Rob666 I think it does all come down to ‘horses for courses’. ….
I totally agree with that. It’s what makes it very hard to answer when someone says “Which <product type>should I get?” because what suits me ideally might not suit them at all. I also think it might be harder with printers than most product types. For instance, just what is someone after? Low cost per page, superb photo quality, long-term durability, minimum faff in things like changing cartridges, heavy or light duty cycle, low capital cost, versatility in paper handling, and soon.
Personally, I don’t care which brand it is,if it does what i want. But, choosing btand largely chooses inkjet head technology. I don’t care which head technology if it one what i want, but that technology will impact significantly on print quality.
And there are other factors that are critical to the printed results. Probably the biggest, and you’ll very rarely if ever see it discussed not least because the details are a highly protected trade secret, is exactly what the dithering algoritm is in the printer/driver combination (mainly, the driver). That algorithm is not only critial to image quality, especially in photos, but can also have a significant effect on both print speed, and especially the volumes (and hence, usually cost) of ink used.
My only other issue in relation to printer choice is to beware marketing double-speak. There are things that used to be important in determining image quality, not least the dpi, but it hasn’t really mattered for years. Ironiclly, that dithering pattern still does.