e3opian

That explains why he wants to do it himself...

AgS2K

The cheapest Epson printers that you can pick up at Costco and the like have sometimes been priced so low that it was actually cheaper to buy a whole new printer when the ink ran out than to buy replacement ink carts. The R200 and R300 were effectively disposable (negative effects on the environment notwithstanding).

One thing to consider: the 8x10 desktop printers typically start having issues with loading paper well before you get to the thousands of prints.

I believe a study done about 2 years ago indicated that anything up to 8x10 was cheaper to have done by a lab. Over 8x10 and it was more economical to print it at home (assuming you have a 13x19 or larger printer).

artificeexks

i have friends that own a studio that does all of my important prints. however, walgreens does the job @ $0.12 a picture.

NFRs2000NYC

That is just waaaay too many photos. Pick 50, or even 100 of the best ones, and get them printed. For the amount of money that 1500-3000 photos will cost to print, you can easily buy a 1080p plasma display and have it cycle through all the photos.

MIC

Photo Paper is BLOODY expensive! At the local best buys, Canon 50 pack of photo paper is $21.00!!!! Who in the right mind is going to buy that?

Oh man, you got me thinking.... 1080P tv OR pieces of paper with my face on it? I'm just going to pick out the nice ones, like you said and have those professionally printed.

ricosuave

8x10 paper is not that expensive. i got 50 or 100 sheets for $10 online.
it's the ink that's expensive.

AgS2K

Upwards of $8000 per gallon.

Not kidding.

bkw

You also need to consider the longevity of your photos. The cheaper stuff may not last as long as the good stuff. Something you may want to consider when you show your grandkids how you lived.

MIC

I think the canon inks in the cheaper printers have a minimum 100 year life and the more expensive ones go up to 300 years or so.

bkw

Hmm, no worries then - forget what I said.

But for 3000 pics, I would consider using a professional printing service rather than sitting there waiting for each print process.

I had the Epson R1800 which had terrific quality but took up a lot of room and was overkill for what I wanted to do. Sold it in favor of a smaller Canon ip6700.

Whatever printer you decide to use, try to get one with at least 6 color cartridges.

http://www.steves-digicams.com/printers.html is a good place to start.