New Printers are Coming!!

[Not4wood]

I have just been able to read some interesting articles on the net one from Photokina and the other was a tech from an advertisement.

Epson is introducing a newer version of its Stylus R1800 called the Stylus R1900. We will now have more Photo Quality Printers to choose from to confuse the issues even more.

I was reading an article, have read so much lately I can't remember which one is which that was saying several of the All-In-One Printers can print Photo Quality faster, higher quality and with better longer lasting inks. Having a photo scanner on top of it doesn't hurt either.

I was researching the Epson R800, R1400 and the R1800 and trying to make a decision on which one I should get. The R800 and the R1800 is about the same speed and quality. The only change is the size of the borderless prints and the price is really not that far off.

The only thing at this point I am looking for thats slightly harder to find is a printer that will except the heavier 3rd party Art Papers and of course the ICC Profiles for that paper and printer combination. I would accept the 8.5x11 printer if it were to fit that requirement but the R800 is so much money I can get the R1400 with its larger format for a cheaper price and depending on who you talk to or read from the R1400 can or can't take the heavier papers.

Does anybody have an opinion of these or does anybody have any more information about these? I will try and go to MicroCenter tomorrow afternoon and talk to one of there people. I might even purchase a Printer tomorrow if I can find the one that fits the bill and not be too expensive.

Thanks in Advance!

[lexcell]

Hey Mark,
I am not as familiar with these printers as the wide format versions but, as far as paper goes...you can go to Epson's website and select the printer you are interested in and they give you a list of compatible papers for that printer.

Here is the link...
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/p...okie=yes&oid=0

[Not4wood]

Thanks Laurie,

That is real interesting, and its also pretty funny that they still only give you options for the Epson Paper and don't even acknowledge that other papers exist.

For some reason, other manufacturers will give the paper weight maximum recommendations but Epson does not and it looks like they frown on having other papers going thru there printers. Almost like the war between Coke and Pepsi where if your a store and have a coke refridgerator machine they wont let you put anything in the Coke Display other then Coke Products. But others like HP and Canon all give the maximum paper weight so you can also play with the heavy Art Photo Papers like Rag and so on.

[GaryK]

HI Mark

While I can't comment on the printers I will defend any manufacturer for not recommending non OEM papers. This is one area that they have no control over. What might be and excellent paper today, can change drastically overnight as the maufacturer changes suppliers or processes.

Not stating paper weight limitations is just strange. Although consumers will push things to the limit and then complain that the 60 lb cover works but the 60 lb index won't feed.

Another thing to consider, and this would be true for most, if not all printers. The heavier the paper the sooner the rollers will wear out.
For most home users this realy isn't an issue as they just don't run enough to matter and they likely upgrade to a newer/better model somewhat frequently but something to tuck away for future reflection.

[lexcell]

Mark,
I agree with Gary. While you can use other brand papers (and I do have a few non-Epson papers that I like) they are not going to tell you which other brand papers will work in their printer...just like Nikon or Canon don't suggest third party lenses for their cameras....gotta keep the money in the family, so to speak.

However, I figured that if Epson lists their own fine art papers as an option for the printer, you can use third party papers of the same weight, type, etc. So, as I recall...the 1400 did not list any fine art papers but the 800 did.

It's not just weight but, also ink configuration as to which papers will work best with a certain printer.

[TonyW]

Interesting as I'm going to be looking at a new printer soon but I do wonder about that Epson R1900 advertising.

They are claiming 18,446,774 trillion colours which if my maths is right comes out to:

18,446,774,000,000,000,000 colours

Now my monitor and jpeg files are 8 bit which is:

16,777,216 colours

My camera is 12 bit which is:

68,719,476,736 colours

Photoshop Elements has limited capability to handle 16 bits which is:

281,474,976,710,656 colours

But my eyes can only distinguish about:

10,000,000 colours.

So what on earth is the point of theoretically being able to print:

18,446,774,000,000,000,000 colours.

Just wondering

Tony

[lowbone]

Take this into consideration. No matter how many colors an Epson printer has it will have a clogging proplem if you don't print on a regular basis. Occasional printing is the worst thing you can do with this brand

[Ric Cisson]

My experience with Epson printers goes back a number of years, dating back to the Stylus Photo 2000P. My experience includes the 2200, R1800, R2400, Pro 3800, Pro 4800 and the Pro 9800. Of these only the 4800 has ever given me problems as far as clogging. I would say over the years that clogging has been but a minor issue. Since the R1900 is replacing the R1800, I would expect it to be just as high a quality a printer as the one it is replacing. I understand from what I know about it at the present moment that the addition of the orange ink cartridge (replacing the blue cartridge) is expecting to improve flesh tones, which on the R1800, are good, but just don't seem to have that complete finished flesh tone look. If you are going to be doing alot of B&W printing then the R2400 and the Pro 3800 are the two printers that I would strongly recommend. I have converted my 2000P to B&W only via Lyson Inks and I am very happy with the quality I am getting. If you are looking at economics, of all the printers the Pro 3800 may be the most economical, larger cartridges, no manual switching of the photo/matte black out, minimizing ink waste in that transition, over the R2400.

All said, all of these printers will handle heavier medium, though it may only be a single sheet feed at a time. The quality of prints from all that I have experienced, is capable and in many cases, equals and/or surpasses anything that commercial mini-labs can produce. And with the addition of many new papers that are available now from Harmon, Ilford in particular, the look and feel of a "real photograph" is becoming more "real".

There are many fine printers as well from HP and Canon (I happen to have a Pixma Pro 9000 and Pixma iP6700D amongst all my printers) without clogging issues, well documented. But again, my experience, and please take into consideration, all the printers I have, it is unavoidable that some sit idle for periods at a time, in fact I once was out of the area for 45 days and came back and found no clogging...and to qualify...this my experience. FWIW

[Codebreaker]

I have a feeling that the printers below the R2400 e.g 1800 were not so good at B&W. If you do B&W you may want to double check that feature.

Colin

[Ric Cisson]

In a pinch, utilizing greyscale and printing with Black only (BO), the R1800 will provide you with satisfactory B&W prints. But be aware that you will not be able to get the contrast you expect via greyscale or BO. As for printing B&W in an RGB space, you will usually find a cyan or magenta color cast. So my recommendation toward the R2400 or Pro 3800 is primarily if you are going to print alot of B&W. But if you are not going to get into B&W heavily, then the R1800 or it's replacement the R1900 will do the job for you...if you decide upon Epson. FWIW.