Page 1 of 1

Best NON-Epson brand printer

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2016 9:57 pm
by Bill Chambers
I'm looking for opinions of the best NON-Epson brand printer, 24" wide at least.  I say NON-Epson because I cannot get Epson printers serviced here in my small community.  The nearest service center is Dallas and it costs a fortune to ship a larger printer to Dallas.  I just chunked my older R2400 due to a simple head clog because I couldn't find anyone to service it.  That was painful.  I know that Canon printers are serviced locally but am unaware if other models are serviced locally yet.

Please share your opinions.  Thanks in advance!

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2016 10:10 pm
by Mike in O
I have owned HP, Epson, and Canon printers and the only one I recommend is HP, too bad they are out of the pro large printer business.

Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2016 10:22 pm
by Bill Chambers
Thanks Mike.

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2016 9:22 am
by Royce Howland
Bill, HP is technically not out of the large format printer market but they definitely have retrenched in a major way. (They did exit the desktop photo printer market entirely.) Their large format photographic printer line hasn't seen any new models for years, and it's difficult to find any sign of them out there anywhere for folks like us. They really only pay attention to large corporate accounts with the printer division, these days. So that probably won't help the situation you're in.

That really leaves only Canon if you want off the Epson train. If you're in a community small enough that Epson service isn't local, I'd be a bit surprised if Canon large format support was actually local either. Perhaps it is, but you might want to double check it. Canon has their nightmare service stories as well as Epson. I've tried working with Canon off and on over the past few years in the Calgary area. I like the hardware but find the company aggravating to deal with, no real difference from my opinion of Epson.

In any event, the design of Canon inkjet printers (and HP for that matter) is different in one key way that might help you regardless of whether high level support is available locally or not. Canon heads are considered a consumable part and they are user replaceable in just a few minutes. So while it does mean an on-going operating cost to replace the heads every 1 - 2 years, it means you don't have to rely on a service center to deal with any head related issues. Pragmatically speaking a Canon printer should never create a clog issue that you have to deal with on a routine basis; you'll simply have to replace the heads from time to time.

Check out Keith Cooper's lengthy review of the Canon PRO-2000 which is the model you'd be looking for if you're after a 24" printer.
http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/revi ... -2000.html

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2016 11:16 pm
by Bill Chambers
Thanks so much for the great info Royce!

Re: Best NON-Epson brand printer

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2016 12:59 pm
by WDCarrier
I recently purchased a Canon Pixima Pro-100 color printer.  I am extremely happy with the quality of prints from 4X6 to 13X19.  It will print 24" long but only 14" wide.

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2016 4:12 pm
by E.J. Peiker
Royce gave you a complete answer from somebody that makes his living in the printing business. There are basically only two real choices these days, Epson and Canon, each have their pros and cons, each are incredibly capable to tackle just about any kind of printing scenario.

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2016 8:38 pm
by Bill Chambers
Yes, I realize Royce's expertise, now i just have to be able to justify that expense. I was hoping for something more in the line of $1000-1200. I will need to make a spreadsheet to see if I will print enough to justify over $2000, but I agree the Canon Pro2000 looks like a GREAT printer. I may have see if friends and fellow local shooters might have an interest in me printing their images after I get over the learning curve.