The new wave of printers(2) (page 12: Conclusion)

Conclusion

Except for the Epson R300 released a few months ago, this comparative test included the manufacturers‘ new line of products. They officially range from $99 to $179 but you may find better in retail outlets.

Canon iP3000

We tested this printer under standard use without deactivating the drying function. However, you may choose to reduce the "Ink Drying Wait Time" to zero via the parameter maintenance / Custom Settings control. The print rate will double. This product’s advantages are reduced ink costs, the auto-duplex unit that automatically reroutes the page for two-sided printing (slow but useful), the CD printer tray (except for US products), the small size of ink drops (invisible in pictures) and the second front-feeding paper tray in addition to the standard auto sheet feeder. You may use the one you prefer. This printer’s disadvantages include; lack of a paper sensor (included in HP’s printers, Lexmarks’ and the previous i865) and the new color table. Prints are over saturated, over contrasted and the gamma is exaggerated. Canon’s ambition to provide brighter pictures distorts colors. We advise you to manually change the color level via the driver by reducing the photo brightness and magenta level.

Canon iP4000

An iP3000 with a couple of additional features, this printer is faster and provides photos with a lower contrast level. You will, however, also be able to manually reduce a few parameters to improve the photo print quality.
Picture sharpness is equivalent to the iP3000. The additional black “photo” cartridge’s interest isn’t obvious and this just means dealing with an additional printer accessory. It makes the iP4000 less attractive, in our opinion, compared to the iP3000 which has a better price / quality ration.

Epson C66

The C66 ink is very resistant. It’s not just a marketing strategy as another one of our tests (in photo durability) shows the Epson picture with Durabright ink truly to be the most resistant.
Otherwise, the C66 is a basic version of the C86. It’s clearly slower and isn’t compatible with double capacity ink cartridges. These cartridges are more expensive but are cheaper to use.

Epson C86

The print quality is the same as the C66’s, cartridges are the same (except for the compatibility with double capacity ink cartridges), but this printer is twice as fast. The higher price is justified.
Our only reservation is that Epson has disguised a C84 (derived from the C82 which was derived from the C80) without adding any innovations such as a paper sensor, LCD control screen, etc.

Epson Stylus Photo R300

If you aren’t in a hurry this printer is an excellent choice. Office print quality isn’t the best, but it’s good enough for any situation. The R300 has a better photo mode, the best of this comparative test. Ink drops are invisible, and color quality is excellent for color prints. In black and white, print quality is equivalent to the other printers.

HP Deskjet 5740

It’s a printer that’s easy to use. You don’t have to change the settings, even in black and white (HP made some significant progress in this area), a paper sensor automatically adjusts print resolution for the appropriate paper, and an LED indicates if a cartridge is empty. HP wants everyone to have access to nice pictures. This printer does have two downsides. Ink is quite expensive, and ink drops are still visible in photo mode. Except for better color, print quality is equivalent to basic photo lab quality.

HP Deskjet 6540

This printer differs from the DeskJet 5740 in two areas. It’s faster (1 minute faster for a 10 x 15 print in photo mode) and it’s sold with a higher capacity color cartridge (334 reference instead of 343). Other characteristics are equivalent.

Lexmark Z815

With new cartridges, print heads , inks, photo paper, and a new design, Lexmark comes out with a product different from its past printer generations. Color quality is improved and the paper sensor is still very useful. There are two persistent disadvantages; ink cost is still above average and the banding problem present in photo mode. This is unfortunate…