Epson Stylus Photo 960 Information needed

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T

thomas.jacobs

I am looking for some information on how this printer fit into the
epson line of printers. What printer did it replace and why? It was
only on the market for a couple of years. What printer replaced it and
why? thanks tom
 
I am looking for some information on how this printer fit into the
epson line of printers. What printer did it replace and why? It was
only on the market for a couple of years. What printer replaced it and
why? thanks tom
Click to expand...

Tom

I have owned this printer since it first came out and it is
exceptional. This was the first A4 Epson photo printer to have 6
individual dye based ink cartridges. Actually it has 7 cartridges
including two identical black tanks. Also, it was the first A4 Epson
printer to to offer CD printing as well as 2 picoliter ink drops. The
print output is outstanding and it also prints on roll paper and has
an automatic paper cutter (for roll paper only). The 4" roll paper is
useless but the 8" roll paper is practical.
I normally use Epson Matte Paper Heavyweight or Iford Smooth Pearl
papers. This printer was positioned below the Epson 2200 as an entry
level professional printer because it comes with factory "canned" ICC
profiles for those who wish to print with color management in programs
such as Adobe Photoshop.
This printer was marketed in Europe as the SP950 and in Japan as the
970. Interestingly enough, the 970 had 7 cartridges replacing the two
blacks in the 960 with one black and one dark yellow (gold)
cartridge.The dark yellow cartridge seems to have disappeared in
future models.
The closest current replacement to the SP960 is the R800 which
features 8 color pigment based ink cartridges rather then the 960's
dye inks and sells for $399. The SP960 sold new for $349 and had
limited sales due to the somewhat high price.
 
I believe it was within the lineage of the SC Photo 900 and 925.

Why did it replace earlier versions? Because Epson updates their
printers every 6-12 months in general, and an Epson printer that is
marketed 2 years is pretty long.

Epson introduces new printer models and numbers regularly. Sometimes
the only thing that differs from the previous one is some cosmetic
changes or minor improvements to resolve weaknesses found in earlier
models, or drive upgrades.

For more information research www.epson.com and click on North America,
USA, go to support and drivers and look into the product manuals and
brochures.

Art
 
The Epson Stylus Photos SP 870, 890 & 900 were the high-end consumer
6-color 2 cartridge photo priners and were the small versions of the
wide carriage SP 1200, 1270, 1280 & 1290 13-inch A3 printer lineage.

The SP960 came out while the SP890 was still current. The SP960
offered 7 separate cartridges (6 color) and CD printing. A short while
later the SP900 was introduced and also had CD printing but still had
the old 2 cartridge setup. So while the SP960 was sort of an upgrade
to this lineage it was separate and did not fit into this line
directly.

The Epson SP960 was a prototype for all the current Epson A4 photo
printers that utilize 6 separate ink tanks and CD printing, i.e. R300,
R300M, R320 & R340. With its resolution of 2880 x 1440 with 2
picoliter ink droplets, roll paper cutting ability and tighter
manufacturing tolerances it is a much higher quality output printer
than the newer and current models.

The R800 could be seen as a replacement to the SP960 with its 8 color
pigmented ink tanks and 1.5 picoliter ink droplets.
 
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