Printers

[troonly]

I was wondering if any other PaDders had experience of the R1800 and R2400 printers. Was thinking of asking Santa for one.... or do you recommend a Canon equivalent - would like A3(+)

Ian

[annayu]

I have an r2400 and a Canon i9950 and prefer the Canon. Probably because I haven't had time to calibrate the Epson properly yet.

[1designguy]

A have an Epson 7600 UltraChrome that I love but it is different than the models you mention.

I also have the Canon i 9900 that is a super and fast printer.

[talleyfamilyphotography]

I have an Epson R800 (smaller carriage model of the R1800). Great printer. I've had people pick the printer's pictures over photographic equivalents.

With proper care in using the latest profiles from Epson, using their inksets and their high-end papers (I use pro Glossy and Luster), it is hard to tell the pictures apart from photographic prints (I've printed both ways with the same photo for comparison purposes).

I've also carefully plotted ink and paper costs over the life of my printer to date (after a year of use) and can tell you that an 8x10 print on the R800 will run you about $1.21 for ink if using PhotoRPM mode on glossy or luster paper. Paper costs for 8.5 x 11 stock is about $0.74 a sheet.

You can extrapolate that data out to larger sheet sizes for the R1800 if you want. The ink costs are based on 80 square inches of printing.

If you plan on printing a lot of B/W plain paper work, such as letters, web pages, invoices, etc., definitely buy a cheaper printer for that work. We use our lowly HP printer for such mundane tasks. The Epson just uses too much matte black ink for those purposes.

[olafdk]

With proper care in using the latest profiles from Epson, using their inksets and their high-end papers (I use pro Glossy and Luster), it is hard to tell the pictures apart from photographic prints (I've printed both ways with the same photo for comparison purposes).

Where do I find the latest profiles?
Have they changed since the release of the R800-model?

I also have an R800 and am so disappointed in it, that I practically never use it. I do know my way around colors and printing. At work I use an Epson SP 1290 (much older than the R800) and the prints from that machine are really impressive on premium glossy paper, using the canned color profile (of course these prints are supposedly not as light-proof or long-lasting).

I like glossy prints, and the R800 cannot compete with the 1290, even with the gloss optimizer. Also the stupid Mac-driver for the R800 puts gloss optimizer over the whole page, even if you only want to print a small photo in one corner.

Also, I don't care for the individual tanks. I think Epson put it in due to pressure from the market. People think they will save money. I really do think it is a more expensive way to go and it sure is a pain having to stock up on all those different inks. Buying a set of cartridges for the R800 costs way more than a set (of two) for the 1290 and I don't think they last as long either.

[talleyfamilyphotography]

The actual link to the page with the profiles on it is terribly long. However, Click Here to go to the page about the R800. Scroll down and just above the bold black text that says "Brilliance You Can See" is a link to the page with the latest profiles.

Actually, I prefer the individual tanks. One main reason is that I go through yellow ink much slower than magenta and cyan, at roughly a 2:1 ratio (replace two cyans or two magentas before having to replace one yellow). I'd cringe knowing how much yellow ink I was throwing away so often.

Yes, it is a little pricey to print with. I kept track of ink usage for quite a while and found that it was running me $1.24 US per 8x10 page just for ink. On the other hand, when you add the price of a sheet of paper, an 8x10 print costs right around $2 US - pretty much what many higher quality discount labs charge for the same size photographic print.

However, with my entire system now calibrated well to the printer and to the lab I usually use (mpix), it's nice to know I can whip out a quick proof on the Epson and know what my prints from mpix will look like when they come back.

[cjmorgan]

I was wondering if any other PaDders had experience of the R1800 and R2400 printers. Was thinking of asking Santa for one.... or do you recommend a Canon equivalent - would like A3(+)
Ian

Yeah, I've been doing some researching on this stuff, and,
well, the bottom line is that for Christmas, I'm hoping Santa
has room in the sleigh for an Epson R2400.
And that's about the best I can say about all that.
Hope that's of help,
CJ

[gpaai]

I have an r2400 and a Canon i9950 and prefer the Canon. Probably because I haven't had time to calibrate the Epson properly yet.

Hi Anna,

Do you know what the differences are between the Canon i9900 and i9950 printers are? Shopping around I see the i9950 is almost double the cost.

Gary

[1designguy]

I have an r2400 and a Canon i9950 and prefer the Canon. Probably because I haven't had time to calibrate the Epson properly yet.

Hi Anna,

Do you know what the differences are between the Canon i9900 and i9950 printers are? Shopping around I see the i9950 is almost double the cost.

Gary

I think the i9950 is the European version of the i9900. The only difference I am aware of is that the i9950 has a CD printing tray which was left off of the US model thanks to our over zealous copyright laws and legal concerns

[gpaai]

I think the i9950 is the European version of the i9900. The only difference I am aware of is that the i9950 has a CD printing tray which was left off of the US model thanks to our over zealous copyright laws and legal concerns

Thanks!

[troonly]

Well Santa brought an HP 375.... super little printer for 10*15cm prints thanks Denise!

But still looking for the best A3+..

Candidates are still the R2400 and Canon 9950 - with the R2400 ahead by margin.
but I recently came across the HP Designjet 30 and Deskjet 9680 on the 'net'....

Anyone any experience of those?

[nzmalamute]

"I've had people pick the printer's pictures over photographic equivalents. "
I have an R800 as well but i am useing the Fujifilm paper and i am getting just as good a results as with the epson papers but Fijifilm as more than half the price of epson papers (NZ$15 Fuji,NZ$35 epson).I had an 8 by 12 print done by a pro,i did the same print here and my print came out better,i didn't let the pro know that tho.i think he might have told me where to put it where the sun don't shine !!