Customer Reviews

Epson Stylus Color 3000 Inkjet Printer

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I have used this printer for the last three years. As a visual designer and a fine artist I have used this to print all sorts of design projects, illustrations, and web pages.

The colors this produces are a better match to what I see onscreen than any other color printer I have used (HP deskjets, HP color laser, Apple color laser). Even at "normal" quality on cheap paper, the prints are good enough to frame. I used this printer with photo quality paper to print the portfolio I show at job interviews. The dithering is subtle, with none of the dark-dot-amongst-light-dots problems that cause a speckled look on cheap printers.

The colors are vibrant, but ACCURATE (unlike the HP printers that always print colors oversaturated). As other reviewers have noted, the ink cartridges (separate for each color!) last a long time, typically several months with heavy usage.

The printing is fast, even at high quality, much faster than color laser printers, and comparable to most desktop printers.

The flat paper tray (as opposed to inclined) rarely jams. The tray can hold about 50 sheets of paper, so it is good for use in an office environment being shared by many people.

This can handle even light card stock, although I have had some varieties of 80# card stock JAM and refuse to go through. Unfortunately, the stock is forced to go through the rollers, and there is no way to open the back to allow it to go straight through and avoid jamming on heavy stock. This is the only bad thing about this printer.

The 3000 does a couple of things that more recent (affordable) printers don't do. First, it prints up to 16" by 20" (actually, 17" x 22") - and Epson's paper is available and reasonably priced. The other is that it has large, independent ink reservoirs. Each colour is independently changeable, so you never get to dump useful ink. And the ink reservoirs are enormous - we've been printing photos and full-colour pages since Christmas '99 and the thing *still* has ink left seven months later; this in sharp contrast to our experiences with the 'consumer' printers, which need rather frequent ink refills. Don't be misled by the claims of 'long-life' inks on more recent printers; while the claims are true enough,you can buy ink and materials for the 3000 which give you archival quality prints (your choice: 15-20 years; or longer) along with the benefits of large image size and very low running costs. And yes, the prints are gorgeous (although 6-colour prints *are* a little better, you have to squint to tell)

I have used this printer for about a year now and for the specialty transfer business I haven't found another printer in its price range to match the sharpness, color control or speed. This printer is one of the few larger format printers (up to 17" x 22") that will accept the sublimation inks used for top quality transfer printing. Because the printer uses individual ink cartridges for each color you don't end up throwing away perfectly good ink in a partially filled cartridge when one color has run out. Do be careful, though, the ink indicator seems to jump from half to empty without adequate warning.

I haven't had any problems with this printer in the 2+ years I've been using it, but there are some things you need to know before you buy this printer. First, this is not a printer for personal use, it is intended for a workgroup of graphic designers. It's capable of printing pages that are over 17" wide, and it has high-end capabilities that only a professional would need (or even care about). And since most professional graphic designers use Macs, that might explain why the PC users are having all the problems.

Because this is a pro-level printer, it's very important to read the instructions carefully. I had a hard time getting it to recognize paper sizes until I sat down and studied the manual, and since then it's worked perfectly.

Lastly, this printer is huge. Turning it on takes 10 minutes, so we never turn it off. I gave it four stars instead of five, because we the printer is technically overkill for us, and trying to get the RIP software and color matching to work was too much trouble for us. Plus, it's pretty much outdated nowadays, especally with the Epson 2200 that's now available.

Although not cheap, this is a wonderful printer. I love all the different sizes and weights of paper it will feed through, including banner paper. The colors are much more lifelike than other printers when using the RIP printer, which is the included postscript-like software. Having ink cartridges for each color means that you don't have to throw away a cartridge when one color is gone.

Also, although again not cheap, the ink cartidges last a very long time. I have had the printer since May (6 months now) and the black cartridge that came with the printer is just running out. Since I am a small press publisher and print my books on this printer, this is amazing to me. The color cartridges are still chugging along.

For someone who needs to do serious printing, I highly recommend this printer.

2 words: Feeder Failure.
May take 10 or more tries to get the very expensive paper to feed correctly. Then, it might just decide that it doesn't want to print any more and eject halfway. MANY wasted sheets!

2 words: Broken Brain
The software for this thing is awful.
The MAC RIP software is, without a doubt, the worst software ever unleashed on the public. Can't even begin to explain, it just doesn't work and crashes constantly.

2 words: No Support.
Where are the fixes???

2 words: Don't Buy!!!

I have owned and used my Epson 3000 printer for nearly two years now with great results. At the time of purchase, it was the only printer available in its size range, which was its selling point for me. After recently converting it over to archival pigmented inks (Generations ProPhoto Inks from mediastreet.com) and creating a custom profile for the new inks, I can honestly say that I get better color from this printer than from my Epson 2000P. I do use the 3000 with an old PC with Windows 98 since there isn't a suitable driver for Windows XP. For those having trouble getting paper to feed in correctly, try feeding it in from the back. This works especially well with glossy photo paper, which does tend to misfeed from the front. This printer is regularly used to make 16x24 inch display prints originating from a Canon EOS-1Ds, and the results are amazing with vibrant, realistic colors and sharp detail. The only real problem I've ever had is occasional very slight banding, but this really isn't noticeable 95% of the time. Hopefully the new Epson 4000 will do an even better job, but the drawback there will be having to buy seven or even eight colors of ink instead of the four used by the 3000.

I am a graphic designer, and require excellent quality in color printing. The Epson 3000 is very easy to color balance, and produces outstanding results with premium glossy paper. Color photographs printed on the Epson 3000 are realistic and accurate. This printer is easy to use and is very cost efficient. The INK cartidges are easy to refill, and have saved me thousands of dollars in INK. This printer will treat you good, if you treat it good. Paper loading works fine if the directions are followed as supplied from the manufacturer. I would classify this printer as a professional printer, a novice in printing might have problems with it. For the money, this printer is outstanding.

What has been glorified as a premium graphics printer -- isn't. This printer is old technology in a new box. And, I wound up having to BUY their latest RIP software ($158) to get it to run w/ Windows 2000. But worst of all was Epson's customer service. I had over 22 contacts w/ them in three months and, in the end, they were unwilling to take the machine back.

During those three months, the printer's lack of performance was blamed on a variety of things. Me - "it's a complicated machine, you are probably are doing something wrong." The paper - "Epson only guarentees print quality on Epson paper." My software - "Your software may not be able to produce files that are good enough."

I will NEVER buy another Epson printer, mostly because of what I have been through with their customer service.

This printer is the absolute best available for one thing: printing continuous feed logs with tractor feed paper. In fact, the only two decent printers for doing inkjet printing on continuous feed paper are the Epson Stylus Color 1520 and 3000.

They both work with external Jet Direct for networking.

Many "log printing" programs such as Lexco Lexview, Seelog Viewer, Atlas Metafile Viewer, and PDS Viewer, require either Epson or HP. If you don't want to spend thousands on an HP plotter, then Epson 1520 or 3000 is the only way to go.

Don't even think of using the Epson Stylus Photo R2400. WILL NOT NETWORK!