Printer recommendations

I'm looking for recommendations for a printer. At present I have a cheap kodak all in one and it does decent prints (A4) but is now occasionally giving trouble so I'm considering a replacement,
I don't particularly want a high end printer as my main interest is PDI's but the ability to print decent pics up to A3 would be nice.
I will be pleased to receive your recommendations.
John Moore

The first decision you need to make is between a dye based and a pigment based ink printer. I have tried both types to A3 size but I can’t recommend a particular model without knowing your intended output and frequency of use.
I use an Epson R2880 printer but would not recommend it for infrequent printing. I used a Permajet continuous ink system for a while but now use their inks in refillable cartridges. Printers that use pigment inks work best when used regularly. The particles of pigment should remain suspended by Brownian motion provided the particles are small enough. However it is recommended that the ink bottles are agitated from time to time which suggests some settling is expected. I have noticed some of the inks do settle out in the bulk bottles and topping up the supply bottles for continuous ink systems without shaking the bulk bottle will lead to inconsistent printing. Dye ink printers are more suited to infrequent use and generally give brighter colours but these fade quite rapidly under bright conditions. If dye based prints are under glass they usually last for several years.
Using ink cartridges other than from printer manufacturers can give inconsistent results because quality control from batch to batch is less rigorous. To get around this problem I use refillable cartridges filled from large bulk inks so that re-profiling is only needed occasionally.
For all printing profiling of monitor, printer and each paper used is most important. The club uses a Colormunki for profiling and used to allow members to borrow it as it costs about £300 and is only needed occasionally.
Roland Booth

Thanks Roland, I don't know wether this makes my task easier or harder? Never even thought about pigment or dye. Are these different printers or can the different inks be used in the same printer?
As I said, I don't think I want to go all out for a top level printer as I prefer PDI's but I may well do more printing. I have noted a lot of prints in the competitions are only A4 but I think if I am going to buy a new one it would be far better to get A3. I guess I could keep my Kodak for scanning and copying and ordinary printing and use a new A3 for photos. I don't really want to pay much more than in the region of £300 ish.
I have seen an Epson A3 1500W all in one at Currys which also prints on discs which does have some appeal to me. There is also a Canon Pro 100 at a reasonable price. Have you got any knowledge on these models?
John

Hi John,
The Epson printer you are interested in is a dye ink printer and is reviewed by ePhotozine at the link below, but I have no personal knowledge of its capabilities.

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/epson-stylus-photo-1500w-a3--wifi-printer-review-19867

The printer does offer a lot for the money but as with all Epson printers they intend to make their money from the ink sales. Ink costs £85.26 for a set, so when you have bought three sets you will have paid out more than the cost of the printer. Each cubic centimetre or ml of ink costs about £1.30 which is the usual Epson rip-off. Before you buy I should find out if anyone is making refillable cartridges for this printer.

Regards Roland Booth

Afternoon John
Link to the Canon A3 Dye ink printer on Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-PIXMA-iX6550-Colour-Printer/dp/B004N5J9V4/ref=sr_1_10?s=officeproduct&ie=UTF8&qid=1379249175&sr=1-10&keywords=photo+paper+canvas

It has very good reviews, I swapped from Epson to canon a couple of years ago, I owned Epson printers for over 15 years, I eventually got fed up with the print heads clogging and wasting so much ink cleaning the heads. I own this printers big brother the Pro 9550 MkII this the pigment ink version. Last year I had 7 weeks in South Africa, came back turned the printer on, it printed straight away didn't even have to do a head clean.
To be fair I would not have bought a canon 5 years ago but the Canon print technology has caught up with Epson. I print a lot of B/W converted from Infra-Red and there is no colour cast
John
aka digitaljohn

Hi John
Thanks for info, seems a good recommendation but just wondering about your 9550, I guess it's out of production now and replaced by the Pro 100 which is already on my radar.
What is the significant difference between Dye an Pigment inks, and do you use compatible inks or a CCIS
John Moore

Evening John
The 9500 is still available through Amazon at a good price £359 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-Pro9500-Printer-colour-ink-jet/dp/B00261PCEA/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1379265561&sr=8-6&keywords=canon+pro+9500+mark+ii
Remember this is the pigment ink version. The Pro 9000 MkII is the dye ink version of my printer and is still available through Amazon at £359. The Pro 100 is £374 and is a dye printer.
I've played around with compatible inks and to be honest the blacks were so bad I threw the inks away and went back to genuine inks. 7dayshop sell the inks at a good price and dye inks are cheaper than pigment inks
Hope this helps
John
aka digital john