Photo Printers

[JoePa]

I am looking to order a good (affordabl) photo printer, but am unsure of what to look for. I have it narrowed down to 3: HP Photosmart 7350, HP Photosmart 1315, and Epson Stylus Photo 925. What I understand the least is the DPI rating. One of them is 4800dpi, another 2400x1200dpi, and another 5760x720dpi. Which one of those is the best? How do you figure it out?

Thanks,

James

[kayofcircles]

Hopefully, Rick will check in on this because he works with better quality photos and higher resolutions than I do. It's not so much the dpi rating that one needs to look for..in my less advanced opinion. It's the "resolution" that can be produced from the printer. Can't remember the dpi (dots per inch) my scanner says it will do..but the reality is that the dpi figure on my scanner is ludicrous because although I can scan in something like 1200 dpi..I am not going to get a better scan, but am going to get a HUGE file size..byte wise. Searched through my HP printer resolutions once, and it won't tell me what I actually get..but suspect mine only produces the best color images in resolutions of 100, and that's what I use. That's because the printer has to mix three (Red, Blue, and Green) or maybe..never quite figured this part out..four (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and K..shade of black) colors on each pixel. So, if I tell my particular HP printer that I want 400 resolution, it's just gonna "throw" out the extra pixels it can't do anyway. I have tested this by printing the same pic in three or four resolutions. The print is not "different" to the naked eye in the higher resolutions, so for me there is no reason to have a bigger file size if the print is no better.

Sorry, a whole lot of gab, and no real help. But the newer printers are supposed to do at least 200 resolution, right? Maybe more? I think you should be checking into image quality and reliability on those printers you're looking at. Are they reliable? How expensive are the ink refills? Have you found good reviews on them? Meanwhile, hopefully someone with more knowledge than I will check in! :)

[Paul Komski]

THIS (http://www.zdnet.com/products/stories/reviews/0,4161,2660655,00.html) "Review of Injets" might help a little.

[JoePa]

kayofcircles and Paul,
Thank you very much for your time and your help. You have provided me with the information I was looking for.
JoePa