Epson 3880 - any thoughts/complaints?

[sully75]

I'm thinking about buying a printer to replace my nightmare of an HP B9180 (still sort of functioning, maybe, but going to the dump. A total waste).

Anyway, I'm hoping that whatever printer I buy will work well, be relatively economical, not be totally finicky and waste paper and ink on stupid errors constantly and hopefully last a long time without a huge amount of maintanence.

Honestly my experience with the HP was so terrible that I'm almost inclined not to try again, but I really miss making prints. And especially giving prints to people. I miss that a ton.

Anyway, I'm thinking about the Epson 3880. Just wondering if anyone has much experience with them. There was a really good deal on Canon printers recently through B&H but I'm moving at the end of the month so I decided to pass. Although...they were super cheap so I was tempted.

[Bob McCarthy]

I went from hp9180 to Epson 3880. I didn't have any issues with the HP, but it sounds like I was lucky.

Epson works great, Epson driver for color and qtr for b&w.

No issues in a year of use. Excellent prints.

Bob

[Oren Grad]

I finally sent my own B9180 off for recycling about three weeks ago. Its replacement is a 3880, which I've had for many months now. So far so good - although I've been using the 3880 only intermittently, with breaks of many weeks sometimes, it's been well-behaved.

My biggest gripe is that it takes some time and consumes a fair amount of ink to switch between glossy and matte (or vice versa). But that's well documented, and I knew that when I bought it.

My second biggest gripe is that the dithering algorithm is prone to aliasing under some circumstances, particularly when I'm pushing the envelope trying to produce very high-quality prints using high-resolution files (e.g., medium-format digital capture with no AA filter) output at the printer's "magic numbers" (360/720/1440 ppi).

Otherwise, it's about as economical, widely-supported and robust a machine as you're going to find at a moderate price.

[Gem Singer]

I replaced my HP B9180 with an Epson 3880 printer last year, and was the best decision I've made in a long time.

The 3880 worked flawlessly right out of the box. So far, I've printed over 150 16x20 B&W prints without a hitch. It's simple to use and maintain. The K3 inks are excellent, and the 80ml ink cartridges are relatively inexpensive and long lasting.

I recommend the Epson 3880 highly. Dollar for dollar, once for ounce, it's a good value.

BTW, I still use the old HP B9180 as my general office printer.

[Nathan Potter]

I've had a 3880 for about 8 months. Never used an inkjet printer before that. I've gone thru one set of cartridges (about 45 ft. sq. of paper). No problems of any kind even though the use is intermittant.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[sully75]

for the record, that it works during intermittent use is an assett, older printers clogged up when not in use!

[SW Rick]

Gave up on my 2200 a few years ago and stopped printing due to "issues". Bought a 3880 a few months ago after researching thoroughly, and I'm delighted with the difference- it's a pleasure to print with.