EPSON or CANON, help me decide

[Mowerman90]

Have used Canon exclusively for years but thinking about one of the new tank printers. I print plenty of Pics of the grandkids dogs etc. Of Canon or Epson's base tank models which has a dual paper path. I ask this because I print a lot of Christmas cards which work best with a rear straight paper path. Which models have this feature. Which of the two brands would you reccomend and why?

 

[pharmacist]

I would suggest the Epson ET-8550: it has straight paper path (8x10 and up). It is also very economical to print and does a great job with neutral black and white prints (gray ink included).

 

[zeboma]

I would suggest the Epson ET-8550: it has straight paper path (8x10 and up). It is also very economical to print and does a great job with neutral black and white prints (gray ink included).

I too am looking....either Canon Pro 300, 1000, and.....I think I'd prefer the ET-8550. The one downside I've seen has been about wheel marks (on thick papers only) and some black smudging, some challenges with true black. Are you generally happy --on those, and all other fronts?

 

[Fried Chicken]

I believe the ET-8550 is the greatest printer in a generation.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I too am looking....either Canon Pro 300, 1000, and.....I think I'd prefer the ET-8550. The one downside I've seen has been about wheel marks (on thick papers only) and some black smudging, some challenges with true black. Are you generally happy --on those, and all other fronts?

I'm not happy with such general statements - wheel marks - true black etc, lots of those are commented as well for various other printers.

The ET-8550 runs with dye inks, there are a few sources offering as well a pigment inkset for the ET-8550, I don't have experience with such inks in the ET-8550 , but the selection dye vs. pigment inks should carefully be considered . So it's not just the ET-8550 vs. the Pro 300 but as well the Epson P700/900 which might be considered.
Marks of sprocket wheels are reported for various printers, it is not so much a paper thickness issue but a property of the coating how fast the surface dries. You should not look after such marks directly after print but after a day, you'll see that the paper coating is very much sealing such marks after some drying time , in most cases to a level of invisibility. And different papers behave very differently in this respect .

There is some pigment blob build-up in the ET-8550 - but less than in the ET-7750 - which can be cleaned away easily.

True black - whatever that is - the ET-8550 is mixing the dye and pigment black for some matte papers - copy paper - inkjet paper and matte only for the velvet fine Art paper. The ET-8550 can run as well the advanced B/W mode which allows you to tone - like sepia - or neutralize your monochrome prints - separately for the lighter and darker regions. The paper color is predominant for the lighter grays and the ink color for the darker grays to black.
But therre is a limit how 'neutral' a print can look with dye inks - specifically under different light conditions, pigment inks can fair better in lthis respect, but this is not specific to the ET-8550 or a Pro 300 .