New Epson R800 DVD printer

donp wrote on 3/1/2004, 11:56 AM
I was just about to buy the Epson 960 and noticed the new R800 to hit the shelves March 5th. I noticed it had a stabilization cartrige which I assume is to keep the colors of the printed lable from washing. What intrigues me to is that it's firewire enabled as well as USB2. It has more than six cartriges though but I don't know much about that. anyone have thought on this new printer?

Comments

ScottW wrote on 3/1/2004, 12:09 PM
I think the printer is out already; there's a few reviews on Amazon.com from people that purchased it (and like it). It's got 8 cart's - the usual 6 color along with a matte black and gloss optimizer. One review was saying they didn't have to do anything for CD alignment, they printer just took a few extra seconds to get the alignment right and it printed perfect.

Now if I just had some extra cash...

--Scott
Jsnkc wrote on 3/1/2004, 3:02 PM
I'd hate to have to replace the ink in that thing. It will probably cost you more than the printer does to replace 8 Cartridges!! I'll stick with my trusy old Epson 900!

**Just checked the Epson site, to buy all the cartridges it's $113.92. Doesn't seem like a cost-effective printer at all!
BE0RN wrote on 3/1/2004, 3:28 PM
I'm sure one of the theories behind having 8 cartridges is that you won't have to replace them as often as you would on other printers. And when you do replace them, you're not replacing a cartridge that still has red and blue ink in it, but is out of yellow, etc.
Jamz wrote on 3/1/2004, 3:30 PM
I had the 960 & recently purchased the R800. You're right about the calibration. It prints perfectly on discs. The 960 after printing several discs drifted slightly off center. The colors are more vivid but to buy all the ink tanks will cost you about $110.00. I would recommend this printer
ScottW wrote on 3/1/2004, 3:32 PM
Actually, it doesn't look that bad too me. The cost of a tri-color cart for the 900 Epson appears to be $38 (from the Epson site); that works out to $12.67 a color. Compared to $14.24/color for the R800 ($13.88 from Amazon) - looks pretty close to me. I always feel like I'm throwing away cash whenever I have to change out a tri-color cart on my HP when I run out of just one color (which seems to happen more often then not).

--Scott
donp wrote on 3/1/2004, 4:56 PM
Thanks you all, for the recomendations. I think I will go for the R800 and pray the tanks don't all go at once. My birthday come in about two weeks, already dropped the hint to my wife. I'll have some to kick in too though. As soo as I have some user info on it I'll post back here.
JJKizak wrote on 3/1/2004, 5:02 PM
The 960 does not drift if you use two hands to load the tray, one to push in and the other to keep it up against the right hand guide. It only basically has
one effective guide because the left hand guide is very short and does not extend into the machine. Mine is dead center every time and never varies. Other than the colors being flat it performs very well.

JJK
R0cky wrote on 3/2/2004, 12:35 PM
The quantity of ink in a given tank will vary from model to model as will the amount of ink applied in a given print mode (eg. draft/econo/normal/best/hi quality etc.) and the media setting (e.g. plain paper/photo/transparency/disk etc.).

The only way to evaluate the operating cost is to get data on the number of pages (or disks) printed with a standard coverage. For paper printers this number is usually 5% coverage/ink.

This data can be difficult to get. Manufacturers will tell you if it is a business printer intended for high capacity use - this is an important number for IT departments. For consumer or personal printers it may or may not be available. Then the only place to get the info is somewhere like PC Magazine that does actual tests. A caveat is that PC magazine while the industry leader is not the most expert in testing these devices so their info can also be distorted - it all depends.

Last resort is to test it yourself but obviously it's expensive.
RalphM wrote on 3/2/2004, 5:55 PM
Does the gloss enhancer also provide resistance to water damage?

I spray all mine (done on a Primera Signature Pro) with Krylon. Works well but is another step I'd just as soon not endure.
riredale wrote on 3/2/2004, 9:46 PM
After reading this very thorough review:

http://www.photo-i.co.uk/Reviews/interactive/Epson%20R800/page_1.htm

I came to the conclusion that the printer is an excellent product with a fatal flaw: 8 ink tanks. I think an 8-tank system will be looked at as a dinosaur a few years from now. Why? Because, based on my own experience with a 4-tank printer (also an Epson, and also an impressive printer), a multitank system will wind up costing more and be far more aggravating than one with fewer tanks.

(1) As time goes by and the ink levels begin to vary, you will be replacing ink tanks four times more often, simply because there are more tanks. For example, if someone brought out a 50-tank system, it's likely you'd be replacing a tank pretty much every day. So there's more aggravation.

(2) When a tank is replaced, it's my impression that the recharging process uses up ink in all tanks, not just in the new one.

(3) There is an expiration date on ink. It is quite possible that you will be throwing away a half-full tank from time to time. No savings there.

(4) Lots of tanks means lots of complexity, with more things to go wrong.

Hope I'm not being too cynical here, it's just that my perspective has begun to shift. Having a separate magenta tank is terrific if you're doing a whole lot of magenta printing. Otherwise, it's not inherently a great idea.