[MacNutt]

Okay, here's the deal. Business has been pretty good lately and it's time to upgrade the peripherals. I need a flat-bed scanner that will also read film negatives, a printer with photo-quality output and a decent CD-RW. I use a Pismo 400 currently running OS9.1 and will be upgrading to a G4 with OSX later this summer.

Anyone got any recommendations for what to buy and where? It would be even better if you'd had hands on experience with the particular bit of gear, that way I could really find out how well it actually worked in the real world. Specs don't always tell the whole story.

 

[CubaMark]

Hiya MacNutt,

The current issue of MacAddict (cover story: Dream Machines, photo of a G4, blue cover) has a one-sheet on printers, inks, etc. They seem to be quite impressed with the Epson Stylus Photo 2200. It's a seven-ink photo printer that uses pigment rather than dye inks.

My only caveat.. and this applies more for Canon products than Epson, is to ensure that your new acquisition works under OS X. I'm still waiting for scanner drivers (N650U).

ciao!
M.

 

[sniper]

that same issue of macaddict has a review of a new cd-rw called VeloCD.

it looks really nice.

 

[PosterBoy]

Scanners:
I usually reccomend Epson, either the Perfection 1650 Photo (1600x3200DPI with a 35mm slide/neg adapter built in), or the Perfection 2450 Photo which (uses FireWire, 2400x4800 and built in slide/neg adapter, can scan up to 4"x9" transparancy).
The 1650 is around 330$ and the 2450 is around around double that give or take.

Printers:
Epson (yeah, I am not biased, really) makes the best printers for photos in my opinion. There is the Stylus Photo 820 for about 150$, which does 2880x1440 DPI, and has 6 colours. Also, the Stylus C80, which is the same resolution, but only has four colours. The C80 has individually replacable cartridges though, which really cuts down on long term cost, and also uses pigment based archival ink so your photos will last signifigantly longer..
The ultimate right now is probably the Stylus Photo 2200 mentioned above. Not sure how much it goes for.
HP also makes a few good models. There is the Deskjet 940 and 960, both of which are the same resolution (1200x2400DPI). The 940 is cheaper at 250$, but the 960 uses better cartridges (about 2x as much ink for the same price as the 940 cartridges) and prints faster. Both of these are photoquality. There is also the Photosmart line of HPs, the current models being the 1215 and 1315. They can both print fast and good, and read directly from CompactFlash, Smart Media and Memory stick. The 1315 also has a 2" LCD screen (which is higher resolution than any of the high end Palm devices) which you can use to preview and do some basic editing on photos when printing direct from memory cards.
Canon has some sweet printers, the S750 and S820 both have individual ink wells, both photo quality, both fast. The 750 has 4 colours, the 820 has 6. The 820 is VERY fast, it can do an 8.5"x11" photo in 2 minutes flat.

CD-RWs:
The TDK VeloCD is not currently available in Canada (at least it wasnt available to my distributors when I checked a few months ago.), but the full range of LaCie and QPS drives are. For a FW drive you will be spending around 300$ and up.
There is also a Yamaha 20x writer, which comes with Nero and is Disc Burner Supported.

From my experience with the printers I would say that the Stylus Photo 820 is probably the best value because it is so cheap now, but the HP 960 is a very nice deal as well. The Photosmart 1315 has a definite cool factor, but it is the same quality as the 960, and costs 350$ more.
I havent gotten my hands on an 2200 Epson yet, but it looks very nice. The Canon S820 is probably the nicest printer that my store keeps in stock, but it is a little pricey at 500$.
The Epson 1650 scanner is a very good deal, it recently dropped in price by 50$.
It has OS 9 Drivers but not X, but then again, no scanners have propor drivers for X yet.
For CDRW drives, check out the list of compatible drives for a better idea what works. I have heard some good reports about both the QPS drives and the LaCie drives, but I dont have any hands on experience with either. In any event, get one that is Disc Burner compatible, and then get a copy of Toast Titanium.

Hope this helps some, feel free to ask for more specifics.

--PB

 

[VertiGoGo]

How is THIS for an upgrade? I can't wait to upgrade my G3 PowerBook to a G4 500!!! This is awesome news!

PowerLogix announces "Pismo" upgrade
June 14 - 10:10 ET PowerLogix today announced the BlueChip Pismo G4 500 processor upgrade for PowerBook G3 "Pismo" laptops, offering a Motorola PowerPC G4-7410 processor running at 500 MHz. The company notes that due to the proprietary nature of the Pismo processor card, the PowerBook must be shipped to PowerLogix to have the original processor card replaced with the upgrade. The BlueChip Pismo, which will be available on June 17, carries a retail price of US$329 -- a special introductory price of $299 will be in effect through July, 2002.

 

[RicktheChemist]

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[MacNutt]

Yes RicktheChemist I am interested in your feedback. In fact I am considering that very CDRW for my upgrade package as we speak.

I'm particularly interested in feedback from anyone who has actually owned any of the items listed above, or any that haven't yet been mentioned. Are they fast or slow? Did they work well? Any glitches?

Posterboy gave me an outstanding deal on a printer and scanner (Epson StylusPhoto 820 and Epson Perfection 1650 Photo) so I ventured deep into the mean streets of Vancouver and visited his store today to pick them up. Even though I only gave him one day's notice on items that were listed as "out of stock" he had everything all set up and ready for me when I got there. They even knew my name when I walked in the door! Quick and painless, despite dealing with heavy midday traffic in a large six ton truck. Everything turned out great...thank's for the extra effort, PosterBoy. Did I mention that he arranged all of this even though it was his day off?
We will definitely be doing business again in the future, PB.

 

[Britnell]

Regarding the CD-RW, I have a SCSI LaCie CRRW and have been very pleased with it. I've had several LaCie HD, have always been very please with the performance and the MTBF. I believe that LaCie has a Firewire/USB drive for versatility.

As for scanners, I would suggest looking at the agfa line. You will want firewire, as USB will be too slow. It is not just the hardware that is important, but also the scanner's software. Check around.

Colour printer? What do you want the printer for? Should you look at colour laser printers?

My first printer was a 300dpi black/greyscale inkjet that sold for $800. So colour is cheap. Don't get sucked into buying the least expensive.

Britnell

 

[MacNutt]

Thanks for the input Britnell! I have already bought a scanner from fellow ehMac citizen PosterBoy and it is, for better or worse, a USB unit. I will let everyone know if it seems "too slow" or not.

My Pismo does not have any SCSI ports so I am not able to use any equipment that has this interface.

I now have a scanner and printer, but am still shopping for a CDRW. Anybody got any input on what I should buy? Good or bad, I'd like to hear it.

 

[CubaMark]

Hey MacNutt!

FWIW, I picked up a LaCie CD-RW, the firewire/usb dual connector model. Sweet! Comes with Toast Lite, which is sufficient for what I'm doing (allows me to burn multiple sessions to CD-Rs, for example), and one big advantage for those of us with smaller hard drives; no need to create a 'cache' file like the Mac's built-in burning software (in which case we need to have at least as much free space as data that we're burning).

Performance has been great! I suspect there's a faster version of it out now... I picked it up in April.

M.

 

[MacNutt]

Muchas gracias, mi amigo!

 

[arminarm]

Any Epson 2200 users here?

I am moving up (printers) from an Epson 1200 to the 2200 for print longevity reasons.
But the people here at Viztek.com say "great but also keep the 1200".
Apparently, the 1200 (dye based) is better on saturation and the 2200 (pigment based) is better at subtle, pale and grayscale work.
Here's a project for a long scrolled work:
My Generatrix

 

[sputnik]

Got cash?

Damn fine printer

No but seriously,Lacie makes awesome burners.I don't have a fire wire model but my 24x10x40 has done around 500 cds in a year and a bit and it runs great.

Printers?Epson,hands down.

 

[Dr.G.]

Macdoc recommended the Epson Perfection 3200 or 2400 when I posed a scanner question months ago. Epson is also coming out with two new scanners which seem interesting and might meet your needs.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/NEWS/1058478037.html

Here is a link re Canon's new scanner
http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2003/07/25/lide80/

[ July 30, 2003, 06:12 AM: Message edited by: Dr.G. ]

 

[Ohenri]

VertiGogo, you know that Pismo u/g has been out for quite some time?? I know a few with it, and are very pleased. PowerL have also introduced the Pismo G3 900 u/g which has been an overwhelming success. Outselling the G4 4:1. Runs much faster. It seems that more than a few ppl have sent it in for the u/g. I just keep hearing conflcting issues with regards the time P/L need it. One buddy told me that it took WEEKS. Others have claimed 7 days shipped and back. Anyhow, one to chew on.

Edit: check out this link w/ comments for more outlooks.

[ July 30, 2003, 10:20 AM: Message edited by: Ohenri ]

 

[Ohenri]

BTW, re: these printers, do you have to edit the file 1st b4 printing? Is there a desirable size you should take a photo @ before printing? Not sure that I get it.

 

[JAMG]

TDK VeloCD.... If I am not mistaken... I have seen at Costco in Brampton.... But I saw nothing on the Box that indicated Mac OS support...

Does anyone have more info on this?