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topic: 1066Slightly OT - What A3+ Inkjet Printer
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posted: 9 Mar 2010 07:48

from:

Jim Guthrie
 
United Kingdom

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I'm on the hunt for a new,  larger format inkjet printer,  A3 or larger.  I've been digging around on the Net looking at possibilities and reading the reviews and I haven't really found a suitable one which has received reasonably good reviews.  The best reviews seem to be for the photo print end of the market but they usually require eight or more cartridges and I only want to print text and CAD plots (Templot,  ACAD LT, etc) where three colors and a good black are more than adequate.

I have suffered with Epson Stylus 1500 and 1520 over the past few years so I'm well up on some of the common problems with larger format inkjets - poor paper pickup and (with the 1520) heavy ink usage - (i.e. on my usual occasional use it does the head check/clear every time I power it up which uses more ink than my printing,  exacerbated by the fact that the cartridges are very small and expensive).

Has anyone got any recommendations?    My preference has always been for HP inkjets principally because you got a new head/jet with every cartridge,  but I note that HP now seem to be going down the separate head setup on their larger format printers so that preference might no longer apply.

Jim.

posted: 9 Mar 2010 07:56

from:

richard_t
 
Nr. Spalding, South Holland - United Kingdom

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Jim Guthrie wrote:
I'm on the hunt for a new,  larger format inkjet printer,  A3 or larger.  I've been digging around on the Net looking at possibilities and reading the reviews and I haven't really found a suitable one which has received reasonably good reviews.  The best reviews seem to be for the photo print end of the market but they usually require eight or more cartridges and I only want to print text and CAD plots (Templot,  ACAD LT, etc) where three colors and a good black are more than adequate.

I have suffered with Epson Stylus 1500 and 1520 over the past few years so I'm well up on some of the common problems with larger format inkjets - poor paper pickup and (with the 1520) heavy ink usage - (i.e. on my usual occasional use it does the head check/clear every time I power it up which uses more ink than my printing,  exacerbated by the fact that the cartridges are very small and expensive).

Has anyone got any recommendations?    My preference has always been for HP inkjets principally because you got a new head/jet with every cartridge,  but I note that HP now seem to be going down the separate head setup on their larger format printers so that preference might no longer apply.

Jim.


One of the councils I do work for has a big HP design jet in one of the IT offices, and I jokingly mentioned that if they ever wanted shot of it I could find it a home. That only takes 4 cartridges and is A2 in width I think. Sorry I can't remember the model number, but it's a HP Design Jet. Although they say that loading paper in the thing is still a pain.

Anyhow their head of IT said that they regularly come up on ebay for quite reasonable sums of money. I've not looked into it, as I don't think my better half would be too impressed.

Just a thought.

posted: 9 Mar 2010 12:13

from:

Jim Guthrie
 
United Kingdom

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One of the councils I do work for has a big HP design jet in one of the IT offices, and I jokingly mentioned that if they ever wanted shot of it I could find it a home. That only takes 4 cartridges and is A2 in width I think. Sorry I can't remember the model number, but it's a HP Design Jet. Although they say that loading paper in the thing is still a pain.

Richard,

Thanks for that.  I think I would rather buy new than chance a used printer from Ebay so that I might be able to return it if it doesn't come up to scratch.

I've been doing a bit more delving around the Net this morning and I might go for the Canon iX4000.  It does A3,  doesn't cost an arm and a leg and seems to get generally good reviews on the Net.   It uses 3 colours + black and the original Canon cartridges are not too expensive compared with others and there seems to be a thriving replacement market as well with extremely good prices.

I'll wait and see if others come up with any other suggestions.

Jim.

posted: 9 Mar 2010 18:01

from:

Phil O
 
Plymouth - United Kingdom

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Hi Jim

I have an Epson 1290 which uses two cartridges one is a five pack of colours and the other is black. No real complaints about it, except it is a bit thirsty on Epsons own cartridges which I used until the guarantee ran out. I am now using cartridges from ink and stuff, 5 of each for the price of one colour cartridge from Epson and I haven't changed them for over 12 months and I can see no discernible difference in the quality of the output.

HTH

Cheers Phil
Last edited on 9 Mar 2010 18:03 by Phil O
posted: 9 Mar 2010 19:32

from:

Nigel Brown
 
 

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Hi Jim

I have an Epson R800 A4 photo printer, which is fine. If I wanted an A3 I'd probably go for the R1800. It does go through a cleaning cycle on occasions, but not that often, and I reckon calculated on a cost per year basis I'm happy with it. I use it more for photo prints than Templot. Bought it somewhere around 2003.

cheers
Nigel

posted: 9 Mar 2010 20:53

from:

Dellboy
 
Aylesford - United Kingdom

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Hi Jim

There's also cheap ink at http://www.inkwarehouse.co.uk

They do a very wide range of cartridges and have a very efficient free delivery.

Derek

posted: 10 Mar 2010 10:47

from:

Jim Guthrie
 
United Kingdom

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Many thanks for the responses.

I'm not really fond of Epson inkjets after my experiences with the 1500 and the 1520.

I've decided to have a go with the Canon iX7000.  The iX4000 is the cheaper model but it doesn't have the option of a straight through path for heavier papers/card whereas the iX7000 has a rear paper feed which can handle up to 300gm paper.

It has six cartridges rather than the four I would prefer but after a search around the Net,  I can get the set of six genuine ones for £60 - £70 and they are high capacity designed for small office work.   If I go for alternate suppliers,  the price halves.

It also has duplex printing which makes printing out all these PDF manuals a lot easier - no more printing odd then even pages and spending hours watching out for faulty paper feeds. :D

The one thing I haven't found out is whether it will do banner printing but since my available area for layout building is fairly restricted,  I can probably live without that. :D

Jim.

posted: 10 Mar 2010 12:28

from:

Raymond
 
Bexhill-on-sea - United Kingdom

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I have a new (less than a year) HP Office Jet Pro K8600.  Three colours and black.  Excellent machine so far and quite economical with ink.  The system sometimes keeps telling one a cartridge is getting low but just ignore it until the machine stops, put a new one in and carry on.  I also have the add-on to print both sides but one would not need that for Templot.

Regards

Raymond

posted: 10 Mar 2010 13:43

from:

Jim Guthrie
 
United Kingdom

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Raymond wrote:
I have a new (less than a year) HP Office Jet Pro K8600.  Three colours and black.  Excellent machine so far and quite economical with ink.  The system sometimes keeps telling one a cartridge is getting low but just ignore it until the machine stops, put a new one in and carry on.  I also have the add-on to print both sides but one would not need that for Templot.
Raymond,

I had looked at that model but was put off by several poor reviews.   I must admit,  I'm never quite sure how to treat reviews on the Net since you appear to have had a good experience of your example.  I think I remember one reviewer stating that the ink use was very high,  but you are never sure wnat kind of material he/she was printing - like an all black page. :D

I've ordered up the Canon printer.  It's the first Canon printer I've owned so it will be interesting to see how I get on with it.

Jim.



posted: 10 Mar 2010 14:03

from:

Graham Idle
 
Redhill, Surrey - United Kingdom

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Hi Jim,

Welcome to the wonderful world of Canon. I have been using a Canon MP530 for several years and have found it to be very good. The one drawback is the cost of genuine ink cartridges ( the same with most makes, I suspect), so I use compatables from Prink.co.uk . I have found them to be very good quality and I can buy a complete set of cartridges for little more than the cost of one genuine cartridge. I have no connectionwith this company other than being a satisfied customer. I hope this is of some help to you and anybody else.

Regards, Graham
Jim Guthrie wrote:
Raymond wrote:
I have a new (less than a year) HP Office Jet Pro K8600.  Three colours and black.  Excellent machine so far and quite economical with ink.  The system sometimes keeps telling one a cartridge is getting low but just ignore it until the machine stops, put a new one in and carry on.  I also have the add-on to print both sides but one would not need that for Templot.
Raymond,

I had looked at that model but was put off by several poor reviews.   I must admit,  I'm never quite sure how to treat reviews on the Net since you appear to have had a good experience of your example.  I think I remember one reviewer stating that the ink use was very high,  but you are never sure wnat kind of material he/she was printing - like an all black page. :D

I've ordered up the Canon printer.  It's the first Canon printer I've owned so it will be interesting to see how I get on with it.

Jim.




posted: 10 Mar 2010 14:28

from:

Brian W Lewis
 
Lakeland - United Kingdom

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Hi folks!

I'm a happy user of a Canon iP4000 (A4, colour, double sided printing) and have had no problems whatsoever (touch wood). Currently using compatible cartridges from "printerinks.com".

I also have a Brother MFC 680CN Printer/fax/scanner/TAM, likewise using compatible cartridges.

My preference, if I needed A3 would be for a Canon.

posted: 10 Mar 2010 17:36

from:

Glen Suckling
 
Oswego - New York USA

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Raymond wrote:
I have a new (less than a year) HP Office Jet Pro K8600.  Three colours and black.  Excellent machine so far and quite economical with ink.  The system sometimes keeps telling one a cartridge is getting low but just ignore it until the machine stops, put a new one in and carry on.  I also have the add-on to print both sides but one would not need that for Templot.

Regards

Raymond


I also use an HP K8600 and am very happy with it. I agree with Raymond's assement. In addition, if you lie to it about the paper size, it will print on roll paper through the rear feed. It does not have a roll holder but I have made one from wood and a piece of pipe - just make sure that the paper is lined up square to the printers feed opening.

Glen



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