Printer recommendations??

[boldtage]

What is the most economical printer to purchase that will produce tight, clean transparencies for exposure purposes? I have been checking out the Epson Stylus Pro 1400 and 3880 models. I'd love to keep cost well under $1000 which the 3880 does not permit, but I'm unsure of the 1400's abilities. I'll be printing medium to large size flatstock and I'm flexible on print-out size because I can piece film together to make larger transparencies for larger prints. Thanks ahead of time

[ittybittypress]

I think a lot of people have the Epson 1400. I have one outfitted with all black inks, it makes great films. A few months ago I found an Epson 7600 on eBay for less than $1000 and snapped that thing up. No more stripping and I get great films out of that one too. Used Epsons are where it's at for cheap/quality.

[Quinine]

Depends on what size you want to print, of course but I can vouch for the Epson pitch. We scored an Epson 7600 off of Craigslist for $200! Works perfectly fine and there's a ton of info in the GP threads on them. Dude was printing blueprints or something w/ it out of his home and just needed to get rid of it due to lack of space or something. Put as many lines out w/ as many people / resources as you can and have the money ready to go. That way when you find something you can snatch it up immediately. Craigslist has been huge for us. Ebay can be alright but you will probably eat shit on the shipping on larger pieces like a printer, etc. Good luck.

[domineight]

Depends on what size film you need. I have a Canon ip5000 with a CISS system for A4 film, a Canon PRO9500 with auto-reset chipped/refill carts for A3+ film as well as an Epson 2100 for A3+ running power-rip, and an Epson 4800 for A2 film.

Overkill having all 4 but one of them is bound to shit itself with my home-brew refilling, Chinese import CISS, reset chip system sketchiness. Some printers double as colour proofs as well.

The Epson 4 would be the one to rule them all for regular textile printing or small format graphics, pretty cheap to get into now used. I bought mine used and have caned the shit out of it for 4 years or so.

[ittybittypress]

Depends on what size you want to print, of course but I can vouch for the Epson pitch. We scored an Epson 7600 off of Craigslist for $200! Works perfectly fine and there's a ton of info in the GP threads on them. Dude was printing blueprints or something w/ it out of his home and just needed to get rid of it due to lack of space or something. Put as many lines out w/ as many people / resources as you can and have the money ready to go. That way when you find something you can snatch it up immediately. Craigslist has been huge for us. Ebay can be alright but you will probably eat shit on the shipping on larger pieces like a printer, etc. Good luck.

Holy crap, $200? After months of seeing nothing on Craiglist/eBay for less than $1500, I felt pretty good about finding one for $950. Still, it's already paid for itself in the time I save stripping.

[Quinine]

Yep. $200. Couldn't believe it ourselves. Just had to get a RIP for it and set it up for our needs. Printing films on it like nobody's business.

[paul204]

I have a 7600. Not sure what you mean by RIP, but I don't need any silkscreen RIP to get black positives out of it. I use GhostRIP to emulate postscript interpretation, but I don't need anything to get the films to proper density.

Highly recommended. Got mine for 500.

[BigmanJames]

I am really enjoying my Hp Designjet 111. Prints 24 inches wide.