What printer to buy? Canon or Epson?

[chriskates]

I have a z3100 and have been let down by it's inability to recreate intense reds and blues that customers' paintings have in them. The red is especially weak. Also, the matte black ink is incredibly fragile. You just look at it the wrong way and it scuffs. Is that normal?

I am thinking of getting a Epson or Canon. From what I hear Epson is really expensive to fix and gets clogs a lot.

Does anybody have an opinion on this? Does Canon have a larger color gamut than HP?

 

[Mgreer]

I've had a 24" Epson. I now have a 44" Canon iPF8300. It's possibly the worst purchase I've ever made. My printer is a dog. I imagine the Epson bring more expensive to repair than this thing. For any repair you can count on killing 2 maintenence carts and at least $2000 worth of ink. It's absolutely ridiculous how this printer wastes ink during repairs.

 

[chriskates]

Are you saying the Epson is bad or the Canon? Thank you

 

[Mgreer]

Oops, I see I had an omission and a typo that changed the meaning of a sentence. It should've said, "I can't imagine the Epson being more expensive to repair than this thing." The hidden repair cost is the amount of ink the printer consumes to complete the repairs. Maintenance carts are relatively inexpensive but still, burning through a couple of carts during a repair is extremely annoying. All in all a repair is likely to cost you as much if not more than the purchase price of the printer! In what universe does that make sense?

I should also mention that this is my second repair. The first one my printer was a couple of months out of warranty, but I appealed to Canon and they decided to fix it. The techs were there 3 days and replaced practically the entire innards of the printer. The main circuit board, fan, etc. That repair would've cost well over $3000. With my current repair, a tube had been pinched and a hole created. This was causing false reads about the print head. A simple hole in a tube that should be able to be fixed for $5 is going to end up costing me at least $2000.

 

[Manolo]

I've had 24", 36" and 40" canon IPF printers, and ALL of them have died (sercive calls...) after spending lots of money in head replacements and ink (cleanings).
Canon NEVER more.

Now I'm a happy user of a 36" Epson SC-T5200

 

[mulo_g]

Canons cannot be repaired. Lousy electronics. Worse parts availability

 

[Biggs]

Canon Pro 4000s is an awesome machine. Print quality is superb, hardware is reliable, Aqueous/Solvent hybrid ink drys fast and resists scratching.

 

[I.T. Supplies]

The Pro-4000 is an aqueous printer, not solvent hybrid. But the inks do dry fast. Solvent is it's own area (eco-solvent/solvent) like Latex is a separate inkset.
We've been selling Canon's very well and also use them in our office with no issues. What makes you unhappy about their units? The repair process may not be as easy to fix just like Epson and you can't replace an Epson head yourself; as opposed to Canon that offers it and switch within minutes.

If you have an older model, there may be features that have been updated in the Pro series that make it better and in our opinion, it beats Epson's photo printers out of the water. Quality wise, they are very comparable with most media.

 

[Jensen Print]

Canon Pro 4000s is an awesome machine. Print quality is superb, hardware is reliable, Aqueous/Solvent hybrid ink drys fast and resists scratching.

The Canon pro 4000 is unrivaled with its 12 colors. We use it for full cover posters as well as art posters and all customers return and buy more - everyone is extremely satisfied.
We use the printer every day and have the power on all the time so we don't experience the ink drying out.

 

[I.T. Supplies]

Just noticed Jensen Print reply. The inks won't really dry out like they may have in many generations ago. The ink formula is different and more updated. If you keep the printer on (all the time), it will maintain the heads and this helps to push some ink thru it when not in use and keeps it working properly.

Also, the Pro series is 12 channels, not colors. They replaced the Green with a Chroma Optimizer which is a clear coat for media with a sheen and is not a color. Just to clarify that part for those that may get confused.

For those that believe Canon's are lousy, think of how much money you'll dump into Epson large models if the head goes out or just clogs to no return. Most service calls can be upwards of "half" the cost of the printer or more AND based on parts per the model you have. Canon heads are a small expensive per that issue, plus once you install a head (not purchase), that starts a 1-year warranty with Canon. If anything happens to the head in that time frame (aside from the life amount of ink it prints), replacement head from them at NO charge.

Epson heads should last the life of the printer, but need to make sure it's kept maintained properly for this. Not saying one is better over the other, but look at advantages over disadvantages between the brands. There will be great features and cons, but it's based on your printing needs for which is best.