A3 Printers

[Jimmymck]

I'm in the market for a A3 photo printer, but i'm finding it hard to decide. The Canon 9500 mark 2 looked good but it must me due for a revamp (anyone know).

What are my other options.

[OldBoy]

Check out this Epson.

http://www.staples.co.uk/printers-mu...inkjet-printer

[AndyStevens]

Isn't the Canon Mk2 the revamp? I saw it at a recent trade show and it was pushing out some nice prints.

Epson are certainly worth a look too as OldBoy mentions.

Now for the curve ball! Think about how often you're likely to print. If it's not that often, look at HP too. The reason I say this is if you don't print often, the heads/nozzles can/will clog. Whenever you replace an HP cartridge, you're also replacing the nozzles - my Photosmart 8750 is still performing brilliantly and never had a clogged nozzle problem (think B9180 is equivalent?).

[Jimmymck]

Thanks for the response. My employer is buying the machine as i work from home (they said whatever i want within reason). Its main purchase will be printing out building plan so it will get used ever other week at the least, is that enough to stop it clogging?

[AndyStevens]

Yes, that should be fine for preventing clogging. Now where do you start...? Don't Canon do their test print option? I know a lot of people swear by Epson though.

Good luck!

[Jimmymck]

With regard to the revamp, i believe the 9500 MK2 has been out a few years now and i'm not sure of their life cycle.

More info on the Canon test print option would be welcomed.

[matt wilson]

Having researched this a lot with a view to going to the A3 route Canon is the way to go if ink costs matter .

Epson will accomodate roll paper though .

you could ask employer to consider going for external high capacity ink flow systems in which case costs are lowered after the initial outlay.

Check canon website they were promoting a feature where you can upload an image and they return it printed on your selected printer.

[OldBoy]

Originally Posted by Jimmymck

Thanks for the response. My employer is buying the machine as i work from home (they said whatever i want within reason). Its main purchase will be printing out building plan so it will get used ever other week at the least, is that enough to stop it clogging?

You could also consider a colour A3+ laser printer, if the cost of £3,000 plus wouldn't put your employer off.

[cosmicma]

laser printers a great if your not printing photo's ink jets do a much better job at a fraction of the cost
if your printing plans though it could be ideal HP do an a3 colour laser for less than a £1000

if photo's are going to be printed then the canon you mention would be a good choice but i'm biased having owned a canon s9000 for the last 7 years with consistent good results and no clogging what so ever over the years

now for the bad bit
there not cheap to run ( i only use canon original inks ) and it's getting to a point where it's cheaper to get your photo's printed 3rd party making the printer almost redundant from a financial point of view

[kiffy]

i cant speak of a3 printers as ive not used a3, but with a4. i used eposns for a great many years at times doing quite large volumes of printing (for an inkjet) then about 2 years ago a friend convinced me to try a canon and there was no looking back. i bought a mid range canon all in one and have found it to be much quieter in operation, at least twice the print speed of the epsons i used to use and much better build quality. now im not saying epsons arnt upto it, but the canon has proven to be bulletproof. my current all in one has printed several thousand pages, probably approaching five thousand and still works like a new printer.

as for inks, i use compatibles and pay a fraction of the canon ink prices. i have used ciss (continuous bulk ink) in the past on several printers and found them to be tempromental at best. my last epson printer came bundled with a ciss from 3000rpm.com and it flooded and killed the printer. thankfully they sorted me out with a full refund, thats when i moved to canon.. so its a real case of buyer beware with an ciss

hadnt thought about hp and the new print heads as i use my printer regularly but its a very good point, one which ill be suggesting to my mother as her printer never worked right as she never used it often enough