Top A3 Printers for Non-Pros
The leading manufacturers of printers for the home, particularly for printing photographs, are Epson, Canon and Hewlett Packard. Kodak and Sony also have printers in their lineup, and if you only need monochrome printing, there are still other options.
The main differences between the pro and non-pro A3 Printers is the type of ink they use and to a lesser extent the rated usage per month. Though these are A3 Printers (297 × 420mm/11.7×16.5 inches), all of them handle media up to 13″ wide and all of them can also handle 4×6″ paper stock and most standard sizes in between.
Epson, for example, markets the R1900 for the home, amateur market. . It is an 8-cartridge system claiming archival quality and a 200-year print life if printed on archival papers. The 8 cartridges include 2 blacks and extra orange and red for exceptional rendition of skin tones. Epson also claims an ultra fine resolution up to 5750 x 1440 dots per inch. The price starts at about $550.
Canon’s ix7000 prints much faster than Epson and is overall more versatile, but uses only 4 colors in 6 ink cartridges (2 blacks for glossy and matte papers, plus clear to cover pure white areas so that the surface displays a uniform texture). When printed on coated paper the images are stunning. The strengths of this printer are its versatility because it is aimed at the business market. Expect to pay about $350 or less for this printer.
HP offers the PhotoSmart B8550 inkjet with its 5 cartridges, including 2 blacks (for glossy and matt papers) and 2.5″ LCD display on the printer for previewing the print. Nominally rated at only 1200×1200 dpi, it can achieve an effective 9600 x 2400-optimized dpi color when printing on selected HP photo papers. Overall, it is the fastest of the group and cheapest at $150.
The Canon and Hewlett Packard will print on plain paper as well as coated paper. The Epson is strictly for use with coated stock. Yet, when printing the same image at the best resolution on any of these A3 printers, you might be hard pressed to tell which print came out of which printer.
You may also like:
- Canon Travel Printers Top the Heap
- Reasons to Buy Portable Printers for Photos
- Duplex Printer Technology
- Inkjet Paper
- Acquiring an HP Printer for Your Computer
Filed Under Home and Furnishings | Leave a Comment
Tagged With best a3 printer, best a3 printers, top a3 printer, top a3 printers
Comments
Leave a Reply