6 ink jet printer VS 4 ink jet printer

[JimmyBartelISGOD]

Ok, a family member has bought a computer package. She got a printer with it. She asked for and ordered a 6 inkjet printer to do her scrap booking (shes a beginner). The computer arrives, i hook the thing up and put the ink in. It is then she realises shes received a 4 inkjet printer.

Here problems start. We got the Stylus Photo RX530 from these guys:

http://www.oewcomputer.com/information/contact-us.jsp

The price was $399 AUS. A little quick research reveals that the RRP is $249:

http://www.epson.com.au/products/multifunctional/

All other PC shops seem to be quoting this price. OK, so she got ripped off.

She takes the thing back complaining that she hasnt received what she asked for (a six inker). They wont exchange it because ive already put the ink in (which is bs i think). So feeling like she's being fobbed off she demands a cut in price and gets it knocked down to 260$, but still isnt happy really...

So my questions: How much in terms of quality do you get with a 6 vs a 4 inker? We were thinking about the Stylus Photo RX650 because it apparently can do negatives. Is there somewhere i can see the difference in photographic quality? what about the economics of the whole thing, what with 6 cartridges vs 4?

Should we stick with the 4 inker or go back to the store and cause more trouble?

thanx for any help.

 

[Smile]

It all depends what are you going to print and are you going to make custom profiles to get all juice from your printer ink paper combination.

Here is scientific way of explaining things:

TOP GAMUT VIEW

SIDE GAMUT VIEW

 

[JimmyBartelISGOD]

I think she just wants to print photos. I reckon she's better off doing that stuff at a retail joint really; but that aside, if she went with the six inker how much improvement in photo quality can we expect? Ifs its only a marginal improvement then additional $ really doesnt seem to be worth it to me.

The squiggly lines look nice, but im not sure i get it. But thanks for the reply.

 

[mikling]

The differences will depend on the colors within the photo you want to print. The six color printer can print a wider range of colors but if the pictures don't contain that range there will be less differences.
IMO most of the population can't tell the difference if the ink and paper is properly calibrated or matched for the casual snapshots etc. However, if one is dealing with trained eyes and wide ranging colors , the differences can definitely be perceived.

While it could be cheaper to print it at a retail joint, there is something to the aspect that one cropped, adjusted the colors, did touchups, special effects and created a masterpiece. There is satisfaction to a hobby and like Martercard says it can be priceless. It's a personal and subjective thing like all hobbies.

 

[ghwellsjr]

For a full discussion on this topic, click on Neil's Inkjet Page at the top of this page and then click on the link that talks about how many ink colors do you really need?

 

[JimmyBartelISGOD]

^^thanks for that

 

[InkMon]

I will add my comment I am a RX530 owner and for a year it worked well and the photo's were great. I am no expert. It does negatives. It has just stopped with a couple of error messages and I will have to fork out $150 to get it repaired.

Good printer but. Epson has fixed it anyway that it will stop after a while and require a felt pad to be replaced. They could have fixed a receptical for the ink used to clean the print head but they like to make money for their repairers. present cost for this $AUD88 this is aproximatly a yearly task I should say Warrenty + They have it worked out to last originally just longer than the warrenty. Is that sick or what.

Just imagine trying to start your car and you get a message saying the cars computer has shut the system down because the oil filter is considered too dirty and you will have to have it towed to a repairer to change the filter and hit the computer with a magic code.

That is what Epson has done. They have designed their printer to fail.

The good news the carts can be refilled easily and the saving can be used to pay for the repair that at this stage cannot be overcome. The scc utility does not cover that model yet.

 

[Smile]

Just imagine trying to start your car and you get a message saying the cars computer has shut the system down because the oil filter is considered too dirty and you will have to have it towed to a repairer to change the filter and hit the computer with a magic code.

I think that most of the new cars by 2020 will do this nonsense too

Back to the topic, very important thing besides how many ink cartridges a printer has is also nozzle size. If it is smaller prints look better. It is bad practice but many if not all manufacturers list smallest nozzle size, but that doesn't mean printer does not have 2 or even 5pl nozzles (for example for pigment ink, you did not think your ip5300 can print pigment black using 1pl nozzles did you).

 

[fotofreek]

I am presently using a canon i960 (six color) and my wife has a canon ip5000 (CMYK plus black pigment ink for text). The ip5000 has one picoliter nozzles for color printing. It is difficult to tell which printer has been used for most photos we print. I use MIS ink in both printers. Oddly enough, the ip5000 gives a more neutral gray scale in B/W prints.

In its day the i960 was considered one of the best photo printers on the market. The canon i9900 (eight color printer) is undoubtedly able to provide a wider gamut of color response, but Grandad35 has mentioned that his i9900 uses very little of the red and green inks. T

he ip4300 (CMYK plus pigment black for text) is probably comparable to the ip5000 in print quality and would satisfy most people with its color print output. It has one picoliter nozzles for the dye-based inks that are used for color printing.

 

[Smile]

I am presently using a canon i960 (six color) and my wife has a canon ip5000 (CMYK plus black pigment ink for text). The ip5000 has one picoliter nozzles for color printing. It is difficult to tell which printer has been used for most photos we print. I use MIS ink in both printers. Oddly enough, the ip5000 gives a more neutral gray scale in B/W prints.

In its day the i960 was considered one of the best photo printers on the market. The canon i9900 (eight color printer) is undoubtedly able to provide a wider gamut of color response, but Grandad35 has mentioned that his i9900 uses very little of the red and green inks. T

he ip4300 (CMYK plus pigment black for text) is probably comparable to the ip5000 in print quality and would satisfy most people with its color print output. It has one picoliter nozzles for the dye-based inks that are used for color printing.

Hmm, perhaps some part of the quality is defined by technology used to print ink, if I compare canon fine cartridge prints (2pl nozzles) versus a printer with integrated print head, the difference is clearly seen if you put 2 photos side by side.

If you don't have a second photo to compare to it would be hard to distinguish, but yet again if compared to say 5pl printer the difference is seen very well.