Stylus 3800 or ipf5000

[Tim Armes]

Hi,

Do any of you have any first hand experience with these two printers. I'm going to buy one of them, but I don't know which one to get. In France the cost of the Canon has dropped to just 200 euros more than the Epson, no doubt due to the fact that the 5100 has been announced.

From all that I've read on the web, they both produce outstanding prints, so there's little to separate them there. The Canon's faster, has a roll feed and bigger cartidges - however I'm very concerned about the fact that that Canon have already reformulated the inks for the 5100, and I worry that the older inks will become less available or more expensive over time. Are there any past precedents for this sort of thing?

Finally, I can't seem to find the Epson Archival Mat paper in A2 size - does this exist? If not, then this seems a strange oversight. Indeed the choice of A2 paper is very limited.

Thanks for your thoughts and comments. I think that I need a little help to make a decision.

Tim

 

[nyschulte]

Hi,

This is the same decision i am pushing around for some month now.

I will not go for the ipf5000 due to the reported problem with the rollholder.

So i am still pondering between the 3800 and the ipf5100

My concern with the 3800 is the ink waste when switching between mat and gloss paper

A.f.a.i.k. cost for paper and ink weight more than cost of the printer.

Nicolas

 

[Tim Armes]

Hi,

Hi,
I will not go for the ipf5000 due to the reported problem with the rollholder.

I've not read about this. Can you point me to some further information?

The 3800 isn't without its own problems. The paper handing isn't said to be all that great, and the lack of a vacuum has apparently led to problems with paper hitting the print head.

So i am still pondering between the 3800 and the ipf5100

My concern with the 3800 is the ink waste when switching between mat and gloss paper

A.f.a.i.k. cost for paper and ink weight more than cost of the printer.

Nicolas

There's a massive price difference between the 3800 and the 5100. If you're likely to me making enough prints to justify it, then the 5100 is definitely the printer to go for. I personally can't justify it for the amount I'm likely to do. As you say, paper and inks are expensive, so high volume printers will problably find either printer cheap in comparison.

As for the wasted ink, I can't stand the look of pigment inks on glossy paper, especially without a gloss optimiser, so switching blacks isn't a problem.

Tim

 

[Aaron Strasburg]

I own the iPF5000. There have been a lot of problem roll feed units, but Canon has been good at fixing them.

All you could possibly want to know about the iPF5000 can be found at the wiki.

 

[John_Schwaller]

I own a 3800. It is a great printer...and paper handling is not a problem if you pay attention to how to work with it.

All you would want to know is beautifully presented by Eric Chan's site: http://people.csail.mit.edu/ericchan/dp/Epson3800/index.html

John

 

[Ralph Eisenberg]

I've had the 3800 since mid-April, and find it to be an excellent and reliable printer, as the previous poster observed. Paper handling has not been a problem to date. And Eric Chan's site dedicated to the printer is a most valuable resource.