Rating: 
Summary: Epson has done it with this one.
Review: After reading all the reviews (from Amazon owners, as well as other sites) I was not surprised I would be very pleased. My initial struggle was choosing between the 890 and the 1280 Stylus. The side-by-side specifications looked 98% similar: same ink formula, same inkjet head technology, same software, both borderless prints, etc, etc. OK, OK, but you know, human DNA is about 98% similar to mice DNA. Hmm, I better call Epson to get the real scoop. Bottom line: The 1280 is no better at printing an 8x10 (or smaller) than the 890. Unless you print wide format often, the 890 is probably the better value. Anyways, if I want poster size prints, I can always bring my scanned film to my local lab. The technology is here for you to make better prints than a local shop, so there's no reason to wait any longer. If you love taking photographs and always wanted to "develop" your own prints, the output from this printer is pure eye candy!
Rating:
Summary: I love it!
Review: Bought my 890 back in June and have had great results! It was really easy to set up with my Mac G4 and comes with some great software (Epsons Film Factory). I have had loads of fun taking pictures with my digital camera and then printing them off right after. Talk about instant gratification! I decided to make the switch to digital because I was sick and tired of all the crappy photo's I took with my regular 35mm camera. Even though they were crappy, I still paid for them with traditional photo developing. Now with my 890 I can print only the pictures that turn out, thus saving lots of cash (yes I factored in the cost of ink and paper). The best part is, and this is no lie, you can't tell the diffence from a traditionally developed picture. At least I can't, but I am not a proffesional. I love this printer and would highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Epson stylus photo 890 a must for home photo lab
Review: Brought this back in May at Amazon for [$] including shipping, this is the best deal for this type of quality. Much more quiet than the stylus photo 700 which I owned. I used Espon glossy photo paper, not the premium glossy, but just the glossy photo papers. The outcome is amazing, and once in a while I use the borderless printing option, and the picture is undistinguishable from a normal picture from the photo lab. Yet, all these wonderful prints are done at 720x1440, I didn't even use the 2880 dpi resolution yet. The color ink last about 18 prints of 8x10. At [$] each, it is actually very cheap compared to others. I tried to use 720x720 dpi on 4x6inch photo, and it looked like a professional processed photograph. So if you plan on print 4x6 size, then your color ink will last much much longer.
Rating: 
Summary: Things You Should Know...
Review: Epson has done some fairly naughty things in this bit of hardware that buyers should be aware of before buying. When the expensive color cartridge is out of any of it's colors the enitre printer ceases to function. Unlike most inkjet printers you can NOT continue to print black output from the full black ink cart. The software disables the whole machine until you feed it another (expensive) color cart. This typifies the business model of selling the hardware (printer) at cost to drive sales of the very lucrative refill market. The carts also are very prone to becoming fouled and require frequent cleaning, which uses ink and paper, to function correctly. If you do not use this critter daily you can expect to print several pages of garbage each time you do before cleaning is done. Particularly the black carts seen to gum up anytime the unit is left unused for a few days. Also, the drivers it comes with do not work right under Windows XP. You will need to get the updates from the Epson website. Those limits in mind it does priont beautiful photo quality, to the edge output. And it does so no more expensively than the solutions from HP and Lexmark. So the good reviews of what it does do here are on target. I am more than a bit annoyed by the 'driver blakmail' method of forcing a full color cart to print monchrome deocuments. (...)
Rating:
Summary: Great Printer
Review: Great color prints. Excellent color on the glossy photo paper and matte heavyweight paper. Never had any problems after 12 months of continuous use.
Rating: 
Summary: You only rent this printer...
Review: Here's the other side of all those Amazon reviews that start with "I just opened up the box, and the print quality is great!!" This machine slurps up ink. When the color cartridge runs out, the printer refuses to print anything (like that black & white page you really need right now) until you put in a new cartridge. I'm sure the Epson folks would tell you that the "right" approach would be to always keep extra ($$$) cartridges on hand. Of course, the alternative is to buy a different brand.
Rating: 
Summary: Epson Techinical Support
Review: I am sending the Epson Stylus Photo 890 back. I could not make it work, I called Techinical Support which is a toll call,the lady I talked to was very rude, did not know how to help, called her superviser, they told me to call my camera company to get help. It was obvious that it was the printer that was at fault as it would not follow settings. I was very dissappointed. dkuhlmann@huntel.net
Rating: 
Summary: Great printer, great price. If you use it.
Review: I compared the Epson printers against HP and decided on the Epson because of the perceived reliability problems of the HP. I've had my Photo 890 for about two months now (March 2002), and we are very happy with it. One thing you should understand: unlike the HP printers I've used, the Epson print head is NOT in the ink cartridge. So you do NOT replace the head every time you replace the ink. This is good because the ink costs a bit less money. The bad news is that if the print head goes bad (and there's at least 4 of them), you have a major repair ahead of you. The Epson drivers come with some great utilities for diagnosing print head problems, and there's even a tool to clear a "stuck pin". I had the opportunity to try that tool, and it worked absolutely as advertised. It printed a test page where I could see visibly the blue print head was fouled up. I ran the utility, and another test page, and it was fixed. Now, this process uses a lot of ink so you don't want to do it often. It would seem that if you use this printer a lot, like several times a day, you likely won't see print head problems. But I use mine only occasionally, so print head problems are more likely. I turn it off when I'm not using it. There is a wide varitey of paper available for this printer. Definitely try out the super premium photo paper and don't miss the matte finish too. The printer came with some Epson software for printing photos. It's GREAT! For the life of me, I cannot figure out how to make Photoshop print an image the way I expect. Now I don't have to, PhotoQuicker leads you through paper selection, basic corrections, and output styles such as index pages or wallets. I don't have much use for the roll film. There are photos hanging on my wall printed by the Epson. I recently printed wedding invitations that were "good enough" (Hint: it was not Epson brand paper so quality suffered). We have address labels and color business cards. As with any quality printer, the Epson 890 will blow through color ink quickly if you print in high quality. The black ink will last a long time under normal usage. It is a dependable printer with great photo printing capabilities. It's meant to be used, though!
Rating:
Summary: Very impressive
Review: I did a review after I first set it up and ran several photos through. Now I have run two sets of color cartridges and 2-1/2 rolls of 4" photo paper and several greetings cards through it and I am even more impressed. PRINT QUALITY EQUIVALENT TO SILVER HALIDE BUT LIFE MAY NOT: As I said in my earlier review a professional photo-evaluator, had recommended this printer to me, as its print quality looks almost like a silver halide print. One concern however, is storage. It is my understanding ink-jet prints though they may look equivalent to that of silver halide, do not have the life span. Only time will tell. EASY TO USE I make my living evaluating items for ease of use and this printer impressed me. One concern I had when I first realized you had to change some of the parts of the printer for 4" roll paper was ease of doing this, as it was placed up on a shelf and not easy for me to access. I was pleasantly surprised. PAPER LOADING THOUGH AT FIRST IS CONFUSING GOES TOGETHER NICE: The Epson printer has a two-piece assembly for the back paper-loading section. One part is made to accept two different assemblies. One for sheet paper, and the other for roll paper. Once you first install this piece, it goes in easy. Initially it was a little confusing from the instructions. However, since you have to change part of this to put in the paper roll, I had a chance to do this at least 10 times. I'm happy to say, loading the paper on the roll and dropping this into the back of the printer is easy to do. Given where I put my printer this could have been a nightmare. The printer once the roll paper is placed here and placed toward the back of the printer virtually self loads. The book does a nice job telling you how to setup the "film factory" software to maximize this usage as well. The 4" roll paper once done can be advanced to cut and then put back in loaded position or in position to remove from the printer. All it takes is one button push for each and the printer does the work. INK CHANGE MID-PRINTING: This was amazing. My ink ran out right in the middle of a large print run for photos on the 4" wide roll paper. I anticipated wasted paper or a need to prematurely change the ink. Luckily Epson thought this all out for me. Once the ink was exhausted the printing stopped and cued up the ink cartridge. It also gave me plenty of warning if I had no cartridge on hand. Each print I did, I was shown the status of the ink cartridges. When it ran out, it stopped nicely after a print and told me it could go no further. At that time I could advance the picture to cut if I wanted to and then requeue the paper. It offered me instructions (which I used) to change the cartridge and nicely showed me each step, including removing the strip that protects the contacts. Once the cartridge was changed it resumed the printing job. Ironically, once this happened when I could not attend to it, and it patiently waited for over 8 hours for me and then went like clockwork when done. EASE OF FINDING INK-JET CARTRIDGES AND EPSON PAPER Needless to say, once you get the printer, you will need to purchase replacement cartridges. I'm finding it easier to find the cartridges online. However, I'm sure speciality stores would have these cartridges, but they are not in grocery stores like some of the HPs and Canon's are. As far as the paper, I'm also not finding it as plentiful in the real world as online. Online is amazingly cheaper as well, even considering shipping. Key is buying enough at one time. FOR BEST QUALITY USE EPSON PAPER: It makes a major difference when you use Epson paper with this printer. If you want the best quality, this is what you should do. This is not saying other papers won't work, but the results may be unexpected. On one of the other competitor's paper, I tried, I got an iridescent 3D effect, when I tried it. Not good. P.S. This review was before I had used Kodak's One Touch to better Pictures. Please see my Kodak Paper review prior to making your buying decision. I was really impressed with what Kodak did. COMPARISON: I have owned a Lexmark, Brother and HP printers and have never been so impressed at the quality of the product as I have been with this printer. The external construction is solid, the initial use was seamless and its end product is exceptional. Nice job!
Rating:
Summary: Epson delivers again
Review: I had an Epson Stylus Color 400 that I put to hard use for over 5 years. Due to my now using digital photos in technical reports, I had to upgrade and looked to Epson again to provide a resonably priced, good color printer. I just got the printer hooked up with no problems and used the glossy paper to print out a digital photo. I am amazed by the quality of the finished photo. I know that my work will look great. I hope Epson continues to develop good mid-priced equipment.
| 
