Gimmick-free printer recommendations

[superleccy]

Hi

I am tired of "gimmicks" on printers. All those extra buttons, card slots, auto paper sensors, wireless, camera links, little LCD screens, etc. And what particularly annoys me about my current HP printer is when you print on good quality paper*, it assumes you're printing a photo (even if you're not) and applies it's own cruddy colour/contrast correction etc, wasting 5 minutes of my life and the cost of the glossy paper an ink.

Surely there has to be a printer out there that's decent quality and "just a goddam printer". But, I can't seem to find one. Am I looking in the wrong place?

Basically, I want something that will print out high quality colour and monochrome graphics when used with good paper and inks, but also fairly decent photographs when required (ideally), and can also handle "general" document printing. We're only after A4 but would consider A3. Ideally I'd like duplex too. And no gimmicks!

Also, one day (I've only been saying this for 3 years) I'm gonna buy Adobe Illustrator. Do I need (or should I get) a printer that supports PostScript?

I'd be happy to pay a few hundred quid for something that met the mark. But, I have a friend who is a student who also has exactly the same requirements but obviously is on a tighter budget... so we'd be interested to hear recommendations at any price point.

What to do you graphic designers use?

Cheers
SL

* Okay I can disable this "feature" but I keep forgetting.

 

[shecky]

Canon Pixma Pro9000

 

[B&Wtoon]

I got a cheaper Canon mp600
review
works fine, scans & copies. I go to colour copy shop if I need lasers until i buy:
review2

the issue of postcript is strange one with the Canon, when I first got it I was printing via pdf to get around postscript probs, then I experimented and could send straight to print via all software without any font issues, strange, dont know how, but it works!

 

[MagicWok]

You don't tend to get duplex with desktop based inkjet printers. For something that has good duplex facilities, you'll need to get a large laser unit in my opinion.

Although running costs are high dependant if you don't print high volume/part of a company. We had a Canon CL5151 running here which did the job, but we had colour issues and moved on. Here's an example of what I'm talking about:
http://www.canon-europe.com/For_Wor...t/Digital_Colour_Production/CLC5151/index.asp

Though from experience, Laser don't do full-bleed - meaning you'll have to print oversize and trim. Inkjet can print to full bleed, but don't generally have do automatic duplex.

On the Inkjet side, I have an Epson Stylus Photo R1800 (no frills/gizmo) for about a year and a half - and it's served me very well. No fuss, great colour accuracy and no breakdowns. There are newer models out, but you could get this one for cheaper. Has had lots of great reviews and won a few awards too. Does A3+, and is a simple straight printer you're looking for. Though like I said, these desktop varieties do not do automatic duplex.

http://www.epson.co.uk/printers/ult...printers/Epson_Stylus_Photo_R1800_printer.htm

Hope this helps

 

[LeviG]

You don't tend to get duplex with desktop based inkjet printers. For something that has good duplex facilities, you'll need to get a large laser unit in my opinion.

That's funny my canon ip5200 can do that (although it does slow it down a tad) and the rest that the op is after without any major issues. I believe its been superseded by the pixma ip5300 though. Highly recommended and I use it for printing photo's and general text, I also print my 3d renderings out using it (or the ix4000 - a3 printer). The satin paper from canon also gives a lovely finish that isn't overly glossy but still has a nice sheen to it when the light hits it.

 

[carlgo]

The Canon Pixmas are really quite nice, some coming with 1 picoliter output. Use of ink and its cost is not as awful as some others. A couple of people who used my 5200 for document printing actually mentioned how good that looked and photos on Canon paper are really nice.

I once had an Apple Select 360 laser postscript printer that was totally fabulous at printing documents. Beautiful output. It was also fabulously expensive due to licensing fees from Adobe.

Is postscript still available at the consumer level? Is it actually necessary, even when printing out Illustrator stuff? It has always been a mystery to me anyway.

 

[JasonElise1983]

yeah, i vote for the Canon PIXMAS. Really nice, almost gimmick free, they are reasonably priced, ink is fairly reasonable, and they all print pretty damn fast.

-JE