Suggests & thoughts - Epson Printers

  • Thread starter Thread starter Donna
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Donna

Hi all

Got some money for xmas from the parents to get myself a printer. Was
looking at the Epson C64 and C84 but someone told me not to get one. Their
reason was the heads are always blocking up.

Anyone got any views on if they are any good, or another cheap cartridged
printer.

Donna
 
I have an Epson C80, a C82, and I'm about to purchase a C84, I don't
know how they compare to other current printers in terms of how often
the head clogs, but the 2 canons and 2 other epsons I have used have
all had their share of clogs.

The C-80 series is faster then the C-60 and there is currently a $20
rebate on the c84 so it is available for about $80.

The deciding factor for me is the Durabright ink. Other injets ink
smear/fade when exposed to moisture and fade rapidly if exposed to
sunlight. I have often "demo'd" the printouts from my c82 by pouring
water on them and rubbing it
with little or no smearing/running. I really haven't had the chance
to see how the hold up to sunlight, but epson says the ink is UV
resisant

hope this helps
stan
 
I have owned Epsons for years with no head clogging problems. You will see
others that disagree with that but there are many many people who are very
satisfied with their Epsons.
 
@newssvr16.news.prodigy.com>, (e-mail address removed)
says...
I have owned Epsons for years with no head clogging problems. You will see
others that disagree with that but there are many many people who are very
satisfied with their Epsons.
Click to expand...

I currently have two Epsons, a Stylus Photo 825 and a
Photo 785 EPX.

The 825 never (so far) gives me a problem. (New in July
2003)

The 785 EPX on the other hand, has ALWAYS used at LEAST
half its ink on cleaning cycles that I must invoke to
un-clog the heads... GO FIGURE!!! (New March 2003)

Same ink - Same Paper - Same photos.
 
Hi all

Got some money for xmas from the parents to get myself a printer. Was
looking at the Epson C64 and C84 but someone told me not to get one. Their
reason was the heads are always blocking up.

Anyone got any views on if they are any good, or another cheap cartridged
printer.
Click to expand...

Do you need Epson? You could consider Canon, which also use ink tanks
(non-chipped, if refilling and/or aftermarket inks are your thing),
plus have a user removeable head assembly.
 
I have an Epson C84 and am dissapointed with it.

It comes with a high yield black cartridge that Epson claims is good
for about 1000 pages but I've only printed about 20 normal pages and
it's already dropped to 75%. What Epson doesn't tell you is that a
large amount of ink is required to prime the system for the first
time. I also have a feeling Epson uses ink every time the printer is
turned on. The black cartidge sells for over $30 so my cost is
running over $1.50/page!!

This printer also clogs easily unless you use it daily. I haven't had
a complete clog but running nozzle check after a couple weeks shows
voids. So far the cleaning utility restores it to normal.

Epson also has this silly "anti consumer" scheme of preventing
cartridge refills.

Lastly Epson's customer service is poor. They don't believe in
email!!! Snail mail or phone only.

I also have a Lexmark and it's been a good printer. Everyone flames
Lexmark over their cartridge costs but they are extremely easy to
refill and if one ever goes bad or clogs permanently you can replace
it and restore the printer to like new operation since the print head
is in the cartridge. (similar to HP, but HP's are a little trickier to
refill).

I think Canon would be my top choice. I don't think they clog as bad
as Epson's and you can generally refill or buy cheap aftermarket tanks
but you really don't need to since Canon has made their tanks
affordable. I also hear that Canon printheads are servicable in the
event of a clog. The problem with Canon seems to be their ink
formulation. (very susceptable to fading). I think Epson's
Durabright ink formulation is the best out there.

It's all a trade off. If Canon improved their ink, then they might be
the best in every category.
 
@newssvr16.news.prodigy.com>, (e-mail address removed)
says...

I currently have two Epsons, a Stylus Photo 825 and a
Photo 785 EPX.

The 825 never (so far) gives me a problem. (New in July
2003)

The 785 EPX on the other hand, has ALWAYS used at LEAST
half its ink on cleaning cycles that I must invoke to
un-clog the heads... GO FIGURE!!! (New March 2003)

Same ink - Same Paper - Same photos.
Click to expand...

As if all of this Epson anti-consumer effort wasn't enough, read this
blurb from http://www.camerahobby.com/Digital_ColorVision.htm:

"Epson did a nasty thing to us users of the 1270 and 1280 printers,
they outsourced the production of ink to China and perhaps even Mexico
in order to cut costs. Now sometimes I get lucky and I receive some
made in Japan color cartridges, in which case I have few worries about
getting the colors I expect, but when I receive the made in China
cartridges, I have to watch out for the magenta colors coming on too
strong in my prints."

Evidently they're not satisfied at selling consumers 50 cents worth of
ink in a $26 plastic box, now their bean-counters have cheapened up on
the ink as well! All the more incentive for refilling I say...
 
Donna,

I have a C-80 at home. The only time I've been unhappy with it is when
one cartridge is empty, it won't print at all until you get a new
cartridge for it.

The prints from it look really nice (for a printer we only spent $120
on two years ago), and I haven't noticed any fading on the prints.

Regarding some of the other comments here:

Lexmarks have the highest cost of ownership of any inkjet printer.
Something like $500 over 3 years of use. Often you can buy a new
Lexmark cheaper than just replacing the ink cartridges.

The Canon fading issues are mainly due to the Canon paper. Its a
porous media, not swellable. So gas can enter the paper pores and
cause the ink to fade (it's called 'gas fading'). Canon is supposedly
coming out with a new kind of paper that's a swellable media (it means
the paper has a polymer coating, and the ink is absorbed underneath
the coating, so it 'swells') that will stop the gas fading problem.
You can also use swellable media from other manufacturers.
Here's some info on the gas fading and swellable media from an HP 7960
review:
http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/interactive/HP 7960/page_13.htm

Here are some sites that might be helpful:

inkjet print longevity tests:
http://www.livick.com/method/inkjet/pg2d.htm

Good printer review sites:
http://www.photo-i.co.uk
http://www.steves-digicams.com/
http://luminous-landscape.com/reviews/
http://www.dpreview.com (check the Forum area, in the "Printers and
Printing" section for user feedback)
http://www.tomshardware.com/consumer/20031124/index.html - Review of
C-84 vs. I860 vs. HP 7760


Good luck in your purchasing.

LG
 
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