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PRINTER RECOMMENDATIONS
This guide has been prepared to assist you with purchasing a new printer. It is built in association with amazon.com. I have owned, or used, numerous photo printers and as a part-time professional photographer who sells a lot of various types of prints, I have spent a lot of time keeping up with the latest printer technology. So this page is put together to pass some of my knowledge on to you. While there are numerous review sites on the web, most of them do not really recommend a best product. This page makes some recommendations based upon your specific needs. You can use the links below to get the super low prices from amazon.com. THANK YOU! |
All of these photo printers are around $100 or less. If you have more than $100 to spend on a printer, you will generally do better if you look in the next section for moderately priced photo printers which deliver better speed, features, or quality.
Canon PIXMA ip1500 Photo Printer
This small printer sells for less than $50 and prints at 600x600 dpi in black and white and an excellent 4800x1200 dpi in color. The print speed is excellent also: up to 18 pages per minute (ppm) in black and white and 13 ppm in color. It will print 4x6, 5x7 and 8x10 prints as well as letter and legal sized paper. It does not come with a required USB cable but does come with enough ink to get you started (which alone is probably worth the price of the printer!). Truly a great value for someone looking for a cheap printer.
This printer sells for around $90 and prints at 600x600 dpi in black and white and 4800x1200 dpi in color. The print speed is excellent also: up to 18 pages per minute (ppm) in black and white and 12 ppm in color. It will print 4x6, 5x7 and 8x10 prints as well as letter and legal sized paper. Its primary advantage over the PIXMA ip1500 is that it also reads Compact Flash, Memory Stick, Microdrive, SmartMedia, SD, and MultimediaCards. It does not come with a required USB cable (note that it is USB 2.0 compliant) but does come with enough ink to get you started. Another great value for someone looking for a cheap printer.
Epson Stylus C86 Inkjet Printer
One of Epson's latest printers, the C86 is designed to be a multi-purpose printer that produces photo quality prints on up to legal size paper. The C86 has four individual ink cartridges for cost effective printing using EPSON DURABrite inks for long-lasting, smudge-proof prints with a resolution of up to 5,760 dpi (with 4 picoliter EPSON Micro Dot Technology). The printer is quite fast with printing up to 22 ppm. Uses a USB connection and comes with some simple (but basic) software for printing. Not made to print from memory cards nor is it meant to be a general office printer.
HP PhotoSmart 7550 Inkjet Printer
This printer sells for around $100 and prints at 1200x600 dpi in black and white and 4800x1200 dpi in color using HP PhotoREt IV color technology. The print speed is excellent: up to 17 pages per minute (ppm) in black and white and 13 ppm in color. It will print up to letter and legal sized paper and comes with some decent software. It does not come with a required USB cable (note that it is USB 2.0 compliant) but does come with enough ink to get you started. With the 7550, you can print directly from your digital camera memory card without using a computer. Compatible with CompactFlash Types I and II, SmartMedia, Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, and Sony Memory Stick memory media. Image quality is excellent with prints that are reputed to last as long as traditional photo lab prints. Another great value for someone looking for a cheap printer.
HP DeskJet 5740 Color Inkjet Printer
This printer sells for around $100 but is a bit faster than most printers in its class and produces photo quality prints on glossy paper. It is capable of borderless prints on paper up to 8.5x24 inches. Print speed is quite high: up to 23 ppm black, 18 ppm color, and up to 26ppm black with a special cartridge. Comes with some adequate HP printing software that also lets you do some basic photo editing. Comes with 4 inks but capable of taking up to 6 inks for better photo printing. One of the better printers in its class for printing transparencies, this is a solid all-around printer.
Canon PIXMA ip3000 Photo Printer
The ip3000 is an photo quality printer using long lasting pigment based inks to produce outstanding prints up to 8-1/2 inches by 11-inches. Color resolution is up to 4,800 x 1,200 dpi and black and white resolution is up to 600 x 600 dpi. A fairly fast printer, the ip3000 prints up to 22 ppm black, 15 ppm color; and will print a 4-by-6-inch photo in about 36 seconds. One feature that sets this printer apart is its built-in 2 sided printing capability. A USB printer but no cable included. It does come with starter inks and some decent software. All for around $90.
I liked this printer so well I bought one for my wife and I use it as much as she does! Currently selling for around $169, the i960 produces borderless color 8x10 prints in about 1 minute (it will print up to legal size). Color print resolution is up to 4800x2400 dpi (although it is reduced to 4800x1200 dpi near the edges). While photo quality is truly outstanding, this printer is not really geared towards serving as your everyday home office inkjet printer although it will print good black and white documents when required. It has a USB 2.0 interface (no cable included) and comes with a nice array of software to print, edit with basic modifications, and stitch photos. If you are looking for a true photo printer to accompany your home/office inkjet, this is a great choice.
Canon PIXMA iP4000 Photo Printer
Currently selling for around $129, the Canon PIXMA ip4000 has a lot of things going for it like tiny 2-picoliter droplets along with print resolutions up to 600 x 600 dpi black and 4,800 x 1,200 dpi color, pigment-based inks to provide excellent longevity, and prints that are resistant to water, fading, and smudges. This baby is also fast, printing up to 25 ppm black and 17 ppm color. Has both USB and parallel interfaces and a PictBridge-compatible direct print port so that you can connect your digital camera and produce photos while bypassing your computer system. When considering the price, print quality, and the fact that this printer can be used for general office printing also, it is well worth a buy. There is also a wireless version called the ip4000R.
Epson Stylus Photo R300 Inkjet Printer
This printer sports an extremely high resolution of up to 5,760 x 1,440 dpi and produces photo quality prints up to legal size and allows you to print directly from a very wide range of memory cards including CompactFlash (Type I and II and IBM Microdrives), Secure Digital or MultiMediaCard, xD-Picture Card, SmartMedia, Sony Memory Stick, Memory StickPRO, Memory Stick Duo, and MagicGate Memory Stick (no need to buy a card reader!). It supports a wide range of Epson papers (especially good with glossy papers) and can print on CDs and DVD disks. It has 6 individual ink cartidges to save you money. Also check out the R320 printer below!
Canon PIXMA iP6000 Photo Printer
This printer is very similar to the ip4000 in terms of capabilities but also has a large built-in 2.5" LCD for easy viewing, editing and printing and has wireless photo printing from compatible infrared mobile phones. Generally sells for about $30 more than the ip4000.
HP PhotoSmart 8150 Inkjet Printer
One of the latest in the generally great all-around ink jet printers from Hewlett Packard. The 8150 uses 6-ink color with up to 4800 dpi to produce fantastic prints. One can easily print photos directly from camera memory cards (CompactFlash, Smart Media, Memory Stick, Secure Digital/ MultiMedia Card, and XD-Picture Card), from the HP Photo Proof Sheet, or from PictBridge-enabled cameras using the printer's front USB port. You can also use the Save-to-PC feature to save photos to your computer. This is a fast printer that can print black text and color at speeds of up to 20 ppm. When printing in black the print speed can be increased to 27 ppm with the optional HP 96 black cartridge (sold separately).C Can print in sizes up to 8.5 x 24 inches. Can handle bluetooth wireless with an optional HP bt300 Bluetooth wireless adapter. Comes with HP Image Zone software for Windows and Macintosh including HP Instant Share. Presently about $180.
Canon PIXMA iP5000 Photo Printer
This printer is very similar to the ip4000 in terms of capabilities but adds speed (up to 25 ppm black, 17 ppm color speed) a little better photo quality thanks to an amazing 9,600 x 2400 dpi color resolution (black resolution is at 600x600 dpi). Comes with Easy-PhotoPrint (Windows/Mac) Easy-WebPrint (Windows), PhotoRecord (Windows), ZoomBrowser EX (Windows), ImageBrowser (Mac), and PhotoStitch (Windows/Mac) software. Interfaces are USB and Direct Print Port. Presently about $180.
Epson Stylus R320 Photo Inkjet Printer
This printer also sells for about $180 and has a wide range of features including 6-color photo printing at 5,760 x 1,440 optimized dpi; up to 15 ppm black print speed (print a 4-by-6-inch photo in about 40 seconds); accepts CompactFlash Type I and II, MultiMediaCard, IBM Microdrive, xD-Picture Card, Sony Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick Duo (adapter sold separately), Memory Stick PRO Duo (adapter sold separately), MagicGate Memory Stick, SmartMedia, Secure Digital, and Mini Secure Digital (adapter sold separately) memory formats; and it supports inkjet-printable CD and DVD media. Has high speed USB 2.0 connectivity.
HP PhotoSmart 8450 Inkjet Printer
For about $240 you can get this true all-around printer with tremendous capabilities from HP. The printer can be your everyday inkjet printer (with a tremendous 1200x1200 dpi black printing) but still produce great photos thanks to its 8-ink color and 4,800 x 1,200 dpi resolution. It has a 2.5-inch LCD and allows you to rotate, crop, zoom, and remove red-eye before printing. It has USB, Ethernet, and PictBridge interfaces and can read from CompactFlash (Type I and II), SmartMedia, Secure Digital, MultiMedia Cards, Memory Stick, XD, and USB flash drives. Comes with HP Image Zone software for Windows and Macintosh including HP Instant Share.
The P-440 produces dye sublimation continuous tone prints up to 8x10 inches. It directly supports xD-PictureCard, and supports SmartMedia, CompactFlash, and Memory Stick thru optional Type-II PCMCIA adapters. A 1.8-inch LCD lets you preview images. Print quality is excellent and the P-440 costs about $375. Has both USB and parallel interfaces.
Canon PIXMA ip8500 Photo Printer
This printer produces borderless photos in sizes up to 8.5x11 inches using the 8 color ChromaPLUS ink system (4,800 x 2,400 dpi resolution) for expanded color gamut and 6,144 nozzles (2 picoliter droplets) for exceptional photo speed. It has a dual paper path with built-in 2 sided printing and is capable of direct photo printing from PictBridge compatible digital cameras & DV camcorders. Comes with the following software: Easy-PhotoPrint 3.0 (Windows/Mac), Photo Record" (Windows), Zoom Browser EX (Windows), ImageBrowser (Mac), PhotoStitch (Windows/Mac), and Easy-WebPrint (Windows and MicroSoft IE only). Interfaces are USB 2.0 and Direct Print port. Priced at under $350.
Epson Stylus Photo R800 Inkjet Printer
The R800 produces professional quality results for about $350 at sizes up to 8.3 inches by 23.4 inches (panoramic size). Prints borderless photos using Epson's ultraChrome hi-gloss pigment inks deliver photos with an expected life of up to 80 years. Resolution is up to 5,700 x 1440 dpi. Connects to your computer via either USB or FireWire. The software bundle includes Epson Software Film Factory as well as the PRINT Image Matching II Photoshop plug-in, designed to optimize prints from a wide variety of popular digital cameras. This quiet printer produces some of the best quality output of any printer and thus is worth the price for those that want this level of print quality. It also prints on a wide range of Epson papers and is made with a much high duty cycle than comparable printers. A great product if you want to print a lot of super nice photos!
This printer was Canon's answer to the Epson 2200 and, with a price tag just over $400 (almost $200 less than the Epson), the i9900 is a worthy alternative to the Epson. It features borderless printing on paper as large as 13-inches x 19-inches using an 8-color (in separate tanks) system. The i9900 also features fast USB 2.0 and FireWire interfaces (FireWire compatible with Mac OS only) and comes with a fairly comprehensive package of image editing software, including Easy-PhotoPrint Plus, Easy-WebPrint, ZoomBrowser EX, PhotoRecord, ImageBrowser, and PhotoStitch As with most printers these days the printer cable is not included but a sample pack of paper is enclosed to give you an idea of what the output looks like with various papers before you buy them. The maximum print resolution is 4800x2400 dpi with 4800x1200 dpi used at the bottom of the page. The print quality is competitive with the Epson and the price is better, but the Epson produces arguably more archival prints (although both are longer than traditional photo labs) and has a wider range of papers available from 3rd party manufacturers.
Epson Stylus Photo 2200 Inkjet Printer
The is the premier consumer photo printer by which all others are presently judged. Presently selling for around $600, the 2200 is a printer that many professionals use. With Epson's new seven-color UltraChrome inks the 2200 is able to print 8-by-10-inch color photos in under two minutes. The UltraChrome inks are formulated to resist water and light damage and to ensure longevity, all while providing more colors than any other pigment ink on the market. The 2200 can print in sizes up to 13x44 inches with all of the popular print sizes below that including the popular 13x19 (made popular by Epson!). While it prints at up to 2880 x 1440 dpi black and color, it is really a photo printer and not made to be an office inkjet. But it is presently one of the best in its class (if not the best), and has set a new standard for consumer photo printing. Both USB and firewire compatible (cable not included). The image quality is usually better than your drugstore lab and there are a wide range of interesting 3rd party papers available for this printer.
Polaroid P-500IR Digital Photo Printer
This printer presently sells for less than $30 and allows you to print using Polaroid Type 500 instant film with a 2.86 x 2.15 inch image area. No PC is required, the printer is self-powered and no cables or batteries needed (just a power cord). Compatible with all cameras that use CompactFlash and SmartMedia cards (only). You can print one image at a time or multiple copies and jpeg images are automatically resized to fit the print image area. A pretty cool way to make polaroid prints using a digital camera for less than $30!
Sony DPP-EX5 Digital Photo Printer
This printer makes 4-inch by 6-inch or 3.5-inch by 5-inch borderless prints in under 90 seconds each using dye sublimation technology which produces an excellent continous tone print. These prints are highly fade and water (and fingerprint) resistant due to the Super Coat 2, a unique Sony laminate coating. This USB printer also supports Memory Stick memory cards. A great printer if you want good proofs that can be used for archival scrapbooking!
HP PhotoSmart 145 4" x 6" Photo Printer
HP's PhotoSmart 145 photo printer produces borderless images with up to 4,800 dpi resolution in approximately 90 seconds. It can print directly from your digital camera's memory card, so you can literally print at any time, anywhere. The PhotoSmart 145 accepts CompactFlash, SmartMedia, Memory Stick, Secure Digital/Multi Media Card and xD-Picture Card media, and it has a built-in two-line LCD to aid in navigation. The HP PhotoSmart 145 offers USB connectivity and comes with a fairly complete, but basic, bundle of photo and imaging software (but like most printers does not come with a USB cable). There is an optional HP 59 (C9359A) gray photo ink cartridge for high-quality black and white prints. Presently less than $90.
Kodak EasyShare Printer Dock 6000
This printer dock is made specifically for Kodak CX/DX 6000, LS 600 & LS 700 Series Cameras and produces borderless 4-inch by 6-inch prints that are highly durable, waterproof, and tear resistant. This printer dock is based on Kodak's continuous tone thermal dye transfer process and thus produces smoother tones than most ink jet printers. The Printer Dock 6000 transfers pictures to your PC with one touch and also charges your Kodak camera's battery. You can hook up the Printer Dock 6000 to a TV to produce a slide show. Currently selling for about $100.
Kodak Easyshare Printer Dock for All Kodak Series 6000/7000 & LS743/LS753 Digital Cameras
About $50 more expensive than the 6000, this printer dock is designed for use with Kodak EasyShare CX/DX 6000/7000 and LS 600/700 series digital cameras. While known for occasional paper jams, this dock produces some of the best 4x6 inch proofs around using continuous tone thermal dye transfer and outputs these proofs in about 90 seconds each.
Sony DPP-FP30 Digital Photo Printer
This is one of Sony's latest digital photo printer offerings and prints borderless 4x6 inch proofs in 90 seconds from your computer or just under 2 minutes directly from a memory card thru the USB port. It is a dye-sublimation printer and thus the output prints are resistant to sticky fingerprints, ink smudges, and moisture. Comes with some basic image editing software.
Sony DPP-EX50 Digital Photo Printer
Incredible resolution in this dye sublimation 4x6 inch printer as it prints 403dpi by 403 dpi. It has a black and white LCD but does allow you to print without a computer (Memory Stock, and CompactFlash interfaces; PictBridge compatible). USB 1.1 interface. Comes with PictureGear Studio Version 2.0 photo editing software. Takes about 80 seconds for a 4x6 inch print. Very good image quality.
Epson PictureMate Personal Photo Printer
With one touch this printer produces borderless lab-quality prints of up to 4x6 inches. It has a maximum resolution of 5,760 x 1,440 dpi. This printer accepts wide variety of card types, including Compact Flash (Type I and II), SmartMedia, Sony Memory Stick/MemoryStick PRO, Duo (requires adapter), SD, MMC, and xD-Picture. The prints resist water, smudging, and most notably fading. Epson estimates an archival lifetime of up to 200 years if the photos are kept in a relatively dark place (such as a photo album) or up to 100 years in a frame (see Epson's web site for details). An optional Bluetooth adapter lets you print wirelessly from Bluetooth enabled devices.
All information presented in this web page is the author's opinion only, and no warranties, guarantees, etc. are expressed herein. Descriptions are not warranted to be error free, complete, accurate, or reliable.
