I find the whole field of printer quality and specifications very difficult to quantify and compare on an apples for apples basis. Some things just do not make sense. For example I do occasional A3 colour cad prints along with regular run of the mill colour prints off the internet as well as the odd photo print. I therefore need either an A3 photo quality printer and a run of the mill A4 printer or an office A3 printer and an A4 photo quality printer.
I have come to the belief ( I could be wrong ? ) that unless you are printing A3 photos the best A4 photo printer will be close in quality to those whizz bang 8 and 10 cartridge A3 printers that have Ferrari like price tags.
But how do you account for the fact that the Canon MP980 that has 6 separate cartridges(2 black, Cyan, Magenta and Yellow and an extra yellow) gets a less favourable review in terms of quality than the much cheaper Canon iP4700 that has 5 separate cartridges (2 black and the usual Cyan Magenta Yellow trio)
Then there is the Epson R800 (8 separate ink cartridges)that is 3 years old ?? Surely it must be old hat given how technology improves or is it simply a good printer. No one has done a review to determine if it spits out A4 photos that are any better than the iP4700.
As far as ink yields I have given up on ever comparing printers. They all use misleading gobbledegook so that even if the gobbledegook was even partially amenable to comparison it is more a case of who is lying less than the other. I reckon each printer company has made it their prime mission to steal as much money from us in ink as possible until someone get's up in parliament and proclaims it as an injustice. Until then we will keep getting ripped off by Mobil, Shell and BP and a few others when we drive and from Canon, Epson, HP and a few others when we print.

That's enough wingeing.
Do I buy The Epson T1100 for the occasional A3 cadd print as well as the IP4700 or the R800
Or is there a magic printer that will do both

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Louis Mast