The Epson Stylus Photo printer uses a pigmented ink, which is just a little more liquid than paint. It dries very quickly and Epson has had a number of complaints in the past about clogged print-heads. There was even a class action law-suit filed in US courts and Epson was forced to issue a recall to replace the print head.
Newer Epson printers have a reformulated ink which is supposed to solve the problem, but only time will tell.
That said, there are few printers that print pictures better than Epson's, but there are a few other printers that so an outstanding job. I'm partial to Canon printers, but there is nothing wrong with HP printers. Brother has some nice printers, but they fall short on printing pictures because the gamma values are off. Finally, stay away from Lexmark they are cheaply made and the cartridges will cost you a bundle in the long run.
The point here is that you get what you pay for. The printer industry doesn't make money from the printers they make money from selling cartridges. All three brands that I recommended have their cheap models that work good for a little while and end up costing you a lot of money in the long run. So don't buy one from a discount store!! Go to a computer store and have a salesperson show you printers. Get an idea of what the cost per page is going to be before you buy.
Finally, refill those cartridges. Manufacturers will tell you that non-genuine cartridges will hurt your printer. This is nonsense. A reputable refiller, like Island Ink-jet, uses ink and supplies that meet or exceed manufacturer specifications. It'll cost you a lot less money too.
Darren, October 2007
