B&W dedicated printer

lscaglio · 12-03-2005

After many attempts with the r800 and reading various forum I decided to buy a dedicated B&W printer with appropriate inks (MIS or UT); two economic options are the c86 and the r220; anyones in the forum may help to choose a good printer/ink combination?
Thanks
Luca

Nikon Bob · 12-03-2005

Do not overlook the HP 7960 which uses 8.5X11 paper. It will do very nice B&W with the supplied HP inks. You might find these reviews of various printers handy http://www.photo-i.co.uk/ .

Bob

Honu-Hugger · 12-03-2005

I can recommend the r2400 as well.

ray_g · 12-03-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikon Bob

Do not overlook the HP 7960 which uses 8.5X11 paper. It will do very nice B&W with the supplied HP inks. You might find these reviews of various printers handy http://www.photo-i.co.uk/ .

Bob

I agree. I have one of these and I like the results. Very inexpensive too. IIRC, Mike Johnston had a review of this printer in one of his SMP articles.

kaiyen · 12-03-2005

What's your budget?

lido · 12-03-2005

C86 with MIS inks is what I use and love. You can get a printer (refurbished) for about $19-20 on evil site and the set of MIS cartridges is $50 shipped.

The advantage of this set up compared to HP is lower initial cost as well as lower cost of ink. Plus you get archival quality pigment inks if you use archival matte papers.

richard_l · 12-03-2005

*****hp 7960*****

brightsky · 12-03-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by lido

C86 with MIS inks is what I use and love. You can get a printer (refurbished) for about $19-20 on evil site and the set of MIS cartridges is $50 shipped.

The advantage of this set up compared to HP is lower initial cost as well as lower cost of ink. Plus you get archival quality pigment inks if you use archival matte papers.

This is a great combination, especially if you are on a budget.

djon · 12-03-2005

I've read that one of those small Epsons is slightly better with glossy and the other is slightly better with matte...but I can't remember which. The Yahoo B&W inkjet site discusses this today. They're both supposed to be superb either way, and neither is supposed to do better with MIS inksets...which are the best, according to Clayton Jones (ultimate expert).

jano · 12-03-2005

me three on the hp 7960.

richard_l · 12-03-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by jano

me three on the hp 7960.

Actually me three you four.

Andrew Touchon · 12-03-2005

Me five on the 7960

djon · 12-03-2005

Here's the main B&W inkjet forum...you're probably already one of the crew...they talk a lot about inksets, particularly MIS....the two small Epsons are compared, starting somewhere a little before this post...

Elsewhere, pay special attention to what Clayton Jones has to say..browse for him.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Digita.../message/70781

egpj · 12-03-2005

If you can muster the cash get the R2400. Great B&W with no color shift.

GeneW · 12-03-2005

Thanks for all the info on the 7960. I'd been looking at the Epson R2400 but disliking the fact that it costs more than my M2 did. The 7960 seems like a very good way to get started on the printing side. I have one on order.

Gene

T_om · 12-03-2005

You might want to read some of these reviews before ordering the HP.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/cus...&s=electronics

Tom

Nikon Bob · 12-03-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by T_om

You might want to read some of these reviews before ordering the HP.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/cus...&s=electronics

Tom

I think 5 forum members finding the HP 7960 works well for them pretty telling. I sometimes get the feeling that unless a printer is Epson, a scanner is Nikon and a camera is Leica it is not taken seriously. Anyway there are lots of choices and reviews out there on the net.

Bob

richard_l · 12-03-2005

The HP 7960 is not exactly cheap to operate. However, the machine always works for me, and it works extremely well. I think the peace of mind and ease of use is worth the expense.

ray_g · 12-03-2005

I use mine almost exclusively for black and white. What I find most appealing is that it will print black blacks and beautiful gradations of gray with the HP cartridges, without the need for custom inks and tweaking programs. I don't know much about those things and I really don't want to spend the time to learn it.

The way I see it, if I have a "special" image, I just have the guy at my custom lab do it. For the rest, the HP is more than good enough. Never had a problem with mine.

If it is just for B/W, a more economical alternative is the 7660. I had one and "upgraded" because of some controversy regarding its producing inferior results compared to the more expensive 7960. I didn't see any difference.

kaiyen · 12-03-2005

Well, to be fair, the C86 option with the MIS inkset (the EZ B&W) is extremely simple to get going, and does not require any special software. Actually, even if you decide to go hardcore with it with curves and whatnot, you still don't need any special software.

I still prefer a full 4-6 tone inkset rather, which is why I'm using the ultratone2 set from MIS in my Epson 1280.

allan

T_om · 12-04-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikon Bob

I think 5 forum members finding the HP 7960 works well for them pretty telling. I sometimes get the feeling that unless a printer is Epson, a scanner is Nikon and a camera is Leica it is not taken seriously. Anyway there are lots of choices and reviews out there on the net.

Bob

Um... Epson, Nikon and Leica, eh?

I only own one of those brands (Nikon scanner). I have zero interest in Leica cameras and would not have another Epson printer if you gave me one.

You may find the 5 examples in this thread are giving perfectly sound advice. How many of them have had a problem though? How many of them have used HP's repair/warranty/customer service?

When any half-decently designed device is running smoothly their owners are not the ones you will find with complaints. Go talk to those that have had a problem... ANY electro-mechanical device is subject to failure. It is how those failures are addressed that makes for satisfied or unsatisfied customers.

Tom

richard_l · 12-04-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by T_om

When any half-decently designed device is running smoothly their owners are not the ones you will find with complaints. Go talk to those that have had a problem... ANY electro-mechanical device is subject to failure. It is how those failures are addressed that makes for satisfied or unsatisfied customers.

Am I understanding you correctly that good customer service is more important than a dependable product?

Anyhow..... I had a software problem with the HP 7960. I emailed customer service and within 6 hours got a detailed response on how to troubleshoot it and fix it. It turned out to be an incompatibility with my version (the first version) of Windows 98, which was easily fixed.

Perhaps others have had less pleasant experiences with HP's customer service.

GeneW · 12-04-2005

A heads-up for Canadian buyers -- the HP 7960 at Best Buy is the same list price as Amazon.com, but in Cdn $$, making it about 20% cheaper.

http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodde...gon=&langid=EN

Free shipping as well.

Gene

Nikon Bob · 12-04-2005

Tom

I see you woke up. I could not agree more with you that electo-mechanical devices can fail and customer service is very important in that case. I have had mine for 1 year now with no trouble (touch wood) and if it does go south on me I think for what they cost now they are disposable. OTH if I had trouble I would be sure to mention it. Again none of the 5 members has had trouble so that in itself maybe a good sign. On another tack, it is harder to find good customer service and support these days no matter the brand. If you do print at home and would not have another Epson printer, what do you use?

Bob

ray_g · 12-04-2005

Sounds like a bargain, Gene.

Anyway, a little side question if no one minds: I have never used paper other than HP's. What is everyone's favorite paper? Any need to modify the printer/driver settings as only HP paper options are listed on the pull down menu (aside from the choice that only says: "Other brand?"