WF-7110 or ?

A used 3880 is worth more than they were a few years ago.... so now is a good time to sell it! Apetit will be refilling so regardless of the size of cartridge the actual ink costs will remain the same. If you were buying OEM carts then that aspect would be of importance.

Apetit the IQ of the 7110 will be the same as the 3620...same print engine actually. You already have the required carts in the XL format as well.

If you're into printing photos on matte, then consider getting the PCK3HD-MK for the black on the 3620. It is a very rich matte black.

apetitphoto said:

Ultimately the p800 is not wide enough to do decent sized canvas wraps, and I'm not thrilled with the MK/PK switching. (I have an engineering background so I tend to overthink things...)

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Decent-sized is subject to interpretation.

I produce many 14 x 18 up to 14 x 21 canvas wraps on my Epson 3880. Same size as P800. Admittedly the stretcher bars are 1¼" instead of 1 3/4". But at the above sizes it all seems aesthetically proportional.

In fact the few I have produced using the 1 3/4" bars seem disproportional to the image size. (Again subject to interpretation )

rs

All options are listed now, up to the A2 Pro 3880/P800, and if pigment inks are important for you you may add a Canon printer like the Pro 10s or similar to the list.
But if you start again your considerations at the WF-3620 - what are the concerns and limitations of this printer not doing the intended job - speed ? paper feed problems ? format too small ? And how important is a wider format for you printing images beyond these other printing jobs?

Ink stained Fingers said:

All options are listed now, up to the A2 Pro 3880/P800, and if pigment inks are important for you you may add a Canon printer like the Pro 10s or similar to the list.
But if you start again your considerations at the WF-3620 - what are the concerns and limitations of this printer not doing the intended job - speed ? paper feed problems ? format too small ? And how important is a wider format for you printing images beyond these other printing jobs?

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Fair enough. Here's my current (breakfast time, 1st cup of coffee) thinking:

I like the 3620 with Precision Colors pigment inks and custom profiles for what it produces on letter size and smaller matte paper. High gloss paper, except for metallic, is not that pleasing to me. (I like Red River paper and intend to mainly use that, but that's a whole other discussion.)

What concerns me with the 3620 is that I have a need (want?) to produce advertising material at a greater volume, several hundred pieces of various sizes, on a somewhat random, demand driven, basis. I'm not sure it's up to that task. I've had paper feeding issues, but I'm willing to take the blame for that as I'm sure I don't always fan the paper.

What I don't like is the size limits on the media.

I haven't convinced myself that "spiker" colors are a necessity with good profiles, particularly on matte paper (yet another conversation.) I have my, probably groundless, concerns about thermal printheads.

So this leaves me in the Epson camp, with the WF-7110, P400, P600, ... , and money to consider. Epson samples from the SureColor line and a slight personal preference for matte push me, a bit, towards the P400 and not using the GO. But if I'm not going to use the GO and 13 inch width is currently OK, and the 7110 is much less expensive and I have profiles already generated...

So, I guess it's on to stable building time. Thanks for listening and the advice.

One requirement to building stables is space.
You will discover than the "value" ratio does not increase that well with the upper models. It's the same for all products including cars and especially the opposite gender.
OK, off that, if you want to get value. Start building storage spaces to acquire desired models on promo. When the 7610 is on promo, it's well priced. Might even be less money that the 7110. And when the 3620 goes on promo....well you probably bought one on promo.

Rear feed is in your future.
You need to get rear feed to stable feeding of paper especially if it is stiff. Now the other thing is that these new models that are inexpensive might only come with single sheet rear feed and that is not practical if printing in volume.

Sounds to me that you need is rear feed. Find a used R1900 or 2000 and hang a modified CISS with proper tanks on the machine. That might actually be the solution you seek.

Here's an old one I did many many years ago. Notice the intake of the pigment from the tanks is from the TOP and the tubes dip into the tanks/bottles and kept from the bottom by about 1/8". This is the proper way for pigment ink. It prevents overcomes all the issues concerning pigment ink and CISSes. Just wish I had my current inkset on that old R1900.
That white piece of absorbent material on the left is to eliminate tube slap and keep the machine quiet during operation.

See, I am not against CISSes as long as they are done right. The system shown cannot be shipped, It must be assembled and primed in place of use. So a lot of the final result is in the hands of the assembler and installer. Not a commercially friendly thing. The tanks vent to the atmosphere like a Pro-1000.

Unless you're printing volume, then a CISS is not worth the effort. But since you are on this kind of board, then you might be up to this kind of thing.

One thing needs to be considered with these WF printers. They are not built to be precise to the standards as a real photo printer. After a number of uses (thousands), you might find that the alignment goes off and you get some banding. This is not correctable by alignment but it is wear. The effect of this will depend on your own viewing ability and needs. So keep this in mind when purchasing newer printers. Only the real photo printers are made to retain precision. Even something like a Maxify has started to show signs of slight misalignment. For text, it is not a big deal for photos you can get microbanding.

mikling said:

Notice the intake of the pigment from the tanks is from the TOP and the tubes dip into the tanks/bottles and kept from the bottom by about 1/8". This is the proper way for pigment ink. It prevents overcomes all the issues concerning pigment ink and CISSes.

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That’s a well taught out CISS Mikling, probably one of the best I’ve seen, now all you need is the volume...

mikling said:

One thing needs to be considered with these WF printers. They are not built to be precise to the standards as a real photo printer. After a number of uses (thousands), you might find that the alignment goes off and you get some banding. This is not correctable by alignment but it is wear. The effect of this will depend on your own viewing ability and needs. So keep this in mind when purchasing newer printers. Only the real photo printers are made to retain precision. Even something like a Maxify has started to show signs of slight misalignment. For text, it is not a big deal for photos you can get microbanding.

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It's interesting that the 7110 has a "projected life" of 20000 pages and that the Pxxx's don't seem to be rated. Thanks for this lead. This is definitely something worth thinking about.
I took a look at a 7610 this afternoon and it seems to have a lot of stamped sheet metal. I'll have to take a look at the guts of a Pseries to see its construction.
Good thing the store didn't have a 7110 in stock

mikling said:

Unless you're printing volume, then a CISS is not worth the effort. But since you are on this kind of board, then you might be up to this kind of thing.

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I often wish I printed enough to justify a CISS!