years) - still works - but the ink cartridges are expensive for me and now hard to come by.
Reason for the need to change - wife nagging since shooting with digital camera - there is no photo album.

I know some of the people here uses Canon , but I am a bit skeptic, but all ears ! Convince me !

_________________
Nikon D7000 and a bunch of Nikkors