Epson SP1280 Inkjet Printer

by Epson

Product Details

Product Manual [202kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 24 x 12.2 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 23 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000059SJ8
• Item model number: C393011
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 23, 2001

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

With the Epson Stylus Photo 1280, you get the big picture without borders. It's the ideal large-format choice for superior border-free photo-quality prints of up to 13 by 44 inches. Key features include stunning six-color 2,880 x 720 dpi resolution that results in continuous tone quality for prints that look like traditional photographs. "Unvisible" 4-picoliter variable-sized ink droplets provide fine shadow detail, dazzling highlights, and accurate skin tones. Fast photo-print speeds allow you to print memorable 8-by-10-inch prints in less than two minutes. Get especially superior results on water-resistant and lightfast media, like Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper and Epson Photo Paper. The 1280 is Windows and Macintosh compatible.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

99 of 102 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I was blown away, March 8, 2002

By 

Ken P. Copen "buyer of many things" (Alameda, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Epson SP1280 Inkjet Printer (Office Product)

My fiance and I are both art directors and we bought this printer to primarily update the work in our portfolio's. Both of us were somewhat skeptical about the level of quality we would receive, being used to having high quality proofs in our books. Well it's amazing, but this printer produces very high quality stuff. Frankly, it's not easy to differentiate between the Epson print and a C-print sitting in a portfolio.

It's not the speediest printer in the world, but then I didn't expect it to be. If your like me, you won't bother to print on the "fast" setting much, when you get used to the primo quality of the "quality" setting.

The other thing I like is that it's really not that big of a printer considering it will print 13x19 paper. I had expected it to be much larger, but it fits pretty nicely in the exact spot my laser printer occupied.

Also, despite being a photo printer, it does text pretty well. I haven't printed out that much text, but the things I have printed on the "quality" setting, have looked pretty good to me.

The output I get from my Canon S300 digital elph are also great. I have pics up in my office and everyone is shocked when I tell them it's not an actual photo, but an epson print.

68 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nikon 990 + Epson 1280 = Holy Cow, April 11, 2001

By 

Joe Nuxoll (San Jose, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Epson SP1280 Inkjet Printer (Office Product)

Look Mom, no film!!!

The Epson 1280 prints so extremely well, it is difficult to believe. Slide in a piece of glossy photo paper (up to 13" wide), and watch (yea yea it takes a few minutes) a digital photograph become *real*. Paired with a Nikon 990 digital camera, this is pretty much a professional studio setup without the nifty dark-room.

The only drawback is the "shorter" lifespan of the prints (10-15 years) as opposed to the 200+ years of the Epson 2000P. The 2000P does not have the resolution of the 1280, or the more reasonable price point. I just figure that 10-15 years from now, I'll just click <Print> again. In the meantime, I'll enjoy a bunch of framed prints around my home and office of my *amazing* digital photos... at least, I think they're pretty good. ;-)

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Epson 1280, September 16, 2001

By 

Bill Tyler (Ft. Pierce, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Epson SP1280 Inkjet Printer (Office Product)

I have recently purchased the 1280 and have printed some 50 prints, mostly 8x10s (including borderless) but also a few 13x19s. The results are simply stunning! The blacks are true blacks which are hard to get from inkjets; on glossy paper, they're as good as a Cibachrome print. The reds jump off the page. The yellows are very good to excellent. The blues/cyans are a bit less stunning. I have printed mostly underwater images, and those with a lot of blue water in the background are not the best. However, I may need to play with them more since one particular image with more cyan-colored water than deep blue was very pleasing.
Most of my prints were made with the Epson Heavyweight Matte, which I used for the longer longevity (my prints haven't been around long enough to tell if the claims are really true for 20+ years). The results are very good to excellent. I've also used Epson's Borderless Premium Glossy Photo Paper (rated to only 10-15 years I believe)...the results equal photofinishing processes on glossy paper. These glossy prints are astounding coming off an inkjet print. Many of my friends and colleagues have been equally impressed. I've looked at other printers' output and checked a number of websites critiquing this and other printers. The bang for the buck is definitely worth it. It does take a little effort getting your monitor and printer working in synch, but the results are well worth the time. I was up and running with only about 10-12 test prints using different printer settings to sufficiently match my monitor.
Downsides are that the printer is relatively slow for a print (15-20 minutes for an 8x10); but then its a LOT faster and easier than a real home darkroom setup. You can start fussing with the next image while its printing out. See also my comments on the blues above, but they are definitely very acceptable--I haven't printed any blue-sky images yet. I do wish the printer could take up to 16" width paper (a standard, fairly large photo format), rather than only 13" wide paper. These minor criticisms aside, this is one outstanding printer for the money. Enjoy!