Here we are talking about printers when what should appear in the mail
today but the Consumer Reports Christmas issue with coverage of ink jet,
laser and all-in-one printers. I know some folks don't cotton much to
CR's ratings but I believe they can judge print quality as well as
anyone and the one piece of good info they have that you can't seem to
get elsewhere is cost per print.
Much to my surprise I note that the only inkjets to even get mentioned
in this report are three HPs... the PhotoSmart D7560 ($150), the
OfficeJet Pro 8000 Wireless ($180) and the PhotoSmart D5460 ($100). All
are rated a "Best Buy". The PhotoSmarts have the best photo quality
printing while the OfficeJet is "above average" in photo work but is
best in text. A little digging on line showed that this report was done
earlier in the year and included more printers then from Canon, Epson
and Lexmark. The Canon Pixma iP4600 ($100) equaled the HP's photo print
quality and was also about 1/3 faster. But it appears not to have made
the final cut based on print cost. The Canon's cost for a 4x6 print was
$0.45. The HP PhotoSmarts were both at $0.35 while the OfficeJet was
$0.30. Some of the other printers were as high as $0.70 for a 4x6 print.
Anyhow, I don't know anything about the detailed specs of these HP
printers but you've got the model numbers now and can go search. Aw,
heck. There's really only two of interest.
<http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=photosmart+D7560&N=0&InitialSearch=yes>
<http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=photosmart+d5460&N=0&InitialSearch=yes>
But the reviews on B&H for the D5460 (only two) say not to go there and
reiterate Candace's complaint about rudimentary CD print capability.
On the other hand the five B&H reviewers give the more expensive D7560
high marks and one says the CD printing is good.
Chuck Norcutt
Candace Lemarr wrote:
> Dan,
> Thank you for this. I did see the info about the Canon hack online. Some
> people said it was better to buy from Canada where the Canon printers
> come with the cd print capability already. I need to research this further.
> Can you tell me how flexible the cd print software is? Do I have free
> range to make the label in any layout I choose? Can I change font, font
> size, move it around, and put a full image on the label?
> I don't personally know anyone with a canon printer to tell me what the
> print quality is. I would hope I could safely assume that the photo
> quality of the printing whether on a disc or photo paper is acceptable.
>
> Candace
>
>
>
> Daniel Sepke wrote:
>> Candace,
>>
>> You may want to consider one of the Canon's. Most of the models sold here in
>> the US can be hacked to print on CD's with the removal of a cover plate, the
>> purchase of the correct CD carrier and a software switch in the printer. The
>> feature is disabled due to "marketing agreement" with Epson. The hack even
>> works on the pro9000 and pro9500. I have one of the mid level ones (the
>> iP4500 I think); it came with free with a G9 and at retail was maybe $90. It
>> uses one half (RGBK) of the ink set that the pro9000 uses plus an extra
>> black. I haven't used it for much photo printing but what it has done has
>> been good. My main use has been cranking out CD's of the recital recordings
>> I occasionally do.
>>
>> HTH, Dan.
>>
>>
>
--
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