Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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93 of 94 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great print quality.....but....., March 30, 2005
First, let me say that the Epson C86 (and C84, the earlier version) produces beautiful prints, especially considering the fact it uses pigment inks (DuraBrite) rather than the dye based inks that HP and Canon use. As a rule, dye based inks have a wider color gamut and are more vivid, particularly on glossy paper, than pigment inks, but I also have an HP deskjet 9650 (A3) Photo printer and the Epson prints are very close in quality to those from the HP, especially when I use the DuraBrite Glossy Photo paper.
Now for the bad news. First, everyone should realize when you buy an inkjet printer, you are actually buying a profit generating machine for the company that builds it. A very large percentage of the corporate profits of Epson and HP come from the sale of, you guessed it.....ink. They sell the printers at or close to cost, but make a killing on those tiny ink cartridges, and this is where the Epson will get you. Epson printers have a permanent, built-in printhead and it will sooner or later start to clog (do a Google search for Epson clogged nozzles.....you'll get over 6000 hits). When this happens, your prints will look really bad (banding and missing colors), and the "Epson solution" for this is to run cleaning cycles, which will burn through those high dollar cartridges even faster. I have had two Epson's to clogg almost completely, both within a week after the warranty had run out. Also, if the cartridge is low on ink, the printer will refuse to run a cleaning cycle until you replace the cartridge with a new one, then it will waste the ink in your new cartridge attempting to clear the nozzles. Epson cartridges have a microchip built in supposedly to monitor the ink remaining in the cartridge, but I have my suspicions that it may be responsible for the previous problems I mentioned as well as making it difficult (but not impossible) to refill the cartridges.
If you do not use your printer regularly, I would recommend that you steer clear of Epson, the clogging problem is worse if you let the printer set for long periods of time without using it. In this case I would suggest HP or Canon, my HP printers set for several months at a time and very rarely get a clogged nozzle, one cleaning cycle usually clears it up. Also, the HP printers have the printhead built into the cartridge, so every time you replace the cartridge you get a brand new printhead. However, the HP cartridges are tiny with very little ink (thanks Carly.....glad you got the ax), if you do a lot of printing you had better have some cash.
Finally, if you are having clogging problems, my solution might work for you and save some of your money from flowing into Epson's pockets. First, try to print something every day, even if it's just one small 4 x 6 photo. You want to keep the ink (all four colors) flowing in the printheads, letting the printer set will definitely cause you problems. Sooner or later, the printhead will clog and the nozzle test will show a clogged nozzle (broken lines). DO NOT run a cleaning cycle (this is exactly what Epson wants you to do.....it's money in their pocket). Instead, and there are a number of ways to do this (Google it), move the cartridge/printhead assembly to the center or left of the printer and immediately pull the plug, this will leave the area where the printhead is normally "parked" accessible. I take an eyedropper and soak the two small sponges that normally cover the printhead with Radio Shack tape head cleaner (alcohol), plug the printer back in, wait for the printhead to park itself and then cut the printer off with the switch. You want to do this as quickly as possible, don't ever leave the printhead "unparked" for any length of time. I usually let the printer set overnight, turn it on the next day and my nozzle check is perfect.....all without wasting any of that high dollar ink. Some people use Windex or distilled water, some people say not to use any of them including the alcohol.....that it will destroy the printhead, but I've had good luck with the tape head cleaner. Just remember, do this at your own risk....this will probably void your warranty if Epson finds out. If the printer is under warranty and you are unable to get the printhead nozzles restored, I would just ship it back to Epson, they'll probably send you a "refurbished" replacement. If it's out of warranty, I figure there is really nothing to lose.
The Epson C86 is basically disposable (made in Indonesia) junk. It is often cheaper to buy a new printer and use the cartridges in your old printer rather than buy replacement cartridges alone. This way you will have a backup printer when the nozzles become hopelessly clogged in your original printer. The reason I continue to use the Epson is because it produces really nice prints (when it's working) that have excellent fade resistance. I frame a lot of my artwork and photographs and don't won't them to fade after a few months. I would like to have an Epson A3 printer (2200 or the new R1800) but refuse to purchase one because of the clogging problems, it's one thing to trash an $80 printer.....quite a different matter to throw a $600 one in the dumpster.
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138 of 148 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Remarkable Print Quality for the Price, October 17, 2004
The Epson Stylus C86 is an ideal personal desktop printer that can produce outstanding photographic prints when used with care.
I needed a personal printer to sit beside my computer that could handle moderate volume. I still use the networked office printer down the hall for occasional bulk jobs, but the Stylus C86 is perfect for most day-to-day work. Ordinary text printing is fast and sharp. I've used it with perforated postcard sheets very successfully, and the 'fine' setting produces truly excellent typographic resolution.
Printing high quality digital photos on any printer is a skill that takes a good deal of practice, and the nature of the output depends as much on details of the input file as it does on the quality of the printer. With carefully prepared CMYK digital images, and good photo paper such as Epson's Enhanced Matte paper (a must for quality work), I've been able to produce amazing digital prints with the Stylus C86. Co-workers couldn't believe they had been output from an inexpensive desktop printer.
Epson recommends the DuraBrite inks with this printer, and that is what I use. There's no doubt they are expensive, and the cost of replacement cartridges is a drawback of all inkjet printers. The claimed advantage of these specific inks is that they are pigment based and so do not fade as dye-based inks do. I haven't done a thorough test of this, but there is no question that the inks are more durable than the dye-based inks used in an older Canon printer I had: prints from that machine would be noticeably faded after only a few months. It is hardly worth making digital photo prints at all if the colors won't last, and the DuraBrite inks used in the Stylus C86 are certainly superior to many others. Further, the cartridges are individually replaceable so if you use a lot of cyan (say), you can replace only the cyan cartridge without having to discard the remaining yellow and magenta. The software that comes with the printer is adequate (if inelegant), and it lets you check the amount of ink remaining in each color and clean the print nozzles when needed.
It's important not to judge this printer by the wrong standards. It isn't meant to be a rugged, high-volume, multi-user office printer. It's a personal printer that will perform very well for an individual user, and it can produce stunning photo prints with good paper and a good input file. Are there more durable, heavy-duty printers available? Of course. They cost much more. Are there printers that will produce commercial-quality photo prints quickly and in high volume? Of course. They cost much more, too. It is the combination of both quality and price that make the Epson Stylus C86 a truly remarkable personal printer. I use mine every day.
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83 of 90 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good and affordable!, November 23, 2004
This is the upgrade to the C84. This isn't a huge advancement, and if you have the C84, don't bother. If however, you're looking for a new printer for home use, consider this one. It's marginally faster than it's predecessor (by 2-3 ppgs/minute), the print cost run the same (It uses the same catridges), and the resolution is the same (very high resolution).
It uses individual color cartridges rather than the tricolor cartridge of HP's, which I find helps cut down on ink cost. The printer is fairly effeicient with it's ink, and I don't have to replace cartridges often.
The input tray really doesn't hold many sheets; I find I have problems with feeding if more than 50-60 sheets are in it, but again, it's not meant as a high volume printer, so that's not a big deal.
Like the C84, it prints very good photos and graphics, and excellent text. It's meant as an affordable all around, low through medium volume use (less than 500 sheets/month) printer. It excels in this role. If you, like me, print a fair amount of text (100 pages a month give or take) and some photos, but need high quality all around, this is a great printer for you, espically at the price. For your average home user, it's an excellent choice.
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