Customer Reviews

Epson Stylus Photo R300M Inkjet Printer

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

 

 

Of course, all Epson stylus photo's produce great picture quality, are solidly built and have thoughtful easy setup directions. I've owned several Epson's and each generation just gets more amazing - both in easy of use and quality.

It's a 6-ink inkjet and it's an Epson stylus photo so I don't really need to go on about the print quality but the R300M has some great and outstanding additional features.

#1
This printer prints with the Mac/PC on or off. You can use a USB cable to plug in your digital camera or better yet, drop in your camera's memory card in one of the front slots and view using the COLOR LCD screen! And if you activate the feature, the memory card mounts on the desktop (well at least on a Mac) so you can save from having to buy a memory card reader also!

It reads CompactFlash, Microdrive, Memory Stick, SD, MMC, SmartMedia or xD so unless you own some weird Albanian format - you are set to go.

Just plug in your memory card - use the simple navigation (two minutes to learn and very clear) to set the size you want to print and what kind of paper you are using. Then just arrow up & down to view thumbnails (with a preview window of your photograph) - once you select the photograph, it fills the 2" COLOR screen so you know exactly what you are getting. Then hit PRINT and there it is. If you have a nice digital camera and your photographs are at the highest resolution - you get a print that indistinguishable from store processed.

It prints BORDERLESS 8.5" by 11" - great quality and makes your special photographs look like art.

#2
It prints on CD-R and DVD-R's. While you can certainly use Epson discs (probably a bit steeper), I did not have a lot of different types of printable media around (you get a Memorex branded freebie with the printer) but they all look fine. It depends on your needs - some look a little darker than others so you'll have to experiment a little but an incredibly easy to use feature. You simply insert a special tray - launch the Epson CD software - paste and/or type and select print. Since Epson included a Memorex CD, it's pretty obvious you can use any brand - as you might know, your choices on the CD/DVD printables are with a white background or on silver so depending on your artwork - some might look better on white - others on silver. DO NOT print on non-printable CD/DVD-R's - the ink will smear! (no, I did not have to try it to know that :-)

#3
Setup is amazingly easy and you get a nice assortment of software.

#4
I know some printers have special chips in the print cartridges that do not allow you to use 3rd party color cartridges - not the case with Epson - I've already seen 3rd party cartridges for the R300M so if you decide not to buy the Epson ink, you have other choices.

#5
Epson has a great selection of professional paper including some that will supposedly not yellow in 25 or 100 years (you choose) so you get a lot of professional options along the way.

The ONLY ONLY tiny downside is you do not get a USB cable so you will need a "B" to "A" cable - I had an extra one but if you don't, they're about $6 and up.

Other than that tiny thing - it's perfect if you want high-end print results from a $250 printer - if you want 4x6 to 8.5x11 borderless printing along with a COLOR preview window for printing with or without the computer being on - and if you want easy CD/DVD-R printing - and it's well designed and with great step by step setup instructions - this is one great printer!

This is my first photo/DVD printer and will probably be the only one I will be using for a good while. The photos I've printed out so far, inluding several 8x10 enlargements, are outstanding and undistinguishable from lab prints. In fact, I think they're a lot better since I can edit them and adjust them on the PC. Printing from a PICTBridge-enabled camera isn't too shabby either, but I prefer to edit my photos first. Same thing with printing from memory cards; this is a handy feature, though since I can use the printer as a cardreader.

Two little gripes - the supplied color LCD screen resolution is rather low and the B&W LCD does not illuminate, which may be a problem, as in my case, since I keep the printer in a dark corner of the desk. If you largely print photos from PC, you may want to buy the R300 instead, which doesn't have the color LCD and is 40 to 50 USD cheaper, depending on where you order it.

I was actually debating whether to purchase the Epson R300m or the Canon Pixma IP600D or the HP 7960. The photo quality in the stores was almost the same. What tipped the scales in favor of Epson was the ability to print onto inkjet printable DVDs and the relatively cheaper ink cartridges. I guess now I'll never know the real difference but as long as the Epson does what it's supposed to do, and does it extremely well, who cares?

UPDATE: This little gem is still going strong. No paper jams or streaks as long as you maintain the printheads properly. Photo printing is still topnotch. Text printing will never equal the crispness of a laser printer but that's not the reason I got it. I love printing my own DVDs. As for cartridges, several online stores carry cheaper versions that work just as well as originals, sometimes for 40% less.

I purchased the R300M, installed it and spent an entire day trying to figure out why I could not get it to work. Turns out, mine had a defective memory card reader. When I called Epson support they were outstanding at taking care of the problem. I had my new printer within 2 days.

The new one works like a charm. I will say that when you turn the printer on and off its slow and initially I thought something was wrong but customer service assured me this is normal.

I am also glad I anted up the extra bucks so I could view the photo through a view finder at the top of the printer - this feature is worth the $.

My first few photos did not come out to well. I did a printer head alignment and that took care of the problem. Also be sure to click on the correct type of paper you are using ..ie if you are using glossy or regular you click the box in the properties section when you select paper size etc. otherwise you will not get the best results.

After playing with it awhile I printed some photographs and they were stunning! Though the initial cost may seem high, its frustrating to get prints from the store that are of poor quality due to lighting, camera angle etc. You will be able to control your results here and enjoy your photos right away when you print them.

Another nice feature is you can print directly on a CD. My daughter is a singer so we purchased this printer to have that feature available. Though we have not used it yet, I have heard that results are very good.

With the quality photos I am getting and the great customer service I received this Epson Inkjet gets high marks.

Not much to fault here, unless you have dreaded driver problems of some kind. Used with a Nikon 8800 (8MP) and Pentax Optio S5I (5MP), this printer delivers stunning 4x6 or full page borderless prints. Forget the silly little picturemate. This is the printer to buy!

HOWEVER, I used a second printer for text stuff because the 300 is pretty slow overall. The LCD monitor is of limited use since most of us will edit pics on a PC anyway. Ink cartidges seem to last a long time and you can replace them one at a time which makes sense.

Capt RB

My client Tim, the "dental guy" was in the process of marketing a dental plan in the Las Vegas area, when he advised me that he wanted to print CD cards to pass out to his clients. I purchased this Epson printer, but wasn't really sure if it could produce the professional quality he desired.

I converted his logo to a vector graphic, so it could be printed on a variety of marketing items, cups, and t-shirts. At first, I was reluctant to put the actual CD into the printer. My non-trusting techie self, wondered how it was going to come back out, since the CDs had already been burned.

I cautiously put in the CD in the tray, and went to the design program, bundled with this printer. I taught my client, how to set up the design, and WOW! The actual CD went inside the printer, and out came a professional labeled CD, in full color.

Although the speed was slower than I would have liked, and you must purchase the Epson media CD or DVD, you can retire those sticky labels that jam in other printers. If you want to send out CD media to your clients, with your logo, in full color, and do it cheaply, this is the printer to buy!

Even though, I happen to be an HP printer fan, Epson has my admiration on this printer.

Gina Novelle at Exclusive Markets

I needed a cheap solution for printing directly on DVD and CD media. I found it. This printer coupled with a consumer product like "The Print Shop" produces incredibly professional results. It's been a long time since I used a product that actually did what it was advertised to do.

I use this printer only for this one function, so I don't know how well it produces photos, etc. I do have a friend who told me that Epson photos print well only on Epson paper. Ditto for HP. Don't know why this is, but...

When I bought this printer, I only had Windows (XP) computers. It installed easily and worked very well, with excellent print quality. I've since begun using an iMac G5 and hooked the Epson to it instead of my PC. I had to download the latest drivers when I upgraded to OS X 10.4 (Tiger) but that is something I'm used to in the Windows world.

The printer itself is easy to use, it's print quality equals or exceeds what I get from Walgreens and other digital photo printing centers. So far I've had to replace the ink cartridges once, a somewhat expensive affair since you have to buy several small ones. To purchase all at the same time cost me $80 -- but I've had the printer for well over a year and have only had to do so once.

This printer has two really nice features that I appreciate: a multi-card reader and spare USB port on the front. Very convenient.

The printer works great! But the only downfall is the fact that the website said it would print from wireless devices and the picture showed an LCD screen that looks like it is flipped up. Too bad that they do not tell you that it will print from wireless devices IF you buy the wireless adapter. And the LCD screen is available as an additional purchase. You may think you get everything they advertise but you only get the basic package!

This printer worked very well using the Windows XP software but when they put out Pac 2 software this printer cas become a dog. Epson has sent me a new driver and it dose not work any better than the old software. The print quality is very good but with the pack 2 software it takesd upto 2 1/2 minutes to start printing which is too long.