Recommended color printer for mid-fidelity medical imaging?

October 3, 2013 9:44 AM

What is the best color printer for the following use case: photos up to 5x7 of patients pre/post operation. The images will not be used for diagnosis so there is no requirement for ultra-high-quality, but the images must still be decent. Must be Mac compatible. We cannot use a professional lab as the images will be confidential. Not sure what kind of spend is required here but I'd be surprised if there wasn't something suitable under $500.
posted by hoverboards don't work on water to Technology (2 answers total)

My office purchased an Epson Stylus Photo R2000 on the strength of reviews from The Wirecutter and Red River. That second review is particularly detailed and it seems like that company really puts photo printers through the paces.

It's a bit pricey up front for a two-year-old model (about $600 retail), but the ink is significantly less expensive than we planned for; a full set of "real" cartridges (not starter cartridges!) goes for $25 on Amazon, rather than the $25 per cartridge one might expect.

One downside is that it's enormous, since it can print on sheets up to 11x17 or so. But this also means that it feels like a quality piece of kit and not a janky little thing that's going to break in a few months. A color laser is still my preference for multi-purpose color printing, but for photos the Epson is hard to beat.
posted by bcwinters at 10:15 AM on October 3, 2013

Cheap printers are often slooooooow; check out pages per minute.
posted by theora55 at 11:40 AM on October 3, 2013