Epson R800 printer (1 Viewer)

I have just changed my rather tired Epson 890 printer for the R800 and was expecting great things of it. Initial prints however look no different from the 890. Have I been conned by Epson marketing or am I doing something wrong?

Paul

paul goode said:

I have just changed my rather tired Epson 890 printer for the R800 and was expecting great things of it. Initial prints however look no different from the 890. Have I been conned by Epson marketing or am I doing something wrong?

Paul

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The 890 produced first rate prints, and I suspect the difference is hard to see. But the prints from the R800 will last much longer. I think that is a key advantage. I suspect that prints are also more water-resistant. Ones from the 890 smudge on contact with even a drop of water.

I have an 870 and it's not worth bothering with as the head clogs, and I end up using most of the ink for repeated cleaning sessions. So prints work out very expensive. Yes I do use Epson inks and paper. Maybe the R800 is better in this respect.

Leif

paul goode said:

I have just changed my rather tired Epson 890 printer for the R800 and was expecting great things of it. Initial prints however look no different from the 890. Have I been conned by Epson marketing or am I doing something wrong?

Paul

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I wouldn't expect too much visible improvement in print quality unless you get a magnifying glass out. The visual 'improvements' are pretty insignificant from my change from a very old Epson 750 to R800.

cheers,
Andy

Andy Bright said:

I wouldn't expect too much visible improvement in print quality unless you get a magnifying glass out. The visual 'improvements' are pretty insignificant from my change from a very old Epson 750 to R800.

cheers,
Andy

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Thanks Leif and Andy for coming back so quickly. I must admit that I was very impressed by the print quality from the 890 but not the time it took to print or how fast the prints faded so maybe I should be grateful for the improvements in those areas.

Regards

Paul

paul goode said:

I have just changed my rather tired Epson 890 printer for the R800 and was expecting great things of it. Initial prints however look no different from the 890. Have I been conned by Epson marketing or am I doing something wrong?

Paul

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The Epson 890 was one of the best printers Epson ever produced and I was very happy with imine. I have upgraded to the R800 which in my opinion is a better printer, one difference I have noticed is that the surface of the print is smooth, I think because the pigment is not laid on so thick as with the 890, and also the use of the gloss optimizer cartridge. And there would appear to be better gradation of colours. The use of separate cartidges means only an empty cartridge needs to be replaced, not the whole lot. On the downside the cost of the true Epson replacement cartridges is astronomical. I am considering using generic carturdges.

In conclusion the R800 in my opinion is a better printer than the 890, though only marginal, and for most prints not worth upgrading to.

Just like Andy, I upgraded from the Epson 750 to the R800. Both are great photo printers but I think the R800 has a slight advantage in quality and a great advantage in speed (if memory serves me right the 750 took almost 20 minutes for a A4 print on top quality). The other big advantage in the R800 is the fade resistance of the prints but I would have thought that this was only true if you use genine Epson pigment ink. On the down side is the cost of a full set of inks for the R800 - £80 if you are lucky. I have tried compatible cartridges and had blocked nozzles and poor quality prints, I switched back to Epson ink and the problems disapeared.
Has anyone had any luck with compatibles for this printer?

Roy C said:

Has anyone had any luck with compatibles for this printer?

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I have tried a different brand of compatibles in both my R300 and 1290, which gives excellent results though I did need to create custom profiles using Monaco EZColour, though I needed this on the 1290 with Epson inks.
The brand I have used are not the cheapest on the block but certainly a lot cheaper than Epson's own ink.
They are made by Black Diamond which I pick up a full set of 6 for my R300 for £10 at the computer fair, I must admit to not seeing them anywhere else so tend to stock up on a few sets whenever I go.
I have just done a search on Ebay you can also buy black diamond cartridges there from one of the eBAY shops called MJC-Media a full set for the R300 is £6.49 + £1.99 postage, seem to do them for a wide range of printers see here for their shop http://stores.ebay.co.uk/MJC-Media