After several months of searching for a color printer, I finally decided to buy an Alps MD-5000. I decided to consider Alps after asking friends who own ink jets. Their complaint was the price of ink jet cartridges and how irritating it was to run out of one color and still have the other colors still working.We use an ink jet at work and handling the paper before it dries causes smears both on the paper and your fingers.The Alps printer would greatly benefit those who demand the best in their color reproduction such as advertisers, sales representative, and the plain novice who wants the best.Using the Alps Vphoto film, your pictures look like a regular photograph. The picture produced will also be water proof because of the coating applied after printing.Although it cost more than an ink jet printer, the price is well worth it. It is versatile when it comes to color production. You can choose from dye sublimation, metallic colors and regular. It beats an ink jet hands down with its individual color cartridges. No wasting of ink like single cartridge color ink jets.When I first saw the Alps printer, I asked the salesman why the printer cost more than the others. He gave me a demonstration, handed me the printed paper and I immediately fell in loved with it. Although it takes about 8 minutes to produce a scanned 3" color photograph at 800dpi to 8.5 x 11 paper, the wait is entertaining. Watching the Vphoto film go in and out of the printer 5 times, each time a color is being added, is like watching an artist paint.



Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 400
Operating System: Windows