| |  | Electronics Epson Stylus Photo R280 Photo Printer |  | | | | | | | | | | Rating:  - Better than the Kodak shop on the corner!
When I bought this printer, I was not upgrading anything.I was acting on a suspicion.
That suspicion was that ink-jet photo printing had finally arrived for the average person.
And it has!!!
The Epson prints will be a little more expensive than the prints you get from the neighborhood Kodak shop, BUT they will be BETTER!
So my advice would be to preview all your photos on your computer, take off the most promising lot to be printed by Kodak, and then pick out the VERY BEST: put them through Photoshop and print them out on this printer, and you'll be a very happy camper.
Scientific evidence: Out of a group of four complete amateurs, all four picked the Epson photos over the Kodak photos.It was no contest!
(Note: this review is actually of the R290, which seems to be the model of the R280 for sale in Thailand.I would guess that the electric current is the only difference --- the printers look absolutely identical.)
Rating:  - Good enough for me
I'm rating this 4 stars, but really that's arbitrary. This printer is good enough for me (even though I'm hassling with it right now trying to get it to locate CD print correctly under Vista.)
I like the Epson Photo Stylus series for one reason: Quality of print. Epson isn't for everyone. In particular, Epson uses a dye that sits on the surface of into the paper, and so it prints best on high-priced photo or matte papers, which have the best surfaces. The inks are brilliant and make for very appealing photos. Epson has the best nozzle technology in the business, producing tiny droplets of ink (3 picoliters as I remember.) This gives very high resolution. Inks are expensive, but they're good. Epson uses proprietary color processing firmware, which produces attractive colors, kind of like Technicolor. The Epson increases the saturation of colors in a tasteful way, and has good flesh tones. The print actually looks like dye sublimation technology, which is generally considered a higher quality, and much more expensive, process. If you want to print photos, I believe Epson Photo Stylus printers are the best choice. If you wanted to print "business graphics" such as charts and graphs, I would use a color laser printer or an HP inkjet.
One past problem with inkjet printers was that colors faded fast. In direct sunlight, they would be down to 30% - 40% in one day. I was in a focus group for inkjet printers for Lexmark Corporation, and color retention was the group's #1 concern. Epson says color retention with the R280 inks is much improved.
If you wanted extreme fidelity of colors, such as people I know in our local Sheriff's Crime Scene Investigation area, this would not be a good choice. But accuracy is not the same as attractiveness, and the most accurate printers often print unappealing images.
I primarily use the printer to print CDs. It produces very good printing, but some aspects of it are a pain. But my R280 prints CDs fine under Vista. My older R200 never would. The CD printing firmware and operation of the R280 are much, much, better than they were with earlier printers such as the R200 and R220. The CD slide is better designed and functioning is generally 1,000% better. The R200 was not really ready for prime time.
Over all, if you want quality printing, the R280 is a top choice. I've noticed that many other reviewers give extreme high or low reviews. I don't want to do that. I'm trying to help you make a reasoned choice.
I felt I should comment on this product because I was the printer specifier for a Fortune 100 company in a previous job. I had access to very skilled printer manufacturer technical staff. Actually, a representative for Lexmark Corporation told me he thought the Epson produced the highest quality printing in the business--that's praise from an unlikely source. When my R280 gives out, I'll buy another R280.
Rating:  - Full ink cartridges register as empty and printer will not work!
I bought this printer and it printed 4,8x10 pictures very nicely. I printed a few pages of text. All was well and I was happy.
Now, the horror story. Ink cartridges register as about 90% full one day. Next day,all of the cartridges register as EMPTY.
I took them all out, cleaned the contact with alcohol, placed them back in. Again all cartridges are empty. Although, if shaken gently there is plenty of ink. The printer will not allow me to print and there is no override for this!
So, I did some research on the internet. There is a problem with the chips Epson places in the cartridges. Running the printer can place static charges on the chips. One suggestion was to unplug from the computer and the electrical source. Let it sit 24 hours so any excess static charge will dissipate. I did that.
It still did not work. I am NOT going out and buying new cartiges because the static charge buildup is a known recurring problem with this printer and fries the chip on the cartidges.
Since Epson has propriatary cartriges, sometimes the third party ones will not work either.
Next printer I get will be a printer that allows third party cartridges and does not have the chip problem that this one has.
I threw out money on this one. Maybe I should just print pictures out at Wally World.
Rating: - "Epson Tech support is the very best!".....
I like to create video/photo slideshows. Some people call them "presentations".....so, after I've created the slideshow, I burn it onto a dvd, put a picture on the disk and a title also. I then insert the dvd into the Epson R280 and what I get is something to behold!....its's NEVER failed me!...thats why I Love this Epson R280..
And, I only paid $99.00 for it. And, yes, I've also read some of the one star reviews on this Amazon site and I could not disagree more with their opinions. Look, its not an expensive printer. But, I've had absolutely NO
problems with this printer.
And, another wonderful reason I do love this printer so much is because of the "Tech Support" from Epson..
In the past when I've had a minor problem with an Epson printer all I've had to do was simply call their Tech Support number and without waiting more than ONE minute, I've gotten an Epson Tech Rep who have ALWAYS helped me solve any problem I've had with an Epson printer.
That's exactly why I'd never buy another brand of printer. Simply because their Tech Support is the very best!.
So, why would I ever want to buy any other brand of printer other than "EPSON"....
Look, I'm sure the other brands of printers are just fine, but I really can't speak for their "TechSupport",
so, I'll just stick to an Epson brand that just makes me happy!...
Rating:  - Use it to print on CDs/DVDs
Ok, I'm something of an expert on this series of Epson printers. I'm an independent musician that prints a LOT of CDs, and I sell them. So my opinion is here is by someone who uses this printer a LOT, and has been using this particular series of printers for a few years now.
1) This printer is honestly terrible. Firstly, the ink is extremely expensives (all ink is, I realize). It eats ink fast, and so, I own a laser printer for all paper printing. I don't know about printing photos, as I am strongly opposed to printing photos on inkjet printers. But, for general documents, this printer just isn't anything exceptional, and it consumes ink in a serious way.
2) For printing directly on CDs/DVDs: It works. Which is to say, it is about the only option you have out there, as it is the only consumer priced model I've found that is worth while. And it does this job well. If you only use the printer for printing on discs, it actually uses very little ink, and I can print heavy colors on up to hundreds of discs before having to replace ink cartridges. The print quality is top notch, as long as you don't get the CDs wet at any time. But since CDs aren't meant to be in water (?), this isn't a big deal. And it looks a billion times better than an adhesive label. Really, the only notable difference between this and a professional print job is the colors are slightly less bright and there is no glossy coat.
3) I've used the R220, R260 and am on my second R280. This isn't because it fails all of the time (I usually print hundreds of discs with it before I have problems), but if the planets align just right and all six ink tanks run out at the same time, it is cheaper to just buy a new printer than buy all new ink. I mean, no kidding. Usually I can find this printer, either here or in other stores, on sale for $60-$85. To buy all six ink tanks at $15/each is over $90. I mean, the new price on this printer is $99. These printers DO fail sometimes, so spending an extra $10 and just getting a whole new printer is the wise move (though environmentally wasteful, admittedly. Shame on Epson).
So, ultimately, I approve of this printer, but discourage it for casual printing. Buy it for printing on discs if you have need for that, and use it only for that purpose.
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