high quality photo printer

Do you care about the prints being water-resistant (won't run if you sneeze on them or if they get slightly wet in the rain)? If so, you might consider uploading your photos online to a lab where you can pick them up. A handful of stores are doing this these days.

The Epson 4880 printer, No Doubt!

http://www.inkjetart.com/4880/

Or the Epson 7880 if you want to do very large prints.

I'm not that bothered about ink running. Interestingly, using generic ink, my wife printed tee-shirt transfers and after ironing them on they went through the washing machine without fading.

I don't think that you're really interested in high quality photo prints if you even consider generic inks. Do you plan to have a custom profile made for each and every paper/ink combo that you intend to use? If you don't, and use generic inks, you're not going to get high quality, pure and simple.

Do yourself a favor and do some research on color management with regard to printing. If not, the "let's save some money and use cheap consumables" attitude be a very expensive lesson in the end, as you're going to waste a lot of them.

The generic inks were just for handouts that my wife makes for an annual meeting. It's not something she gets paid for or gets any money for so we used the cheapest ink and paper we could find. I found that ink at $1 per cartridge in Goodwill. She did some tee-shirts for the same function using very cheap tee-shirts.

I was just citing for information that my wife used cheapo generic ink and it didn't run.

I was just looking online at the Epson R380. If that does a decent job and lasts a year, it should be OK. I can afford to put the purchase of a new printer each year against tax.

I have just returned from Best Buy and now have an Epson CX9400 Fax/copier/printer with 4 ink cartridges using Durabright ink. I've seen my in-laws Epson and been impressed by the quality. There wasn't much to choose between them at $80 - $150. I got the most expensive as it was probably the best of the 4. Canon had an interesting little Pixma printer but I think it was more portable than desktop.

"We're looking for a high-quality photo printer. Cost is not necessarily an object as it is a business expense." "There wasn't much to choose between them at $80 - $150."

The Epson CX9400 is your "high quality photo printer"????

Mid to upper level HP consumer printers fits most of your needs.

EXCELLENT photo quality, seperate ink tanks, good with non HP paper. Generic inks are so-so. HP printers are also very reliable. Print head is in the cartridge body- when you change the cartridge, you change the head- no clogging or dryout to worry about.

Best,

Ross

"Canon eventually gives up printing clearly and starts printing lines across everything despite repeated print-head cleaning operations and full ink cartridges."

You are in need of a visit to a Canon authorized service centre. They will also clean the underside of the print head carriage which is where the majority of the ink gunk is. They will clean other areas, adjust and test your printer for a princely sum of $50. If you ask, the technician will also show you how to periodically clean the print head and the underside of the carriage to ensure printing bliss.

Oh, the technician will also give to you in writing the number of pages your Canon printer has printed. Over 1500 pages is a sign of a complete tuneup.

The dye inks are water soluable. But, if you print on photo paper (not photocopy paper), allow the ink to dry 24 hours and expose it to water, the ink will not smear.