I've found the printer which SEEMS suited price/performance wise to 
what I want.
Anyone else's comments would be welcome.
Tell me what I should buy instead.
Do read my wish list first though :-)

    Application is

- Good to superb quality photo printing in moderate home volume

- General purpose home office day to day printing. Much black and some 
colour.

Multifunction machine preferred mainly to allow use as a colour 
copier.

ESSENTIAL

Colour (assuming inkjet unless other methods compelling)
USB2 interface (LAN even better)
Refillable ink without hassles OR ink price less than vintage 
champagne per volume (HP's fails both tests).
Extremly good to excellent photo printing
Double sided (duplex)

"Good" purchase price

HIGHLY DESIRED

Achieves excellent photo quality without a vast number of inks.
Dual paper trays/sources.
CD label printing highly desired (may double as a small prototype PCB 
resist printer!)
Borderless from credit card through A4 sizes
Scanner

BONUS

Fax machine functions.
Good speed.
Slide copying
Negative copying
Flash card reading .
LCD image display
In printer cropping etc .
Scan to PDF
Photo cleanup (scratches, dirt, color changes)
Auto document feeder

More ...

____________________

The above wish list is, of course, ludicrous.
But one printer comes extremely close.
The newish Canon MP760 does ALL of the above except.

Fax, ADF, LAN interface.
All those I'd like
All those I can live without

Look at the list!!!!
Scan to PDF!
Slides and neagtives (albeit only 2400 x 1200 dpi - not up to "proper" 
scanners.
LCD display with impressive photo mani[pulation features.
CD (and PCB?) printing.
Duplex built in.
Dual paper sources built in
Much more.

My buy here $US360

No doubt HP make something every bit as good.
Shame about the ink.

Re print quality.
The MP760 and many Canons use std 3 colour CMY inks plus a pigment and 
a dye black. The extra black allows better contrast in photos.
Utter top line printers may use several "light" colour inks as well 
and even a photo grey. Reviews by people whose perceptions related to 
images I trust suggest that, while the extra inks MAY produce very 
very marginally better results, the gain is so very very small, if it 
exists at all, that it's not for me at least worth the potential 
impact on refillability. YMMV. Improved dpi (eg 4800 rathe than 2400) 
offers a clearer uality gain.





        RM
 

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