New Printers Versus Epson 1280

[mitchell]

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I have an Epson 1280 which I'm fairly happy with.

 

But, I'm thinking about getting a larger format pigment printer.

 

Will I like the image quality more on a new Epson 3800, or the new HPs, more than on my 1280?

 

On glossy paper?

 

Thanks,

 

Mitchell

[Guest sirvine]

Mitchell,

 

I asked a similar question recently. I'm also trying to upgrade from a 1280. Haven't made any decisions just yet...but you might take a look as people were very helpful.

 

http://www.leica-camera-user.com/digital-forum/20255-printer-outlook.html?highlight=Printer+Outlook

[mitchell]

Sol thanks.

 

Best,

 

Mitchell

[wlaidlaw]

I think when it finally gets going my HP B9180 will be good but word of warning. The first one arrived 10 days ago - it would not initialize and made a horrible clashing of gears noise. The legend came up "Print Carriage Stalled". I went through the recommended routines but no luck. HP Support seemed suspiciously familiar with the fault once I had got the young lady from Mumbai to understand what I was saying. The replacement arrived today and initialized just fine but spat a tiny paper guide roller out on first use. It still works but I am having it exchanged as I did not buy a printer with a missing guide roller. Another 30 minute phone call to Mumbai later and they will replace it again early next week. It makes my M8 look positively reliable.

 

Wilson

[pfogle]

I have an Epson 1280 which I'm fairly happy with.

 

But, I'm thinking about getting a larger format pigment printer.

 

Will I like the image quality more on a new Epson 3800, or the new HPs, more than on my 1280?

 

On glossy paper?

 

Thanks,

 

Mitchell

larger format than the 1280? Or larger than A4?

 

My nephew just got an R1800 - I use the 1290 (UK version of the 1280, I think) and though his printer is good, I didn't think it was a big step up from the 1290 (except that it is pigment...)

 

Also, I like the b/w I get from the 1290 using the black ink only with the resolution turned right up - it doesn't seem to be an option with the R1800, and I didn't like the b/w from that printer with the color inks so much. So I guess I'll stick with what I've got for the moment...

[hdg]

I have the 880 and 1280 but I was switching over to the 2100 one year ago. It was the right idea!

In the meantime additionally I have the 800 and 240 for use depending on my needs. It was the right idea.

 

Some years ago I made some attemps with HP ink printers. In any case it was the wrong idea.

That means exepted my old horse HP4 postscript for use with my old horse AMIGA 4000 and my newerst Windows computers I never would buy a HP.

 

Regards Hans

[eronald]

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The Epson 1400 or Epson 1800 might be a good replacement for the 1280 - wide gamut, bright colors. The 2400 and 3800 do not have the same glossy rendition and the bright colors - thy are more suited to muted renderings on matte paper, and monochromes.

 

In any case I recommend you get a custom profile for your printer from me

 

Edmund

[Photoskeptic]

I've got the 3800. It's okay but I miss my 2200 (like an idiot I sold it the minute the 3800 arrived). I've had problems getting the 3800 to print color similar to what my monitor shows. I finally got the ABW sorted out to be almost as good as the old Quadtone RIP I used with my 2200. On the plus side of the 3800: less metamerism, the photo black inks are terrific w/Hahnemuhle Fine Art Pearl and don't forget the 17" wide paper (which I have yet to try out!) and it prints much faster.

At least I didn't go for the Canon 5000 the dealer was trying to sell me at a fabulous price.

[DWeston]

The Epson 1400 or Epson 1800 might be a good replacement for the 1280 - wide gamut, bright colors. The 2400 and 3800 do not have the same glossy rendition and the bright colors - thy are more suited to muted renderings on matte paper, and monochromes.

 

In any case I recommend you get a custom profile for your printer from me

 

Edmund

 

I can offer an opinion, as I have both a 1400[2weeks-30 prints or so 8x10 or bigger] and a 7600 for about 3+yrs. I recently had a 1280 die on me, no pun intended after ~3yrs. Last printer before that was a 1270, which lasted about the same time. Anyway, I have always thought the color output from the dye printers was better, many do, and have never been 100% happy with the 7600 output ,comparatively speaking. Guess if we want the prints to last virtually forever we can give some things up. I have tested at a local shop both Canon's new 5000 series and 3800, both have very nice output compared to my old 7600, so I think major improvements have occured over these years. The prints appear much more snappy[color/contrast] then from the original Ultrachrome ink set of the 7600. Do they look as good as the 1400, which to me is a full step better then the 1280 was, not quite, but YMMV. Last issue, is the 1400 ink set, Claria HD inks, are v.fine to say the least. Also, previously the only decent glossy prints I had were from a Canon 9000 some yrs ago also, now these new 1400 glossy prints are the best, no pooling, metamerism, bronzing, etc. I have printed on various brands of glossy paper, Epson PGP, UPGP, Inkpress glossy, etc, and the 1400 ink set does great on all these. Do not get me wrong, I have no plans to get rid of my 7600, least not until someone comes up with a dye ink set again that looks like the Claria inks. If you want to have longer lasting prints and don't mind giving up 5-10% of the color spectrum, then the newer pigment printers would do fine. Operationally, maybe cause I have used Epson more, I prefer the UI better from them than the Canon printers. Have never used or seen much output from HP, so no opinion there.

[wlaidlaw]

Before I bought the HP I had an Epson R800 for 4 years. I spent a fortune in ink and had endless troubles with the roll feed, often chewing up a whole roll at a time. Epson service is pants compared with HP, whose language skills are poor but they are at least pleasant and apparently helpful.The end results of the R series are good but the cost per sheet works out very high. The Epson ink carts are very small and the R series seem to head clean a lot with the attendant waste of ink. You must use icc profiles correct for the paper.

 

Wilson

[Shootist]

Never owned a Epson Printer but I do own a HP B9180 and it give great prints up to 13x19, uses very little ink in it's daily maintenance and cleaning routine and you can change out any 1-2-3 or whatever number of ink cartridges without it spewing ink from all the other cartridges.

[POKO]

Hi,

 

Just unpacked my 3800, finished installing the Colorbyte Imageprint Rip software and the first prints came out without any problems and the profiles produced by Colorbyte are quite extensive and VERY accurate.

 

I am very glad I bought this. I have been working with a 2200 for client proofing using custom profiles that can get quite costly to have built - also a little limited when it comes to paper choices.

 

That would be my two cents worth...

 

 

Per