C
crazygolfer
considering purchasing one of these would like pro's & cons
S
Safetymom123
I love my Photo 820. It does a wonderful job on printing. Con's it doesn't
take roll paper. Also be sure to give it a nudge to the right when turning
printer off. For some reason it doesn't park fully to the right capping the
heads.
take roll paper. Also be sure to give it a nudge to the right when turning
printer off. For some reason it doesn't park fully to the right capping the
heads.
H
Herbert Nagler
crazygolfer said:
I have an 830, which is similar.
Pros: exciting photo print quality
Cons: you need to be printing regularly to avoid clogs. You'll go through a
fair amount of ink with cleaning cycles. If you're only occasionally
printing photos, maybe better off to have them printed in a shop.
All in all : go for it, if you're serious, but stick with Epson ink and
paper.
Good luck
H.N.
F
Fat Boy
Do yourself a favor and stay away from this printer.
I bought one of these about 1-1/2 years ago when I bought my digital
camera. The photos were superb compared to my 4 year old HP, and I was
very happy for several months. I even recommended this printer to
friends and others on these newsgroups..
After the first few months the continuous clogging went beyond
"inconvenient' to "%$# maddening, frustrating and annoying".
Every time I wanted to print a photo I spent at least 10 minutes
trying to unclog the nozzles, and even then they usually had to sit
for several more hours before the nozzle test pattern showed them
clear.
I expect that 50% of each ink cartridge was being wasted during the
head cleaning process. It was becoming way to expensive to use. I
finally bought an ink refill kit, which it at least made the printer
affordable but it didn't get rid of the frustration.
After monitoring these newsgroups for almost a year I determined that
Canon had the best reputation in the industry. And amongst the
Canon's, the i850 had a great reputation. I planned on buying the i850
but it was recently replaced with the i860, which is what I got for
Christmas.
It took about 1/2 hour of experimenting with the different settings,
but I believe it prints better ( resolution and color accuracy) then
the Epson 820 ever did.
I sincerely recommend you stay away from the Epson and purchase a
Canon of similar price, preferably one which uses individual ink
cartridges. These cartridges are very inexpensive to replace, they are
easy to refill because they are clear, and so far seem to print many
pages before getting low. You could even buy a more expensive Canon
because you will save hundreds on ink cartridges.
Besides the 820 is now ancient technology.
J
James Dunn
The quality is great. But there are the head clogs. You can minimize the
head clogs by 1) ALWAYS turn the print off using the button on the
printer - never with a power strip. All Epson printers MUST cap the head
when it is turned off. If the power is cut it gets no chance to do that.
2) Only turn it on and off when needed. Do NOT let it sit for hours
powered up and not working. 3) Replace the carts every four months even
of they are not empty. (the ink evaporates and dries up) 4)Do NOT use
third party inks or refill the carts. 4) Turn the printer on at least
once a week and print something in color.
In both the Canon and Epson design the head is built into the printer.
Changing the carts does not gaurentee unclogging the head. The HP
printers, on the other hand, have the head built into the carts.
Changing the ink carts gives you a new head. If you print very
infrequently, the HP is a smarter choice, but the carts cost more.
HP now has some new 6 color printers in the under $149 USD range that
are equally as capable as the Epson and Canon as photo printers.
head clogs by 1) ALWAYS turn the print off using the button on the
printer - never with a power strip. All Epson printers MUST cap the head
when it is turned off. If the power is cut it gets no chance to do that.
2) Only turn it on and off when needed. Do NOT let it sit for hours
powered up and not working. 3) Replace the carts every four months even
of they are not empty. (the ink evaporates and dries up) 4)Do NOT use
third party inks or refill the carts. 4) Turn the printer on at least
once a week and print something in color.
In both the Canon and Epson design the head is built into the printer.
Changing the carts does not gaurentee unclogging the head. The HP
printers, on the other hand, have the head built into the carts.
Changing the ink carts gives you a new head. If you print very
infrequently, the HP is a smarter choice, but the carts cost more.
HP now has some new 6 color printers in the under $149 USD range that
are equally as capable as the Epson and Canon as photo printers.
J
John ©
I have to agree with Fat Boy, I was also once an epson fan till I bought the
canon i865, buy a canon.
Also my printing habbits have not changed over the years and up till now I
use a full yellow cartridge when the magenta and cyan are half full, so all
these years I have been throwing away cartridges which I presume are half
full of magenta and cyan, like fat boy said get one with individual ink
tanks.
canon i865, buy a canon.
Also my printing habbits have not changed over the years and up till now I
use a full yellow cartridge when the magenta and cyan are half full, so all
these years I have been throwing away cartridges which I presume are half
full of magenta and cyan, like fat boy said get one with individual ink
tanks.
L
Larry
I have to agree.
I bought the 820 for my iMac about 18 months ago, and was astonished that a
$99 printer could produce photo's equal to, and even better than, my Epson
1270.
But the goody wore off quickly. If this printer sits any more than 2-4 days
without being used, the heads completely clog and like the other stated, you
end up doing many cleaning cycles and using up half the ink for the
cleaning. And then you MIGHT get them cleared out.
This 820, like my 1270, have been demoted to printing simple web pages and
other draft work. Once I have used up their cartridges, they are going in
the trash can. The Stylus 800 I had was recently retired in the same way
for the same reasons.
I too have switched to Canon and have had ZERO problems with head clogs, and
the Canon inks are far more convenient and less costly due to their
individual design.
And in case there ever is a print-head issue, it is a simple 20 second job
to replace it.
My i950 has sat for up to 6 weeks without printing, and the first print was
perfect when I did use it.
-Larry
I bought the 820 for my iMac about 18 months ago, and was astonished that a
$99 printer could produce photo's equal to, and even better than, my Epson
1270.
But the goody wore off quickly. If this printer sits any more than 2-4 days
without being used, the heads completely clog and like the other stated, you
end up doing many cleaning cycles and using up half the ink for the
cleaning. And then you MIGHT get them cleared out.
This 820, like my 1270, have been demoted to printing simple web pages and
other draft work. Once I have used up their cartridges, they are going in
the trash can. The Stylus 800 I had was recently retired in the same way
for the same reasons.
I too have switched to Canon and have had ZERO problems with head clogs, and
the Canon inks are far more convenient and less costly due to their
individual design.
And in case there ever is a print-head issue, it is a simple 20 second job
to replace it.
My i950 has sat for up to 6 weeks without printing, and the first print was
perfect when I did use it.
-Larry
L
Larry
Yeah, I found out the same thing, except for me it's Photo Cyan and Photo
Magenta. I'm using them up at a 3-to-1 ratio. The thought of how much
money I flushed down the toilet with the Epson all-in-one 1270 cartridge
makes me sick.
-Larry
Magenta. I'm using them up at a 3-to-1 ratio. The thought of how much
money I flushed down the toilet with the Epson all-in-one 1270 cartridge
makes me sick.
-Larry
S
Safetymom123
Just make sure when you turn the printer off that you give the cartridges a
little nudge to the right. For some reason the cartridges don't fully park
to the right which leads to clogs. Once I did this I never had problems
again.
little nudge to the right. For some reason the cartridges don't fully park
to the right which leads to clogs. Once I did this I never had problems
again.
L
Larry
Which would indicate a mechanical design flaw in which Epson should have
issued a recall for. Riiiighhht
-Larry
issued a recall for. Riiiighhht
-Larry
S
Safetymom123
Not sure about that. The fix is easy enough though.
L
Larry
So is sticking a block under your tire to make up for a defectively designed
parking pawl...
-Larry
parking pawl...
-Larry
C
CecilWilliams
Regarding Epson printers clogging up, I've owned several Epsons
starting with the Stylus 400 Color and currently a Stylus Photo 1270
and Photo 820. What I have found, consistently over the past few
years, is that my home photo printer NEVER clogs, and my office photo
printer is always clogged, to the point of being unusable most of the
time. The difference is in the environment. My home printer is in a
cool (50-65 degreesF) humid basement computer room, and my office
printer is in a warm, sometimes hot (72-90F), low-humidity office. My
home printer is almost always left turned on and ready to go.
Sometimes I don't print for weeks, and it still is not clogged. My
office printer is guaranteed to be clogged and unusable on a Monday
morning if left on over the weekend and always in the hot summer
months...
To resolve a clogging problem on my office printer, the strategy I've
found works best is to run one cleaning cycle (that almost never works
right away)and then let it sit for an hour or more. Then run another
cleaning cycle, and let it set again for at least an hour or
preferably more. If that still doesn't work, run a third cleaning
cycle and let it set over night. An outrageous solution, yes, but this
has always resolved my toughest Epson printer clogging problems.
YMMV...
- Cecil
starting with the Stylus 400 Color and currently a Stylus Photo 1270
and Photo 820. What I have found, consistently over the past few
years, is that my home photo printer NEVER clogs, and my office photo
printer is always clogged, to the point of being unusable most of the
time. The difference is in the environment. My home printer is in a
cool (50-65 degreesF) humid basement computer room, and my office
printer is in a warm, sometimes hot (72-90F), low-humidity office. My
home printer is almost always left turned on and ready to go.
Sometimes I don't print for weeks, and it still is not clogged. My
office printer is guaranteed to be clogged and unusable on a Monday
morning if left on over the weekend and always in the hot summer
months...
To resolve a clogging problem on my office printer, the strategy I've
found works best is to run one cleaning cycle (that almost never works
right away)and then let it sit for an hour or more. Then run another
cleaning cycle, and let it set again for at least an hour or
preferably more. If that still doesn't work, run a third cleaning
cycle and let it set over night. An outrageous solution, yes, but this
has always resolved my toughest Epson printer clogging problems.
YMMV...
- Cecil