Anyone have a recommendation for a good photo printer or general suggestions about them? We have been checking out Canon's new iP6000 and the Epson R320. Of those two, we thought the R320 printed nicer photos. I'm kind of wanting a really good photo printer and have also been looking at the Epson R800 but don't know if it's worth the extra $200 over what the R320 costs. (R320 = $200, R800 = $400). Someone also told us that recent Epson printers have had a problem with the print heads clogging up. Anyone else heard of this?

Epson has always had a problem with print heads clogging. I have lost 2 Epson printer to clogged print heads and therefore will not buy another.

I suggest the Canon, Canon printers usually have replaceable print heads and ink cost tends to be much cheaper for Canon than anybody else and new (not refilled) after market ink cartridges are available for Canon printers real cheap.

HP printer are good and the print head is built in to the cartridge but ink cost tend to be very high.

I print a ton of pix on an Epson R320.  Couldn't be happier with it.  I have never had good luck with HP ink jet printers although I like thier Laser Printers.  I had an older Epson that was a constant headache as far as print head clogging goes.  I have had no such problem with the R320 and get really nice 8x10 prints from it.

I'd look very carefully at the cost of consumables before buying ANY photo printer. Considering the cost of the printer itself, the special paper and cartridges, it's hard to justify owning one on any basis other than convenience, IMO, (particularly since you can 'borrow' the photo printer at just about any grocery or department store for about 26 cents a print).

Another thing we are considering is that if we get the R800 or another higher end photo printer is to continue using our old Canon S630 for text printing and the new printer for photos only.

I've liked Canon, too, but we went to Best Buy and printed some pics from my Canon G5 camera on both the Canon iP6000 and the Epson R320. As I said, between those two, we were more pleased with the results from the R320.

For some reason HP just doesn't appeal to me. Do they have any good offering?

Quoted: Another thing we are considering is that if we get the R800 or another higher end photo printer is to continue using our old Canon S630 for text printing and the new printer for photos only. I've liked Canon, too, but we went to Best Buy and printed some pics from my Canon G5 camera on both the Canon iP6000 and the Epson R320. As I said, between those two, we were more pleased with the results from the R320. For some reason HP just doesn't appeal to me. Do they have any good offering?

When you printed the photos did you make sure to use the correct paper? Canon is very picky about paper.  I have an S9000 and the photo printing on it looks bad unless you use the Canon brand premium photo paper. If you use that the photos are pretty amazing.

You probably couldn't go wrong with either one though. I'm sure their both great printers.

if you want a photo only printer.. go dyesub  there are a few out there for under $1000 and work good.

I had an Epson several years ago that drove me nuts with clogged heads.  I used more ink cleaning the damn thing then I ever printed with.  About a year ago I got a Canon i960 and couldn't be happier.  I have yet to have clogged heads with it.  My brother in law had his engagement pictures printed out professionally from some 25MB 2646 x 3302 TIFF files.  He managed to get me the files which I then printed out on my Canon.  I don't know what printer was used for his professional pictures but mine looked as good to the eye and actually had smaller dot patterns when viewed with an 8x loop.  I love my Canon.

Can't go wrong with an epson as long as you buy quality cartridges, and if you are printing something for the 1st time in a few months, run the head cleaner part just in case.

I have the HP 7960, which, as I understand it, is now discontinued and available at Circuit City, etc. at a discounted price.  I paid about $300+ tax a year ago, and they can be had for under $200 now.  A new model is replacing it.  It has a built in screen,(small, about 2" or so), so you can print from memory cards w/o a computer if you wish.  Takes the newer xd cards if you need that too.  It has a separate tray for the 4x6 paper.  I think you have to have an HP camera to be able to hook the camera up direct and print though.  Some newer models, Canon, among others, I think, are supposed to have some universal code that can read from several different brands of cameras, I've read.  The HP software isn't the greatest, but works ok.

The only problems I've had, have been a few of the metal wheels that advance the paper came off when I tried to do an envelope one time, but it works fine w/o them.  The cost of their ink is high for sure.  I was keeping notes as to how many prints of what size I made, but haven't kept it up to date, to find out how long the ink lasts.

Btw, this printer also has a gray cartridge that you can substitute for the black one to give you better b&w pictures if you scan some old ones into the computer and print them.  I've never used it that way yet though.  Printing speed isn't too bad either.

Overall, most that I looked at, including the HP I got, look really fragile and cheap, but mine has done the job so far, and with my five mp camera, I was impressed at the quality of photos.  I never realized that photo printers could make a print close to a regular 35mm print.

What ever printer you get, get the good paper when it's on sale.  The HP 11.5 mil stuff has been pretty good for me.

The Canon system with the replaceable individual ink colors is a nice thing, as I've had a Canon printer in the past, just not a photo printer.
www.steves-digicams.com/printers.html
HP 8450 is apparently the replacement printer just released.