Large format Epson printers - where to buy?

[ehasler]

I'm looking to get a printer that does a little bigger than A3 later on this year/early next year (Epson 7800 or 9800), but want to buy from somewhere who's a) competivitly priced, b) knows what they're doing rather than simply shifting boxes and c) can offer a good level of support (I don't want to have to box it up and ship it back every time if it develops a fault).

Does anyone own one? Can you recommend a good supplier who fits the bill?

[te51cle]

ehasler said:

I'm looking to get a printer that does a little bigger than A3 later on this year/early next year (Epson 7800 or 9800), but want to buy from somewhere who's a) competivitly priced, b) knows what they're doing rather than simply shifting boxes and c) can offer a good level of support (I don't want to have to box it up and ship it back every time if it develops a fault). Does anyone own one? Can you recommend a good supplier who fits the bill?

I tried the same idea but it seems that a and b are mutually exclusive. You couldn't buy the printers direct from the main distributor/importer so I bought from what appeared to be a reliable local company at a moderate discount, but they went bust shortly afterwards ! You better be prepared with a friend on hand when they deliver it, the delivery driver just left mine in the road saying he couldn't get it up the drive. Git !!

Warranty work is undertaken directly by Epson on your site as they're big beasties - they don't expect you to pack up an 80kg lump of metal and plastic. I had to get them out to diagnose a faulty ink cartridge and had to dig up the receipt as it failed 2 weeks before the warranty ran out and about a month AFTER the dealer had registered it ! Epson were OK about coming out though.

[wedge girl]

We have an A1 Hewlett Packard, had it for 3 years no problems, you can buy direct from them http://welcome.hp.com/country/uk/en/welcome.html

[bacchus180]

try udo machiels at atmos design. he only deals with professional photographers and will set you up a printer with custom profiles and rip software to drive the thing. he's very good. he profiled our hp5500 and epson 4000 and they run like a dream. also I get all my inks and consumerables through him.. if you want his number drop me a line.

[Methanol]

Hi Ed,

You may want to call Danny @ Chaudigital Tel. [phone].

I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Good luck