Customer Reviews

Epson Stylus Photo R800 Inkjet Printer

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(25)

 

 

I have been shopping for a high-end consumer printer for my wife for about 3 months now. My wife is into photo-scrapbooking, so high quality prints that last a long time are our main goal.

I had looked at the high-end consumer printers from Canon and HP, but decided against them due to reported ozone fading problems (Canon) and star-wheel marks on the HP 7960 which I saw myself on the test prints at the local retailer.

I was about to buy a high-end dye sublimation printer when I saw some reviews of the R800. Now that I've owned one, I have to say this is by far the best photo printer I've ever used.

It's FAST - 4x6's print in about 45 seconds
It does TRUE borderless prints (no tear-offs)
The colors are life-life and saturated
Pigment ink promises long life and freedom from ozone fading
And it's unexpectedly QUIET!
I've notice NO banding or digthring at all.
The gloss is excellent and comparable to glossy photo paper
Can print onto CD's (I haven't tried this)

Can take roll paper (but no cutter)

Consumables seem to cost about $40-$50 per 4x6, or $1.50-$1.75 for an 8x10, which is a bit high, but not out of line with competitors.

I HIGHLY recommend this printer. Prints made with the EPSON premium glossy photo paper are out of this world.

This is really an outstanding photo printer. I've been really impressed with the quality of the photos that this guy produces. When I first read that it had a 1.5 picoliter droplet size I was pretty amazed and you can really see the clarity in the prints. I've been a fan of Epson's chrome inks which is used on the 2200 as well. With a matte black and a gloss optimizer inks, this makes the R800 a very versitle printer as well. Too many times have I bought a printer that does exceptional well on one type of paper and sub-par on another. The chrome inks are also rated to last 80 years as well. At first, I didn't care for the abilty to print cd/dvd directly on the printable discs, but after using it, I've really become fond of the option. My only knock on the R800 is that it doesn't do formats larger than your standard 8 1/2 by 11. Though I realize that is what the 2200 is for, I wished the R800 did wider formats are well as I am more impressed by it's print quality. Either way if your looking for a somewhat proffessional printer for photos, I'd really reccommend the R800, you won't be disappointed. The 2200 is also a great printer for wider formats and if you're just interested in the cd/dvd printing capablity, Epson also makes a R300 that does it as well for a much better price

I previously owned a Canon S800 photo printer with six dye-based inks, and have been quite pleased with it. However, all of the fade-resistant claims are based on keeping the print behind glass or plastic; if you do, the claims are true, and I have 3-year old photos that still look perfect. HOWEVER, tape them onto the refrigerator or on your office wall, and they'll be visible faded in <1 year.

Enter the pigment-based UltraChrome inks. I've only had my printer for 1 month, so I can't really say how long they'll last when "naked", but so far they look absolutely fantastic. I agree with the other reviewers, so I won't bother to re-iterate what they've written, except to rave about the quality, smudge-resistance, saturation of colors (and blacks!), and the glossy-optimizer. I rub my fingers/thumb over a printout versus a traditional 4x6 photo and can't tell the difference at all. Wipe a wet finger over it, and NO SMEAR at all.

These inks are pricey (the old razor blade business model), and per print are probably more expensive than traditional photographic prints (4X6's). But, if you want to print your own, especially enlargements, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this printer.

I really wanted a great photo printer about two months ago. I looked at the Epson R300, but couldn't find any in stock online or in stores. When I visited the Epson web site and found out the R800 was due in February, I did some research on this model and found several favorable reviews on the pre-production version. Although I normally hesitate on buying new models before the public has had a chance to test them out, I am incredibly happy I got this printer. I use Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 to touch up my digital photos (made with a Sony DSC-F717). This printer works incredibly well with the changes I make. What I see on the monitor is what comes out of this printer - vibrant colors and great detail. I recommend using Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper. My pictures look better than photo developing at any store. When I told my friends that I made these at home, they couldn't believe it. I'm getting ready to frame some fantastic 8" by 11" outdoor shots. The printer was a snap to install, and it's nearly whisper quiet. The only noise I hear is when the paper is initially loaded in by the feeder. After that, silence, and I typically forget I'm printing at all until I come back and notice my photos are sitting on the exit tray. I own an Epson C60 that I still use for text printing, and by far the R800 is easier to print photos with. The printing options are a lot more user-friendly than the Epsons of old. Plus, the quality of my 4" by 6" family snapshots are better than those portable dye-sublimation printers made by Kodak and Canon. Beautiful, beautiful pictures!

The printer arrived yesterday...

The Good:
1. No-glitch installation with XP (less than 15 minutes from box
until my first print)

2. Colors have been very accurate every time using both the
supplied software (mediocre) and Photoshop. The skys are
gorgeous, dot-free and beautifully colored.

3. The new glossy mode works very well-- there is no problem at
all with these prints when viewed at angle (a frequent
problem with pigmented inks).

4. Super quiet and very fast.

Questions / Problems:

1. Have not tried with other non-Epson papers. As of yet, there
are still very few papers w/ included ICC profiles. So the
range of papers may be limited for some time (particularly
for matte and art papers) unless you are comfortable with
tweeking and profiling.

Overall: A+ 5/5 ... I have seen a lot of prints and these are
at least as good as any on the market for under a
thousand.

I have owned many printers...but I have to say I love this printer the best so far. It's so versatile. The prints on Epson photo glossy paper look like they just came from the lab. I'm still amazed after two weeks.

Prints on coated inkjet CDs are a bit under saturated. Also if you want the best quality and water proof photos you have to use Epson paper.

This is a wonderful printer for photo enthusiasts and the geek who wants the novelty of printing on CDs. However if you do not intend to print on a regular basis do not buy this printer. The pigmented ink will clog the head with infrequent use.

I would give it five stars if it were a bit faster. I still love it though.

I bought this printer for two reasons.
1. High dpi
2. Printing on CD's.
I own a HP1115 and HP7960. I thought the 7960 was great. This surpasses it. My son is a professional photogher and I check with him before buying any photo related gear. He was impressed with all the info he could find on the R800. As for ink costs, well you get what you pay for in this case. It does printable CD's as I expected. I dabble in scanning, touching up and printing old photos. This thing is awesome for that application. The R800 is to me worth every penny I spent for it.

My previous printer was an Epson Stylus Photo 700 (1998). It gave good results, but alas, technology marched on and left me behind. Being a research freak, I read every review I could find and decided to pony up the bucks for the R800. I have several years of darkroom experience and know what it takes to turn out a really good print. Reviews by professionals indicated that I could expect outstanding results. Folks, I'm here to tell you, they didn't lie. Almost all the reviews recommended using Epson's Premium Glossy Photo Paper (Free shipping for $25.00 or more at Amazon, 100 4x6 for 13.69 and 20 8x10 for $14.42 - do the math! Best prices around)and the results are outstanding! I have a supply of various Kodak inkjet photo papers and the results are good, but not great. I use them for proofs now. The results with Epson paper are worth the price of admission. Now do yourself a huge favor, READ THE MANUAL, cover to cover. When your print properties come up, EXPERIMENT - don't hesitate to use the advanced tab. Ignore the warning box that tries to scare you away, the best is yet to come. Have fun, turn off the high speed printing, (wow, what a difference) click on some boxes, make some changes - folks you're gonna be surprised! Click on the drop down arrows and check out what Epson calls vivid. Look at the subtle differences in the finished product. The gloss optimizer cartridge is worth its weight in gold. With a little practice, you'll be turning out Custom Lab results. Epson has been known for making printers that are stingy with ink usage while turning out a quality finished product(anybody out there ever tried to keep an HP inkjet in cartridges without taking out a second mortgage?). That low thirst level is apparent in these cartridges too. The moral of the story is: BUY IT - but don't tell anyone where you got those fabulous prints - your friends will be pestering you to do all their prints too.

Here I am, almost a year later, still a very happy puppy. I'm a bit puzzled by some of the lengthy bad reviews. I still buy only Epson Premium Glossy papers. I've tried some HP samples and get the same results as with the Kodak mentiond above, good, but not great. Never tried making CD labels, I'm just a photo kinda guy. Ya gets what ya pays for. 10/25/05

I also had horrific problems trying to print CDs/DVDs. Spent the better part of a day trying to get the printer to accept a disc. Tried everything I could think of. It was a Sunday, and Epson Customer Service was closed. Checked internet for a solution; no solution, but discovered it was a common problem. Finally decided to return printer. After I had uninstalled it, I thought about trying a firewire connection instead of USB. Re-installed with firewire. . . and it worked!

Also discovered that not all plain, and photo papers work well. Kodak and HP photo papers were blotchy. Canon paper printed nice. Epson paper printed great!

I just upgraded from the Epson 1270 1440 dpi printer to the Epson R800. While I loved the 1270 color prints, I find the R800's print's absolutely amazing! Even 8 x 10 blowups from a cropped 4Mega Pixel jpeg, zoomed to 2x it's cropped size, show absolutely no pixelation or edge artifacts (jagged edges to objects); and the gloss cartridge really finishes the pictures so they are undistinguishable from lab photos!

While the individual color cartridges cost around $14.00 each for genuine Epson, it may actually work out no more expensive than replacing the 6 color 1270 cartridge ($35) when one color runs out.

Great product, Epson!