Customer Reviews

Epson Stylus Color 1520 Inkjet Printer

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

 

 

It's a great printer and the cartridges are inexpensive.
I recently found you can get it to work in Panther if you
download a USB/parallel update at:

http://www.buymelunch.org/printing/usbtb/

Mac OSX usually comes with GimpPrint
on the Panther cd. But if you need a printer driver for it:

http://gimp-print.sourceforge.net/MacOSX.php3

It works better than ever! The only problem is there is
no Epson monitor to force clean the heads. You have to
do it manually.

I'm tick'd becasue this is my review and not mr/mrs zippedicks. Every thing in the article is true the only problem is that I wrote the review you scanks. you want a ghost reviewer for your reviews let's work out a deal.. Mr. Ticked ff

I purchased mine used and had a heck of a time getting the shipping problems taken care of--- ah--- once that was over I was flying.

This machine is strong, dependable, and produces beautiful work on just about any stock you can think off (which means you can hunt down sales and turn a nice profit). However, there is a catch--- you must study the ins and outs of this printer. It is not like your low end printers where it is plug it in and forget about options. The 1520 is a professional, inexpensive compared to other low end professional equipment for sure, however still a professional printer. If you do not take the time to read how the printer responds to different papers, proper maintenance, and even the programs you are using and how they interface with the machine you are over you head and would be better off with a Epson C80 (great machine) or a low end HP that have forget me hookup and garbage prints, even on the best of papers (your buying a name here and little else--- unless you want a Laser Jet). In other words to get the best work you have to be willing to spend the time to know your papers, programs, and how to adjust the printer to same.

Just remember to keep up on drivers, sometimes you have to do some leg work, however they are out there. If your memory is like mine--- keep that manual near by. I have even gone so far as to enlarging some of the more useful graphs and have posted them over the printer.

So if you are willing to work hard you will get professional prints and every penny you put into this machine. To save ink, try cleaning only after every third or forth heavy job, leaving it on will not draw too much power, however it will save you ink as it tends to clean its self on start up. If you know you are going to not use it for a while, keep up a schedule for printer head cleaning to keep the heads from clogging up. I have friends that do it once a week to once a month. Personally I clean on a two week schedule. Never--- never leave the printer without a cartage in it for any length of time, that can run you as high as three to four hundred dollars to fix (unless you can fix them your self, which is what I am learning how to do now. Plus keep it clean, the manual will guide you, however take a clean dry linen cloth and wipe down the guide shaft as dirt and ink will tend to build up on the cartrage if you don't.

Want to be a baby, cry a lot, and need just a plug and go the 1520 is not for you. You want portraits on canvas or water color mats suitable for framing (big prints the kind they set over mantle) and making your customers or family very happy--- roll up you sleeves, read the manual several times and keep it close, and enjoy your 1520. Keep one thing in mind, if you do not make a mistake your not working. Test every piece of stock you receive and keep copious notes on how the machine reacts to them. Cloned inks are becoming more sophisticated and of a much higher quality. However, do the same with these (if you dare to travel in that direction) as with stock, test them with a close eye to every thing they do to your machine. They can cause some serious problems or save you a lot of money. However, as I said---- tread in that direction lightly as you can turn a brilliant printer into an expensive repair job.

One last thing, this printer is extremely versatile and will produce just about everything you want from small business cards, custom greeting cards, books (of almost any complexity), to large beautify banners or family portraits.

Want tiny photos for the web or sticking in Christmas Cards then get the Epson C80. On the other hand you looking to make money, or just great art--- forget the "lazy do it for me lot (you can find them on almost any complaint list)," the 1520 is a inexpensive printer that produces professional work.

Probably the best deal you can possibly get on a solid wide-format color inkjet, from anyone. However, word of warning: as of not (August 2002), there are NO drivers for this on Mac OS X... so it's completely useless with that. You'll have to use OS9, or a PC to print from.
I have the networking card from a different epson printer, that works with this as well, and it's pretty nice to be able to print to it from anywhere on the network, so realize that's an option as well.
It does suck down ink a bit, and the startup time is quite long (often 3 minutes from turn on to printing), but this is the case with all Epson printers of the era (this printer first came out in 1999 I believe.)
Overall, if you really need the wide-format printing, this is probably the printer to get for under [dollar amount]; it's definitely got some quirks, and until they release OS X drivers I'm bummin', but it is a nice printer for full-page bleed proofs, etc.

I have used the printer for about 3 years and really like it, but Epson hasn't updated the drivers in about 2 years and shows no intention of updating them this year or any time soon. So if you have an older OS, and don't intend to upgrade, go ahead and get it, but forget it if you are going to be using Mac OSX or Windows XP.

I've had HP's and Epsons. Epsons are tops. For Pantone color-matching they can't be beat. I use PowerRip software with Adobe InDesign and photo quality paper for publications and photos. I've used the Epson 3000 at work for years...slow but awesome and it's still plugging along! For a home studio printer the 1520 closely matches the color output of the 3000, but is faster. Folks that rate the 1520 low didn't select the speedy, non-professional printer they probably should have gotten to start with.

I bought the 1520 to print large prints and I found it to be an inconsistent machine. Colors were fine, I didn't find it using that much ink, and it printed beautiful 8.5x11 inch prints. But, it was an inconsistent tease for 17x22. Once in a while, it printed beautiful 17x22 prints from a 2.1 megapixel camera. So, I kept it until the print heads needed changing for the second time in 4 years. It didn't work on 17x22 RC paper or 4x6 inch paper. I just bought a HP 9650 and it prints wonderful prints and doesn't eat paper. Now I have to decide if I want to fix the 1520 again to keep it around for the 17x22 capabilites. That is it's best feature when you can get it to work. But, it's erratic!

I've owned this printer for about eight years and bought it because I had owned an Epson LQ series printer that was a trouble free workhorse. Wow, what a difference...

1. The paper pickup never worked reliably from day one and ultimately stopped working altogether. Fortunately, the manual feed slot still works.

2. Epson's quick drying inks are apparently VERY quick drying as you cannot let this printer sit idle for very long or else the heads clog. Head clogging has been a constant battle. The inks are also expensive.

3. The paper trays are very flimsy and fragile.

4. Epson designers figure that people buying large format printers do not want to print on 2+ inches on one side of the paper !!!???

5. The printer is noisy in a very annoying but not extremely loud sort of way.

6. Head cleanings are slow, which coupled with #5 and #2, lead to general unhappiness.

Any future Epson products I will test drive before buying. On the plus side, when the printer prints, the results are pretty good.

I've used this printer for 5 years on all kinds of paper and have never encountered these feeding errors so many people talk about. I do keep the printer rather clean though, as I realize that a roller coated with paper dust is probably not going to work as well as a clean one. The only time I have trouble with feeding is when using the manual loading slot and thicker paper. Since I prefer to load the paper before the printer needs it, if the paper doesn't load correctly I can just reload it. If there is a problem, it just fails to grab the paper and pull it in. This can be fixed simply by putting slight pressure on the top of the sheet when the printer first grabs it.

I've only had problems with the head clogging on one occasion, which turned out to be a bad black print cartridge (brand new and didn't even print a full page). I've abused the printer by using media much thicker than what it is supposed to accept (using manual loading), yet this is the most troublefree inkjet I've ever used. In the same time I've used this printer, my parents have gone through 2 HP's and encountered all kinds of intermittent behavior on both units with two different computers.

I think it's more a "windows" factor that causes these "driver" problems, I've not had any problems using it with Linux and gimp-print (which, BTW will work with MacOS X).

Don't expect such an old model to rival the photo output of the newer printers, but if you ever get the chance to compare a 1520 with on of the newer Epson models, the durability of the 1520 is quite evident. Overall, even today, this printer is a bargain if you wish to print out large graphics.

I've been waiting 2 years for Epson to post a Mac OS X driver for this and it doesn't look likely in the near future (even though their web sight keeps promising a driver any day now. It's turned out to be a real drag having to have 2 printers (one for each operating system). It has turned out to be a very expensive paperweight.

Not only that, but it is very noisy, is prone to clogged print heads and blows through a ton of cartridges. The customer service is pathetic. There is literally no way to email Epson "support." One must mail them a letter via the postal system.

It would take a lot for me to ever buy an Epson again. Even if I were given one for free, I'd have to think about it.

It clogged with paper from the outset. A big waste of money, lots of frustration. It will not reliably feed papers larger than 8.5 wide. Epson really should recall because of the feeding problems. I have kneeled and prayed beside it. I cant believe that it is still on the market. It is a very old model. Can I say anything worse about it. Oh yes, if it get confused, because of an error, you have got to shut power down to the house , wait for a day and then turn it back on again. If it does not feed, it will then start printing gibberish for days on end.