Upgrade from Epson 850 to ?????????????

[squiress]

I have an Epson Photo Stylus 850 that I would like to upgrade from for the following reasons- 1) seperate ink color cartriges, 2) larger than 8xXX prints. I also am interested in knowing if the inks used in this printer are durable over time. I have compared the output of this printer with an R2400 and thought it better (the 850).

While economy is good, I am really looking for something that would allow me to print 13" panoramas and 11x14 prints. It would need to handle periods of non use for up to a couple of weeks without clogging either heads or ink cartriges. Mechanical durability also important.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Stew

[Walter Calahan]

Epson 3800 when it arrives soon.

[squiress]

From what I've read it doesn't allow for roll feed. The 13" panorama would be 13" high by 33" wide. Any clarification on whether it will print that length of paper?

Thanks

Stew

[Jon Shiu]

Supposed to print up to 17x37 according to inkjetart.com

Jon

[Brian Ellis]

Depends of course on what you want to pay. An Epson 2200 will print 13" wide and will take roll paper so it will do what you want to do. They should be available very inexpensively either refurbished or used. Ditto the 2400 though it will cost a little more. Or still more expensive, the Epson 4800. While the 3800 is appealing, I'm really excited about what HP is doing with its new line of pro printers. If they work as advertised they should be very popular among serious photographers since they print as large as Epson's for less money and the Z series is self-profiling.

Unless you're in a major rush I think I'd wait at least three months for the dust to settle on all these new printers when more of the older but still excellent printers start appearing on the used market and when we should have some user reviews of the new printers to start appearing. This wouldn't be the first time we've gotten excited about the promos for new printers, only to find that they didn't work as advertised or that there were downsides not mentioned in the promo materials. But in other forums I've read that the prints displayed in the Epson and HP booths at Photokina were stunning.

[Greg Miller]

Things to conisider in the Epson line:

1) 2400 & 4800 are the same price when you factor in the ink (the 4800 comes with a full set of 110 ml ink cartidges - calculate what that amount of ink would cost if buying same amount of ink of 2400 cartidges)(my guess is 3800 will probably fall somewhere in the middle)

2) 4800 is cheaper to own over time (if you print only matte or only glossy) because ink cost per ml is much lower

3) 4800 cannot print on paper small than 8 1/2 x 11 (or 8 x 10 - I foget which).

4) 3800 will waste significantly less ink than 4800 when switching from matte to photo black (or vice versa).

5) 3800 will not handle roll paper

6) 4800 has closed loop color management. So you can use stock profiles. 2400 does not have this so you will likely have to make custom prifiles for every paper. I'm not sure about the 3800.


You'll have to decide on right price / feature mix for your personal needs.

[Rider]

Things to conisider in the Epson line:

1) 2400 & 4800 are the same price when you factor in the ink (the 4800 comes with a full set of 110 ml ink cartidges - calculate what that amount of ink would cost if buying same amount of ink of 2400 cartidges)(my guess is 3800 will probably fall somewhere in the middle)

Not so sure about that. When I got my Epson 4000, more than half of the ink in the 110ml was used up during the original priming of the printer.

[Greg Miller]

Not so sure about that. When I got my Epson 4000, more than half of the ink in the 110ml was used up during the original priming of the printer.

The ink for the most part is just in the delivery system, it is not wasted or "used". It will be used for prints. It does mean that you will have to but your next cartidge earlier but averages out over several cartidge changes and it becomes a miniscule point. Add this to the vastly cheaper ink costs of the 4800 compared to the 2400 and its a neglible point.

[squiress]

Thanks to all for comments. The 3800 if it truly gets out to 37 inch length will probably be fine for all that I would do. The 80ml ink cartriges compared to the 110 of the 4800 have the same order of magnitude kind of gains over the 2400 and the fact that I wouldn't have to change out blacks is really nice. I shall wait out the 3800's arrival and save some pennies in prep to purchase.

Stew

[squiress]

I revisited the decision to wait for the 3800 and its $1300 price tag. While I think the larger reservoirs of ink would be a huge benefit, I really needed to consider that I will not be printing on this thing every day in any sort of production mode. That said I relooked at commentary on the R1800 and made the decision to spend $500 for one of those. Should have it next Tuesday. It does come with a roll adaptor and meets all my size requirements without wondering what exactly is being said in the literature. Most important for me was the size issue and the seperate ink cartridges for each color. As well it carries both matte and glossy black inks.

What I have read is that it is thirsty, even for cartridges not used (like the matte black if you print only color glossy). One reviewer noted that the printer uses a lot of ink on head cleaning when powered up. He just leaves it on and does a nozzle check each day to keep things fresh. This is the approach I will take.

Have a roll of 13"x33' Epson paper and some panoramas ready to print. Can't wait.

Stew