Farba Research Product Review

Copyright 2001 Farba Research All Rights Reserved

Rebuttals may be sent to Rebuttals@FarbaResearch.com
This product review is strictly the opinion of the reviewer, who is not necessarily a Farba Research employee. 






 

    Product: 
  Epson Stylus Photo 870

 

    Category: 
  inkjet color printer

 

    Manufacturer: 
  Seiko Epson Corporation

 

    Vendor Website: 
  
       http://www.epson.com/   

 

    Rating: 
   superb quality prints; fast

 

    Reviewer: 
  E. Nicholas Cupery

 

    Review Date: 
  05 July 2001




 
 




Introduction

If you want to print photographs, this is the printer for you.  Read on.

 
 




Pros



 
 




Cons




Caveats



 
 




Discussion

This is a really great printer for photographs!  I use it to print photos of
industrial equipment, where fine detail is very important, and this printer
satisfies all my requirements and then some.  This printer also outputs 
great looking text, but I rarely use it for that because I also have a very
fine laser printer.  Thus, everything I discuss in this product review pertains
only to the printing of high quality (color) photographs on high quality 
papers.


Let me get the negative comments out of the way first.  Yes, I was a little bit
disappointed to note that the printer did not come with any cable.  However,
after I thought about it a bit, I realized that this is reasonable given that
the printer supports either parallel or USB (Universal Serial Bus) connection.
Thus, if it came with any cable at all, it would have to come with both
cables, which would waste one of them and therefore add unnecessarily to the 
cost. As for the six-color ink cartridge, it seems perfectly obvious to me that
the ideal situation of having six individual color cartridges would have to make
the printer a lot more expensive.  I am, however, just slightly peeved that I
cannot tell which colors have been used the most.  If I could, I'd expect to
get at least one more 8.5 x 11 print out of each cartridge, given that I often
have digital pictures that are predominently one color or another.


Let's talk a little bit more about this business of not knowing which colors
have been used the most.  This printer uses a new type of ink cartridge that
contains several microchips that supposedly know -- and remember -- how much
ink has been used.  The printer's software driver includes a graphic that shows
how much ink has been used, but it always shows the same level for each 
color -- the level of the color that has been used the most.  I cannot tell
if the microchips don't know the level of each color, or if the graphic 
simply fails to display the individual levels.  Epson says these
microchips in the ink cartridge allow the removal and reinsertion of the
cartridge (although some ink will get wasted recharging the nozzles afterwards).
However, I have no idea in the world why one would want to do this, given that
there are no other cartridges that could be used temporarily by this 
printer, and given that the nozzles would clog with dried ink after a short 
period of being left with no cartridge in place.  This is a mystery to me.  
However, this is a brand new printer (and ink) design as I write this, so we 
should consider the possibility that Epson is planning some other ink cartridges
for this printer.  Perhaps metallic inks?
  

  In any case, you can completely forget about ever finding out how much
of each color was left at the end of the cartridge's life.  When it became time
to replace my first color cartridge, I had visions of holding it up to a strong
light to see through it, but the cartridge (unlike earlier Epson cartridges) is
absolutely completely opaque.  I then briefly considered the idea of prying the
top off the thing, but a little bit of judicious poking around with a small
screwdriver quickly convinced me that these cartridges are designed to 
strongly resist disassembly (I suspect this is to discourage refilling them).
I'd say there is no way to open these cartridges without creating a monumental
mess.  Better to just buy 'em on sale and not think about it too hard. 


As for the caveats, I listed them for the benefit of those who are -- like I 
was -- buying an inkjet printer for the first time.  These caveats now seem
quite reasonable to me; it's just that I never considered them before.  Given
that this inkjet printing involves such extremely small drops of something that
has to dry so quickly, it's actually amazing to me that this works at all -- let
alone works so well!  The reason that the printer must be turned off only via
its own power switch, is so that it can have a final chance to clear its
nozzles.  Yes, honestly, I would consider this a (small) problem if this were my
only printer.  However, it's not a problem for me in particular, given that I
treat this as a "special occasion" printer, using my trusty laser printer
(which gets switched on and off via my one large power strip) as my default
printer.  You, however, may need to give this some thought.


The caveat about printing a small text file in black ink is something I have
learned the hard way (although it now seems reasonable to me).  It appears that
printing color photographs does not use enough black ink to keep the black ink
nozzles clear, even if you print color photographs at least once per month.
I noticed this after about eight months of ownership, when printing the test
pattern after a color cartridge change.  The black ink pattern had some missing
segments, and still does, but it is not noticeable on either color or all-black
output.  I now print a small (one page) text file on this printer about once
per month (from my word processor program), to keep the problem from getting
any worse.



Okay, enough with the slight negatives and caveats.  This is a superb device
that anyone should be proud to own!  It prints super quality photos quickly,
quietly, and inexpensively.  How fast?  About 2 minutes for an 8.5 by 11
inch (with a 1/2 inch border all around) full color print.  How quiet?  I 
would call it "whisper quiet".  How
inexpensive?  Less than $250 for the printer itself, and less than $2
for each 8.5 by 11 inch full-color print on either of two very high quality 
papers: "Premium Glossy Photo Paper" or "Matte Paper -- Heavyweight".  The
Premium Glossy is an extraordinarily heavy (68 lb) paper that is very shiny.
The Matte is not quite so heavy (44 lb), and has no shine at all.  Both papers
produce equal (superb) quality output.  (I prefer the matte finish, myself,
particularly for mounting under framed glass.)  This printer can also use
less expensive inkjet papers, as well as iron-on transfers for making custom
T-shirts.  Note that all of these materials, including the ink cartridges, are
readily available in computer stores, as well as from Epson's website (which
features free shipping for supplies and accessories).


This model 870 is the first in a new line of printers from Epson that uses
a new line of inks (and matching papers) that supposedly produce prints that
greatly outlast those from all other inkjets, and that last as long as 
conventional silver halide prints.  I have no way to prove these claims, but 
they do seem rather comforting to me. {grin} Note that the Epson website shows
the results of a study of print longevity by an independent outfit named
Wilhelm Imaging Research, Inc.  Short version: Epson 870 prints on premium 
glossy paper last almost as long (10 years) as conventional silver halide 
photos (14 years), and Epson 870 prints on the heavyweight matte paper last 
much longer (24 years) than conventional photos.  Note that these figures are 
the number of years before the print starts to fade perceptably.


One final note to cheer up the owners of previous models:  The prints from my
new Epson Stylus Photo 870 do not look any better than those from the 
Epson Stylus Photo 750 that I tried first.  Even though the 870 claims a minimum
ink droplet size of 4 picolitres, as opposed to 6 picolitres for the 750.  The
750 printed just as well, just as fast, and almost as quietly.  (It also 
looked a lot more stylish -- the 750 is a nifty dark charcoal gray, and
the 870 is the usual nasty computer off-white.)  The only real
reason to buy the 870 instead of the 750 is the print longevity claims.  (I have
asked Epson if they will be selling the new inks for the older printers, and
they said "no plans to do so".  Myself, I see no reason -- other than
marketing -- why they shouldn't, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen.)



 
 




Conclusion

This is a superb device.  It prints downright glorious
photographs, and it does it quickly, quietly, and inexpensively.

 
 






Copyright 2000  Farba Research  All Rights Reserved 








Rebuttals may be sent to 
Rebuttals@FarbaResearch.com