Thursday, February 24, 2005
Epson Stylus Photo R1800 Printer and Ink Cartridges Review
| Epson Stylus Photo R1800 printer comes with individual ink cartridges
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Epson Stylus Photo R1800 Printer Key Features:
- 8-color Epson UltraChrome Hi-Gloss pigment inkset for archival-quality glossy and matte photos
- Fade-resistant photos lasting up to 100-200 years¹
- Output photos up to 13"-wide
- Speeds through a 11" x 14" photo in under 2 minutes
- Creates borderless photos in seven popular sizes
- Prints directly on ink jet printable CDs/DVDs
- Built-in fast connectivity with Hi-Speed USB 2.0 and FireWire
- Scroll Down the page for Full Detailed Technical Specifications
Detailed Specs (Epson Stylus Photo R1800, C11C589011):
Product Description for Epson Stylus Photo R1800 (From the Manufacturer, Epson)
Taking Epson's award-winning technology one step further, the Epson Stylus Photo R1800 quickly creates large, archival quality glossy and matte photos worthy of display. Experience the rich, true-to-life colors and subtle detail that's evident in every image. It's all possible with Epson UltraChrome Hi-Gloss Inks, plus an industry leading resolution and ink droplet size - the same innovative features that made the Epson Stylus Photo R800 a resounding success.
This printer's impressive 8-color individual ink system, which incorporates red and blue inks, means you get a wider color gamut for incredibly vivid photos. Its separate matte and photo black ink cartridges are integrated into the system as well, so you get the deepest, darkest blacks on matte paper, and brilliant results on glossy paper automatically. Finally, the unique gloss optimizer makes glossy prints look like they came from a traditional photo lab. And, since the inks are pigment-based, you can be confident the color and detail will remain true for up to 200 years. The Epson Stylus Photo R1800 delivers studio quality results on a wide variety of media and in eight popular borderless sizes - up to 13-inches wide, as well as panoramics up to 44-inches long.
Best of all, the Epson Stylus Photo R1800 speeds through every project - so you can quickly print stacks of high-quality photos. And, its expertise goes well beyond the art of photographic prints. This photo printer makes it easy to add that special touch to your portfolio with professional quality printing on ink jet printable CDs and DVDs.¹Lightfastness rating of 104 years with Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper, and 200 years with Epson Watercolor Paper Radiant White, based on accelerated testing of prints displayed indoors, framed under glass. Actual prints stability will vary according to display conditions, light intensity, humidity, and atmospheric conditions. Epson does not guarantee longevity of prints. For maximum print life, display all prints under glass or properly store them.
MSRP for Epson Stylus Photo R1800: $549.00
PC WORLD.com Editors' Review:
Just as digital cameras have become viable alternatives to film cameras, home-printed digital photos now rival the quality of the traditional silver-halide prints that commercial photo labs offer--that is, if you're using a top-quality printer such as the new Epson Stylus Photo R1800.
The $549 large-format inkjet model offers several outstanding features, including very high resolution and enhanced fade resistance, which make it a good choice for photography buffs or anyone who wants to produce high-quality archival prints. I tested a shipping version of the R1800 and found it capable of producing beautiful color prints from a variety of images.
Like its smaller cousin, the Epson Stylus Photo R800 ($399 street), the R1800 uses the Epson UltraChrome Hi-Gloss pigment ink set, which includes eight individual cartridges: In addition to the traditional cyan, magenta and yellow inks, the set uses red and blue inks, Photo Black and Matte Black inks, and a Gloss Optimizer that applies extra gloss and produces prints that look as if they were developed in a standard photo lab.
Both printers can issue tiny 1.5-picoliter ink droplets--for smoother, continuous-tone prints with crisp details--and both can print at a high resolution of up to 5760 by 1440 dpi (as well as lower-resolution modes).
But what separates the R1800 from the smaller R800 (and many other regular photo printers) is its media-handling flexibility. In addition to small (4-by-6-inch and 5-by-7-inch) prints and standard-size paper, the R1800 supports larger paper sizes up to 13 inches wide. It can also use wide panoramic roll paper (a roll-holder accessory is provided) with a maximum 13-by-44-inch printable area. You can even print directly onto inkjet-printable CDs and DVDs using a special tray (also included).
Ponderosa-Size Prints
Many of the images I used to produce test prints with the R1800 were created with a high-quality Epson Perfection 4990 Photo scanner ($449 street). I used the 4990 to make high-resolution (4800-dpi) scans from small 35mm film frames and then employed the R1800 to print the enlargements on 11-by-14-inch and 13-by-19-inch glossy paper.
I'm happy to report that the final prints that dropped onto the output tray didn't disappoint. The superb image quality--featuring accurate colors and saturation, realistic skin tones, and crisp details--in these huge prints, from tiny 35mm film, was very impressive. The R1800 also did a fine job of accurately reproducing the contrast, brightness, and shades of gray in black-and-white test photos.
Although the R1800 is designed primarily for glossy and matte photo prints (including borderless printing), it can also handle everyday printing tasks. However, I found it a bit slower than standard-size inkjets in some informal print tests. For instance, the R1800 clocked about 3 pages per minute for text (monochrome) documents, compared with 4 ppm (or more) for most inkjet models on our Top 10 Inkjet Printers chart.
But in printing large-format glossy color prints, the R1800's speed was quite decent: It took less than 2.5 minutes to knock out an 11-by-14-inch print and only a minute more to churn out a sizable 13-by-19-incher.
Even small 4-by-6-inch prints took the R1800 only about 50 seconds to produce.
The gray-and-black, 28.5-pound R1800 has a spacious footprint, taking more than 12 by 24 inches of desk space, and its output tray adds another foot to its depth when extended (for handling large prints). The unit features both USB 2.0 and FireWire ports, and it comes with a few print software utilities, such as a labeling application (for printing on CD/DVD media) and color profiles.
Installing the printer and software was relatively simple, but I did have to use the printer's Auto Nozzle Check and Cleaning utility (an easy one-click job) to get one of the cartridges (cyan) printing perfectly at the start. Epson is not sure what caused the problem; it may have been just a faulty cartridge.
That minor issue aside, if you want to produce your own high-quality photo prints--especially on large-format paper--the R1800 is worth its premium price.
Related links for Epson Stylus Photo R1800:
Epson Stylus Photo R1800 ink cartridges at PrintCountry.com
Epson's Related Page
Compatible ink cartridges
Epson Stylus R1800 Driver
