ive had luck withthe cannonpixma series they are quality quiet and really dothigns quick
inks arnyt too pricey either and they have sperat colour tanks so you onlu replace what is needed

I've been looking at the Pixma Pro 9000... not bad prices, some as low as $250. Is that the one that you have?

I have the ip 6000

PIXIMa Pro9000. Get it. I use it for professional (digital) photographic printing, and nothing beats it for that price bracket. High DPI, eight separate ink cartridges, certified for multiple picture formats/mediums, the works. I even helped convince the local university's architecture department to get a couple for their drafting projects.

If you have some change left over for a scanner, grab the Cannon CanoScan LiDe 25 for a whopping $50.00 from Newegg. Optical resolution is 1200 x 2400 dpi and the interpolated rezzy is 19,200 x 19,200 dpi. Plus, it's a "never die" LED bulb, and just one plug for USB; no external power.

Link for scanner: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ.....82E16838111121

How is the Pro9000 for ink consumption? I don't tend to work very dark, so I HOPE that it won't kill my ink cartridges. I wouldn't always be working at the maximum size, but it would be nice to have the option to use that 13x19" paper.

Also, it is very picky about what kind of paper it uses?

As for the scanner, I've been contemplating a new one, but it would be nice to have the 11x14" or larger scanner bed, the current scanner I have is the same size as the one you recommended.

I've only had to replace the yellow and black once, and I've had it for a year now. That's including some vibrant color and a many-a-darkie photography with a Nikon D300 (oh the megapixels!), so detail is there. Of course, the image quality is "better" with photo printer, but it's assumed that you're not going to print on anything less than budget copier paper. cartridges are relatively cheap, and if you are patient, you can order then online from several retialers without the Be$tBuy markups attached. For the budget you're working with, it's at the right price point and - dare I say it - the total operating cost pays for itself after a period of time.

The scanner's gonna be a problem. For a larger than 11x14 format, you're looking at a re-mortgage. A large format scanner, like the "Big Bertha" HP I use at work that is roughly 20 x 40 inches was basically stolen from a Kinko's closing down. Estimated value puts it north of $6,000. Oversized scanners, anything over 11 x 14 inches, *doesn't* exist for snatch-it-up consumer use. The only one I can think of that I've recently worked with was the Epson GT 10000+, and it was 11x17 with a $2,000 price tag. Anything less for that size and the image quality will noticeably suffer.

With that said, you would be better off scanning the large format images at the local Kinko's/college for a few dimes. I know my roomate contacted the local AutoCAD design firm and was allowed to digitize his blueprints for nothing. Now, whether you're willing to go to those places with OMG FURRIEZ!!! artwork without wearing a mask is up to you.

Oh, nice artwork, BTW.

You might wanna get a Lexmark 2500. I have one now, and it's amazing.

http://downloads.lexmark.com/cgi-pe.....29:1:0:590:0:0

Got a pretty good deal at wally world for it, $79.99

Pretty good for a combo printer-scanner 11x18

It's a big world and I don't pretend to know much other than how to fix them when they break. You might consider a color laserjet as the prints tend to be a nicer shiny texture instead of the grainy look you can get with inkjets and unless I'm mistaken the cost of ink per page is cheaper although your startup cost is much higher. They are less fickle machines and generally they hold out longer on professional printing than do inkjets which often fail after the first 5-10 years. Although, the note above about ink lasting 100 years is a plus especially when doing your own prints. And again, a color laserjet is going to set you back a pretty penny with the initial cost, the maintenance, and the toner.
Watch for the following specifications:
-DPI
-Print resolution
-PPM (Pages Per Minute)
-Size
-Cost of toner

Always look at user reviews of the product before buying. Look for trends in complaints. Does it often jam? Does it often need maintenance? Is it more expensive to run that others? Generally by skimming the lowest ratings on a customer review page you can see what trends emerge in that model.

I remeber HP and Epson having two big differences: HP printers had the print heads being part of the ink cartridge itself, whereas with an Epson it was part of the printer. The advantage of the latter was cheaper ink carts since they had fewer parts. The advantage of the former is that if you don't print for a while and the ink dries up in the printhead you can just buy a new cart and not a whole new printer!

If you know that you'll be printing on a consistent basis so the ink can keep flowing, the permanently installed printheads would save you money. Since most of the failed inkjets I've seen failed when the ink dried up in them, though, I tend to favor the HP printheads-in-the-cart style.

I'm a printer [i[guru [/i], but I know extremely little about Mac

I'm just looking for something that'll give me good prints without guzzling up ink. Many printers these days are mac compatible, Canon especially, and I've managed to do fairly well with my little $75 Epson.