Camera

I not been around here for a while....
I see you bought the Olly c-5050.....Quite a Good Buy & a Very Good digi...Good Luck......
As for All in one printers, I Hate Em n would never buy em.....
But if you only going to print 6x4s they should be ok....
Take Care....

IMHO there is NOT an "all-in-one" printer that is acceptable for both text and photo, primarily because the printers designed for photo use typically sacrifice the text mode to accomplish the primary objective. That being said (and BOY are you going to stir up controversy with THIS question):

1) Photo Printer: EPSON - any of the photo specific models, although the P2200 is the best quality/dollar choice. This is purely a personal opinion, but I've owned and used HP, Canon, Epson, Kodak, Sony, etc., and overall prefer the Epson. Either the P2200 or the 1280 (or whatever this week's newest equivalent is) are the obvious choices.

2) Text: buy a laser printer and be done with it. If you MUST have color, many of the newer EPSON models, like Canon before them, use individual ink tanks for the different colors. These are much more cost-effective over time.

Good Luck! ;)

The Canon i850 is a 4 color utility printer that outputs very good photos if you don’t want larger than 8.5 X 11 size: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2002_...anon_i850.html

Probably the best choice in a standard sized photo printer is the Canon i950. It has the best print quality available and does excellent text for a photo printer. This article has a comparison with the i850: http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/int...950/page_1.htm

My choice of large format printers would be the Epson 2200. The Canon 9100 is newer and might give a slightly better image if you look through a magnifier, but the Epson has pigmented ink that will last longer than the Canon ink. Most of the Epson photo printers also use dye based ink rather than pigmented. The Canon 9100 has the same print heads as the i950 in wide format.

Canon printers are easy to refill and there is good ink available as long as you stay away from universal inks. Inks have to be made specifically for the printer. Epson has a chip in the cartridge that is a hassle to bypass to refill.

Both Canons and Epsons have a tendency to clog if you don’t use them for a while. The Epsons are a little worse at that because the piezo heads reportedly let more air in. Epsons have permanent heads but you can remove the Canon heads to clean them or replace them when they wear out. HP printers can be left for months without printing and still print. The Canon i950 and 9100 will pump out a photo about 3 times as fast as their Epson counterparts.

I purchased the i850 at Christmas and really love it for printing photos. If you use the Canon Photo Paper Pro, I challenge you to tell the difference between a Photo-Lab Print and this printer's results (they are simply beautiful). Based on the previous article about the i950, it sounds like they've gone a step further (I don't even know how that is possible).

Regardless, I HIGHLY recommend the i850 from my personal experience. (I'm not a professional photographer or work for Canon, but I do enjoy digital photography a GREAT DEAL!!!)
(BTW, I've had my Oly C3000 for over 1 1/2 years and have taken over 3,700 PICs (and that's only the ones I kept!!)

:D

Oh, and definately get the biggest SmartMedia card you can afford. I would suggest at least a 128 and probably even a 256 with that 5megapixel camera, you'd be surprized! On my vacation last week, I filled my 128 in 1 day (twice). (1 or 2 movies will consume it REAL fast!). Good thing I had a 64mb backup!

And as I said before good batteries too! (I have 3 sets!)

I wouldn’t consider anything but CF cards for the Oly 5050. SM is obsolete and goes only to 128Mb. There are terrific deals on CF cards. CF is at least as fast as the xD cards, more universal and about half the price per Mb. Get at least 256Mb for a 5Mp camera. More if you plan on taking it on vacation with no way to store the images.