- Up to 2,880 x 720 dpi resolution
- Uses 6-color quick-drying inks for smudge-free results
- Supports border-free printing on letter-size paper
- Prints up to 12 pages per minute in black, or a 4 x 6 inch photo in 48 seconds
- Parallel and USB interfaces; PC and Mac compatible
The Film Factory software that comes with the printer is exactly what I''ve been looking for in regards to printing common photo sizes such as 3x5, 4x6, 5x7, 8x10, or wallets. I can fit 4 3x5 or 2 4x6 into one sheet of photo paper which minimizes the cost of each photo sheet when calculated by per picture.
Overall, I rate this a 3.5 rounded up to 4.0 for Amazon''s scale. Picture quality is very good...rivals a real photo. In fact a friend of mine thought the Epson print was the real photo when comparing the same exact picture processed by Ofoto.com (an online Kodak processing company). Again, the Film Factory software is very good for printing common photo sizes. However, because of the rapid ink usage, I didn''t rate this a 5.0, which is the main draw back of this printer. ...
Buy Epson Stylus Photo 820 Inkjet Printer Now
I needed a better photo quality printer to supplement my HP 1120C. My application is for personal photo printer not as a production or office printer.I researched all types of photo quality printers for several weeks and was going to go with the Cannon until I noticed how cheaply even the high end Canons were made. I also noticed that almost no one sold Cannon supplies like the required expensive Cannon paper. The Lexmark was far too expensive to own when it came to buying ink.
I was looking at some of the better Epson photo printers when I noticed that the lowly 820 used the exact same print cartridges. Then I realized Epson has just cut the price to a hundred dollars! Subtracting the value of the included ink that means the hardware is now only sixty dollars. At that price if the print head clogs I will throw it away. But I like this printer so much I may buy more of them. It is an incredible value at its new low price. First compared to Canons at twice the price it is `rugged''. The paper tray folds up when not in use, which serves a very practical purpose. It helps keep the dust out of the printer and dust is one of the causes of print head clogging. If you remember to ALWAYS turn this printer of using the left switch (GREEN LIGHT) and keep the tray closed you should not have many print head clogging problems. So far I haven''t had any problems.
Some try to get away with as few as three colors in their photo printers but the Epson 820 uses six colors and your eye can immediately see the difference. The Epson 820 produces prints like those from photo labs on high quality photo paper. The Epson 820 ink is rated to be light fast for 25 years, which is, long enough for me. My HP 1120C produces colors which start to fade within months if not days.
Now look at the cost of owning the Epson. One significant feature of the HP was it had a print preview in the printer driver. I could enable it to check exactly what would be printed so I could avoid wasting expensive ink. Darn if the Epson 820 doesn''t have the same the feature although implemented slightly differently. In some ways I like the Epson printer drivers better as there are so many options which enable me to get exactly what I want. Some people may be turned off by so many options but they don''t have to use them. Their prints will simply be more expensive than mine will be or of a slightly lesser quality compared to what the printer could have produced. The features are there if users would learn to use them, which is better than not having them at all.
I ran into a Canon salesman at MicroCenter when I bought the Epson 820. I told him he had five minutes to convince me the Canon 750 was a better value. His biggest claim was look at how you could replace each Canon cartridge individually, as not all colors would run out at the same time. Ok that is a nice feature but in real life the colors run out pretty close to each other. That means that if I replace one color I may find out that in the next picture I print I have run out of two more etc. I like being able to just swap out the empty set and be done with it. Five Canon color inks run about sixty dollars. You can buy three Epson 820 five color carts for that price and the ink will be fresher with less chance the pigments have separated from the binder. You don''t want to store ink to far into the future from its date of manufacture just like you would not want to buy paint for your house and keep it for years before you used it.
I have also noticed that there now are continuous ink feed systems and alternate sources of replacement cartridges for the 820 on the Internet but I am not too excited about them since I am not printing that many photos on a weekly basis. I would have guessed that such products would not exist because of the chip in each Epson cartridge that monitors ink flow and declare the cartridge to be empty when ink is low.
One application my brother in law has is to carry an ink jet with him in his truck to immediately print reports and photos he takes when inspecting houses. By buying a simple voltage inverter and using a laptop to drive the printer he can achieve that goal with a better quality print output using the Epson 820. Again the 820 printer is cheap enough that if it gets damaged he can toss it.
One other detail to examine. One doesn''t want to get a printer that will be orphaned since so little supplies are bought by the public it is uneconomical to carry them. Amazon rates the sales for each product. Look at how the Epson 820 rates compared to any other printer.
What are the cons to the Epson 820?
It is slower than the high end Canons in making a photo but it is hundreds of dollars cheaper.
It is nosier than my HP as it moves the paper back and forth but that is a photo it is working with and it doesn''t really bother me.
It has a non-replaceable print head compared to including the print head in each new cartridge like the HP does. This means it will eventually wear out. At sixty dollars net cost of hardware who cares? I don''t!
Do you? Epson will probably have another hundred dollar, six color photo printer with improved technology when I need to replace the print head in five years or 16,000 prints.
Read Best Reviews of Epson Stylus Photo 820 Inkjet Printer Here
I started with an HP 882C last year thinking that I had a printer that could print "photo quality." Unfortunately, it didn''t. After a year of dissappointment, I talked to my photographer brother after seeing some prints that I''d assumed had come from his office. Not so! He had used an Epson printer.I didn''t want to buy one at first, because of all of the $$ I''d likely spend making prints. Well, it hasn''t been so bad. Unlike the other review here, I think that the cartridges are reasonable (compared to the HP that I had) and the paper is reasonable for the quality.
With other brands, paying more means better quality images. However, with Epson, paying more means faster printing speeds. This printer is basically at the bottom of the Epson line, with great quality, especially with the best papers. The black and white is crisp and clean.
Get ready though, because the prining is SLOW! That goes for color, photo, B&W print, all of it! Anything that''s not draft quality is slow, slow, slow!
If you are getting ready to make a purchase, check to see how much money you have, then compare to how much time you have. I have left the printer to print out a two page resume, 25 copies, for a total of 50 pages. It''s been quite a while...longer than an hour! That''s the only reason it doesn''t get 5 stars.
However, if you have other things to do, and a negative scanner or a high quality digital camera, this could be just the thing for you. Made plenty of Christmas presents this year!
Guy
Want Epson Stylus Photo 820 Inkjet Printer Discount?
I''m a commercial photographer, owning an Epson 1270 and the newer Epson 1280. Both printers are amazing, but expensive. I bought the Epson 820 for home use since it has the same specs as the 1280, just doesn''t print large output.Straight out of the box, my printer was defective. The print head cleaning cycle indicated white lines. Contacted Epson and determined it was defective. The offered to send out a new unit. When it was returned, I found out it was a refurbished unit! Their policy is to replace your new printer with refurbished units. I find this extremelly irritating.
I did write a review such as this and Amazon has deleted it...I find that interesting. Much to the credit of Amazon, they picked up the slack and sent out a "new" unit. That''s why I shop at Amazon, amazing customer service. Unfortunately, the "new" unit is better, but exhibits the same problems. Epson has requested that I return the unit and try one more printer before requesting a refund.
I think Epson has really dropped the ball on this printer and I''ve had a very bad experience with their "policies". Amazon is the best and I wouldn''t hesitate to buy from them, at least they deliver on customer satisfaction.
Buyer Beware!
The print drivers were installed and re-installed, the device manager was checked for the printer and usb both were working properly. Everything other than the 820 printer was disconnected from the double usb connection on the back of the computer. The print spooler was changed from going into the hard drive to directly to the printer. All active programs were shut down except for explorer, systray and the existing print job. Ram was checked and was showing 76% available. A new 10 foot usb cable with gold tips was used all to no avail, the problem could not be solved.
When it was working properly, I found the printer to be above average in speed using a usb connection, about 3 minutes a print for 5X7 at 1440, with a parallel connection it took 11 minutes (very, very slow with parallel). If I had to use this machine with a parallel connection, I would consider another printer.
Print copy was superb, ink usage is awful, I used a whole color cartridge trying to sort out my problem to see if it was the printer or a conflict (it is the printer). I would estimate about 20-25 prints per color cartridge using 5X7 at 1440 (you do the math on cost) about 3 times more than my old 600.
I will get another 820 and see what happens, I am more than impressed with the quality of print on this machine both photo and text. I gave it a 4 rating only because of the problem and the fact that epson tech has no 1-800 number. Just for the quality alone it deserves a 4 rating.
When I get the next 820, if I have no problems and I get the same quality of print, then my only complaint would be the ink usage and cost and now in 2002 I guess you can''t get anything half decent without paying for it.
Because I have a problem at the present time I would not let this deter anyone from buying one, the chances are probably remote you would get one with the same problem I am having. I only mention this in print to see if any other owners do have the same problem and if they do then it would be good for readers to be made aware.
If you want extremely good photographic print quality, then this is the machine to buy. Remember you can always take it back if you have a problem. Epson will stand behind their product.
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