I looking into purchasing a large format printer for my bryce stuff. What should I buy for the best quality per buck? Thanx RedX

You could buy the Epson Stylus Photo 1280. Epson say around $499. It's border free (this is very good) and 2880 x 720 dpi with a 6 color photo quality. http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/ProductQuickSpec.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0093156521.0989330100@@@@&BV_EngineID=ealklcfhkegbfdlcfjgckicnk.0&oid=176023&category=Products This is address for the printer. You can check Canon too.

forgot something, Print up tp 13" x 44"

I'm looking into printers myself. Had an epson, the print head is part of the printer not the cartridge so when the ink dries out you throw the printer away instead of just the cartridge. That's something to keep in mind. I learned it the hard way. HP has a 13x17 I'm looking into. Right now I'm running an HP 890C which is really photo realistic on the glossy paper. There are some refurbished large area lazer's out there. Look around on the web for large area used printers.

I've got an epson and when it dries out I do the nozzle cleaning and go through a little ink.Don't have the money to through away the printer.

run up to Office Max and pay $1.99 for a 11x17 print...laser, so there's no dither, blows ANY inkjet right out of the water. But if you do a lot of printing...then this kinda gets expensive. I work there so its a pretty good deal for me. But as far as printers go, I'd recommend HP. It doesn't do the nifty print to the edge like the epsons do, but the cartridges last longer and the resolution on their Photo RetIII system is much higher (2400x1200. check out the 1220 model) They run about $500 US, but well worth it. They also make a true professional series (not sure about the model number) but it uses their really high capacity cartridges, but once again the print head is part of the printer, but it is replaceable. I have an HP 810c which works fine for now...looking to upgrade in the future to a 4050 color laser...but a littly pricey now! Well, there's some options, hope that helped. Jared

I agree with jared. The HP1220C is the best bang for your buck. The problem you are going to run into, however, is ANY Inkjet or Ink based prints WILL FADE over time. This is mostly because of the ph factors used in the ink itself. Inkjet inks are also highly sensitive to UV rays and even small amounts of moisture will cause the ink to spot and smear. If you are planning on selling your artwork this way I DO NOT recommend using Inkjet technologies. For what it's worth, Rob

Rob, good point about the fading! HP has a solution for that though...but it's rather pricey excessive. Their large format printers 24" and above come with dye type ink (similar to what most other inkjets have in them.) However, for about $250 a cartridge (these printers take 6 of them) you can get UV ink which is guaranteed not to fade for 5 years in direct sunlight! Plus you can get the UV paper too which adds a couple more years on to this. Unfortionately these printers are pretty high. I believe they start at around $5000 and go on up from there...but they are truely large format printers (largest size is 62" that's a little over 5 feet!) so these things are mainly for commercial artists and poster printers. Again, if you are selling your work don't do it on InkJets. They have too much dither and won't look near as good as a laser...you get what you pay for though! Jared

I just bought the Epson 1280. It gives me just about what I want and the inks according to Epson have a 26 year span. We use to have this prblem in photography. It might be possible to spray a UV coating and extend the life. However, if you need archival properties, them the Epson 2000p is the only way to go. The inks are 100 year and with the archival paper make for nice fine art work. However, if you are hooked on the vibrant colors you get from ink jet, then it is somewhat disapointing as they are more closely related to real photographic colors. Its also pricy at $799 although some of the photo mags have had it listed at $729.