Customer Reviews

Epson Stylus Photo 870 Inkjet Printer

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I really wanted a color printer after only having a black and white laser printer from many, many years. I am a student of Multimedia and often dealing with graphic design and such. After getting a new computer this year, I had to get a good scanner and a good printer. I bought the scanner (the Epson Perfection 1200U), and it was the time to get a color printer. I did a lot of research before making my decision to get the Epson Stylus Photo 870 Inkjet Printer. And during my personal research this is what I found out:
The color printouts you get using Epson's photo paper (and it has different kinds) are to die for. Many different reviews agreed on this.
The black and white text printouts aren't as good as with the laser printers (but oh, well, I wanted a COLOR printer to print pictures).
The number of years of print display before noticeable fading occurs is 24-26 years on the Epson Matte paper!!!
It comes with Epson Software Film Factory, and Adobe PhotoDeluxe.
You can use roll paper to pring banners, panoramas and signs.
During my research I also found that the 870, 875DC, and 1270 models were being affected by a color-shift problem. Aah! I had found the printer I wanted and it has a problem? So I did more research. I learned that it affects one of its papers: The Premium Glossy Photo Paper and this color shifts is caused by high ozone levels. So a small percentage of people living in such areas would be effected. But by covering the printout, it would be okay. I've also learned that Epson stopped circulating that paper and it's working on a new one due this month. You can learn more about this in Byte's website. Look for Davi's Em article "Epson Ink Fades Too Fast On Some Paper." So, I took my chances and I bought the printer. After seeing the kind of printouts it makes, I couldn't be happier with my decision. After all, if one wants to really keep these printouts for a long time, use the Matter paper which isn't affected. If you insist on using the other glossy type paper they have, cover it with glass or another kind of photo cover. But remember, even regular photos don't live forever.
The decision is yours, of course. For me, I gladly share with you my two cents. Hopefully, it will help you make the best decision. Do your homework, read all you can, and if you go for it, I hope you are as satisfied as I am with your purchase. :)

I've avoided inkjet printers for years. I've always felt that the inkjet process creates low quality images and poorly defined text. Recently I took a second look at inkjets and wound up buying an Epson Stylus Photo 870.

The Epson Stylus 870 was simple to set up (took it out of the box, plugged it in, installed the software), simple to operate (the control panels are easy to use an intuitive), and produces absolutely stunning photographic quality images.

Paper is one of the keys to this printer. If you use regular paper you'll get good, but inkjet-like results (some bleeding, degraded resolution). However, if you use the premium glossy paper (the printer comes with some samples), you get *incredible* photo-quality output. Paper makes a huge difference. The pictures you get using the right paper are photographic quality... they really are incredible.

I recently used it for printing wedding invitations on a variety of different shapes, sizes and types of paper (transparent/vellum, thick stock, smooth and textured surfaces). The results weren't as exceptional as photo-quality paper, but they certainly were high enough quality to send out. The printer held up well through the process, and produced great results.

The printer has multiple speeds and quality settings (accessible via software)... in general it's quite fast.

The only downside with this product is the cost of the supplies. Paper is quite expensive, and the inkjet cartriges run quite a bit.

To summarize, I'm amazed by this product and the quality of it's output. I'm happy with my purchase. Well done Epson.

As a Professional Photographer, I use the 870 alongside my Espon 1270 to produce nice photo-realistic images. It really is amazing, but like what has been said you need to get Epson's Premium Glossy Paper (which feels just like photo paper) or Heavyweight Matte paper (which is somewhat like cardstock paper) to get the best results.

We use the 870 to print proofs and other promotional materials for our business (portfolios, etc). Everything about the 870 is the same as the 1270 except that it won't take the larger paper sizes that the 1270 takes. Also, the 870 doesn't include a bundled copy of Photoshop LE 5.0 (the 1270 does). Otherwise, quality, speed and ease of use are the same.

If you're looking for a the best photo printer among inkjet models (which rivals Kodak and Fuji photo printers), and don't need anything bigger than letter size paper, then this is the printer for you!

I have used this printer withe a Kodak DC 290 camera with outstanding results. The printer was out of the box and up and running in 10 minutes. The injet cartridges are rather small but their price is less than 740 cartridges I once used. Even though they may not be readily available at your local stores I've ordered them overnight from various web sites.

The resolution and color have to be seen to be believed.The ink is water resistant and made to last 10 years. What more could you ask from a photo printer? The pictures do truly rival the one hour photo store type.

If your a digital photography buff, this machine will amaze your friends! Even using standard note cards I got good results. The photo paper for this machine however, will really show you what this printer's capability is.

Epson is a quality company and has produced yet another great value.

I just bought this printer (220V model) on Friday on the German economy and I can tell you that it is awesome. I am ready for my wife to throw away our 35mm camera. The pictures I took with my Kodak DC280 camera at both low and high resolution were very colorful on both the glossy (NON-premium) and matte 4x6" paper. You could not tell the difference between a picture printed on the printer and the photograph.

Yes, I'm serious about the ozone, but let me start with the review: this is one fine phot printer. I use it with Windows and am completely impressed with the output. I prefer to print 4x5 photos, so I print on the 4x5 roll paper from Red River - its less than half the cost of Epson's paper and I like the results better.

Print cartridge life is terrific with 4x5 prints, and obviously a good bit shorter with 8x10s. Printe speed is quite fast, and I had no installation issues. It does take a few minutes to become familar with the print driver options, as there are a lot of choices.

Onto the ozone issue. There has been an issue with color changes ("orange shift") that some people have experienced and Epson has acknowledged. It seems that reds slide over towards orange when exposed to high ozone levels (which seems to occur only in some geographic areas). The good news is that Epson has a buy back program in place if you are unhappy.

Despite the potential ozone issue, I highly recommend this printer. In my experience with Canon and HP photo printers, this Epson photo printer is the best one for money.

As described in PCPhoto Magazine, this printer is the real alternative to photos. With a 2 or 3-megapixil camera (like the Nikon Coolpix 950 or Olympus C-3030), I can discard my Canon SLR. I challenge you to identify the prints on Epson Photo Paper (required) compared to photographs. The prints, unlike other ink-jets, are expected to last decades. It doesn't hesitate for minutes to clear ink jets like the earlier stylus printers (as my Epson 600 did). It even has a roller for printing 4x6's continuously. BUY THIS ONE!

This is a wonderful printer if you want to eliminate the corner photo lab,and all the time, money (and film) wasted there. Digital photography has freed me up to finally KNOW what I'm getting before it's printed. The 870 prints fabulous prints that rival the professional photo lab, and I love the Film Factory software included. Although to really do a more perfect job of manipulating the photos, there's nothing out there that beats Adobe.....I have both Adobe and Film Factory. Film Factory gives me what Adobe doesn't...an easy to use place to store and catagorize my prints, and see thumbnails of them all at once. My only objection to the Epson 870 is the limitation of paper I can use with it. I've seen and tried the new Epson Glossy Photo Paper, 4x6 (perforated edges) as well as the new Epson Glossy Photo Paper borderless. Another size I like to print are 5x7's. The Epson will not print a 5x7 on 5x7 paper,(competitor brand, I don't see that Epson sells a 5x7 size). To do these sizes properly with the 870, I have to use a 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper, what a waste of paper and money. Unfortunately, the Epson 870 is not set up to use these papers automatically, and that's a real shame, because I see here and at other consumer review sites, that this printer is extremely popular...so WHY doesn't Epson make 4x6 and 5x7 (cut sheets)paper especially for this printer?? Other than that...the speed is very fast, quality is outstanding and overall, I'm very happy with my purchase.

I've had my 870 for more than a year. It has lived through package after package of Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper without issue. I'm on my third digital camera upgrade but have found no reason to upgrade my Epson printer. The results are amazing! If you're worried about durability, I've had an Epson 780, an Epson 900 and now the 870 in service with zero issues. They just keep on going!

I've read some reviews regarding color management with this printer. I've never had that problem with Photo Shop, Photo Deluxe and other photo editing software, colors are perfect, including skin tones. I do always keep my drivers to the latest release. I've had this printer through Win 98, 98 SE and now 98 ME and Epson's drivers have never let me down. It's also key to put a little effort into setting up your PC. If you don't match your screen settings to your printers' output, you'll never have good looking prints. I did a lot of homework on the web and can honestly say that working a little in this area made an improvement in output quality.

I've put my Epson up against a number of other printers, even a couple of HP's that cost three times as much and have to say my Epson wins for photos. And come on, can you beat this price? Epson, keep up the good work, my next printer purchase dollars are yours.

I bought the Epson Photo Stylus on the basis on superior technical stats and excellent reviews from numerous sources (ZdNet, ComputerShopper etc ...). I have been mostly happy with it as a general purpose printer but I have found it somewhat frustrating to use as a photo printer.

The printer is easy to install and easy to calibrate. The print quality is good and the bundled extras are ok (Photo Delux is very useful, Epson Photo Factory is very light weight).

However, it is very difficult to achieve "photolab" quality results without significant tinkering. I find that only very good quality digital pictures will print to near (emphasize near) photo quality if done on the correct paper (only Epson brand matte paper seems to work) after 2 or 3 attempts at modifying the colour and print settings. I am sure that I could eliminate my need to play around with the setting with some more experimentation but it is going to take a lot more time and ink/paper to finally get the hang of it. If you are buying this printer expecting to get photo quality results out of the box, please be aware that this is not going to happen.

I am sure that true photo buffs can get excellent results with this printer but the average consumer is going to be a little frustrated. On the other hand, it makes a great general purpose colour printer that produces good quality output for print and graphics.