Foolproof

[Darin Boville]

Let me put it this way, LFFers. The Epson 3800 series is the most reliable printer ever made. No 3800 computer has ever made a mistake or distorted information. It is, by any practical definition of the words, foolproof and incapable of error.

--Darin

[Richard Wasserman]

Fools are among the most creative people on the planet, they can always get around anything "foolproof" and create havoc. I concur that the Epson printers are very reliable however.

[mdarnton]

I'll have to take your word for that. After living through repeated ink clogs in four generations of Epson printers, I gave up on them and went to Canon. Not one clog since. That's MY personal definition of "reliable"
https://www.google.com/search?q=epson+3800+ink+clog&oq=epson+3800+ink+clog

[Tin Can]

I also got very sick of Epson, switched to Canon Pro 1 and now I have let it sit for 2 months, I am putting a full set of inks tonight. We shall see.

Maybe I can even get the firmware to upgrade with WIN 8.1, the Mavericks would not do the upgrade

Digital printers are one of the reasons I am moving back to wet work.

Now if I could just stop that damn Internet I seem to be addicted to...


I'll have to take your word for that. After living through repeated ink clogs in four generations of Epson printers, I gave up on them and went to Canon. Not one clog since. That's MY personal definition of "reliable"
https://www.google.com/search?q=epson+3800+ink+clog&oq=epson+3800+ink+clog

[Darin Boville]

I don't know about the other Epsons but the 3800/3880 seems invincible. I just finished printing a total of about 130 prints, half 8x10, half 17x22. No problems whatsoever. It's a magic machine.

--Darin

[djdister]

I've had the 3880 for about 4 years now with no problems at all. I've left it alone for months at a time, then used it a bunch, and aside from a few cleaning cycles after the long spells, not a problem at all. Some of my ink cartridges have lasted over a year with no noticeable issues. As much as I would like to be able to do conventional darkroom work, it is just too impractical for me. That said, it is my goal that no one would look at my print from the inkjet and say "Oh, that's an inkjet print." I hope to make the end products indistinguishable and independent of the mechanism that created it. It is about the image, after all.

[Tin Can]

I think the more you use them the better they work. Costco Epson's run a lot and rarely break.

I do not print daily and have troubles with every printer I have owned, which is a few. I have no patience with broken modern electronics and my tube radios still work.


I don't know about the other Epsons but the 3800/3880 seems invincible. I just finished printing a total of about 130 prints, half 8x10, half 17x22. No problems whatsoever. It's a magic machine.

--Darin

[Oren Grad]

My 3880 has been rock-solid, even though it sits idle for weeks or months at a time in an environment where the humidity is not well controlled. So far nary a hiccup, neither clogs nor any other problem coming back to life when I need it.

[Kirk Gittings]

Same with my 3800.

[Tin Can]

Who wants a junk Canon Pixma PRO 1?

[Michael Cienfuegos]

Who wants a junk Canon Pixma PRO 1?

What's wrong with it?

m

[Tin Can]

It may be target practice soon.

If I knew how to fix it I would. It won't print, it's full of new ink, it needs a firmware upgrade, but it refuses until I turn it off and on, 100 times. Never works, circular logic flow chart that goes nowhere. The final response is always take it to a service center. I am in the middle of Chicago and the service center is 20 miles away in the goddamn burbs. It also weighs 70 or 80 lbs and is out of warranty. I am not gonna pay them $500 to fix it.

Canon printers really suck.

I may copy William S Burroughs and make art by shooting the ink packs while inside the printer.

See this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u02kFg_nxeA




What's wrong with it?

m

[paulr]

I've had a run of problems with my 3880s, but being pro printers, they're covered by Epson's fantastic pro service (not to be confused with their despair-inducing amateur service). My 3880s have worked flawlessly and cloglessly, until eventually succumed to cryptic error messages involving the platen gap sensor. The result has been Epson having sent me three brand new printers, fully stocked with ink.

In a sense my problem printers have been better than perfect printers, because in a year I haven't had to buy a drop of ink.

[Kerik Kouklis]

Lots of 3800's succumbed to the dreaded permanent magenta clog. I replaced mine with a 3880 2 or 3 years ago and never a single clog.

[Jim Jones]

My 3800 has produced 5277 prints, large and small, and consumed over 3 liters of ink in 6 years and 8 months with negligible trouble.

[Tin Can]

Do you know your total cost of operation?

Not cost per print, simply a total spent on printer, ink and paper.

I guess I can divide that number by 5277. :)

Thanks, these are the numbers it's hard to get.




My 3800 has produced 5277 prints, large and small, and consumed over 3 liters of ink in 6 years and 8 months with negligible trouble.