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Pro9000 II vs. B8850 vs. R1900

photoSmart42

New member
Does anyone have any experience with any or all of these printers? I'm looking to buy a printer I can use to print photos as gifts, to enter contests, or to sell. I've read a bunch of reviews online, and it seems the R1900 has slightly better color and sharpness, but it uses up more ink. The Canon is half the price of either of the other printers, and does well for ink management, but the colors aren't as good.

The question I have regards the color output - if the color difference in the colors between the 9000 and the R1900 significantly different, or does it take an expert eye to tell the difference? Will the output on the 9000 still look better than what I can print on my HP DeskJet with photo inks, or am I only getting the ability to print larger pages?

Thanks for the feedback!
 
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gcogger

Guest
Some in-depth reviews of these (and others) HERE, with scans of the prints for comparison. The Canon, unlike the other 2, uses dye (rather than pigment) inks. This means that the prints will fade more quickly when exposed to daylight. In terms of ink usage, the forums on that site sometimes have good info based on real world use.
 

photoSmart42

New member
Some in-depth reviews of these (and others) HERE, with scans of the prints for comparison. The Canon, unlike the other 2, uses dye (rather than pigment) inks. This means that the prints will fade more quickly when exposed to daylight. In terms of ink usage, the forums on that site sometimes have good info based on real world use.
Thank you! I've been reading a bunch of those reviews, but the question I have has more to do with actual practical experience people may have with these - long-term study kinda of feedback. Canon claims that their dyes, with the right paper, can last up to 100 years, which is certainly way more than I'm interested in keeping these prints. I'm not sure if I really need 200-year pigment archival quality.

I'm strongly leaning toward the Canon because I can get it for $200-ish, whereas the others are $450-ish. I think for $200 on a pro-level printer I'm willing to accept some short-comings.
 
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gcogger

Guest
Have you tried the forums for each printer on that site? I've not been back recently, but there used to be some good user experience info there.
 

photoSmart42

New member
Have you tried the forums for each printer on that site? I've not been back recently, but there used to be some good user experience info there.
I did, and thank you for the suggestion. For the most part many of those reviews are from people who have only used one printer or another, and they're all happy with them. Epson seems to have more quality issues than Canon, and with the pricing on the Canon printers I think it's becoming more apparent that's the right choice for me. Still, I ordered some sample prints for both the Epson and the Canon. I'm curious to see how the Canon renders the B&W photo I sent them which had a lot of tones - supposedly that's the Canon's weak point. If I like the B&W, I'm sold for sure.
 

usathyan

New member
I have used Pro9000, Epson 2880 & HP B9180. I loved the B9180 (identical print engine as that of B8850) while it lasted - HP's quality is somewhat "hit or miss" kind - if you are one of the lucky ones to get a good piece - you will enjoy it. There is no ink swapping, cartridges hold more ink - and the prints are awesome. The Epson 2880 (similar to 1900) has excellent inks as well - no issues with quality as well. I have briefly used the Pro9000 series printers - I have had no issues with it, but for some reason, the lower end printers from canon are not very popular in the USA. BTW - canon inks are the cheapest, while Epson's are the most expensive to maintain.

In short - You cannot go wrong with any of the modern printers. They are all good - just go with what fits your pocket.
 
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