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Epson Stylus Photo 890 Inkjet Printer

Epson Stylus Photo 890 Inkjet Printer

List Price: $199.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great printer
Review: I've had this printer for about a year, and have had no problems at all - no paper jamming, no clogged cartridges, and no software related problems. As far as using ink, if I print photos, I expect it to use ink - otherwise I'd get a blank sheet of paper. The quality and color of the photos I print is outstanding - friends and family can't tell if I printed them, or if I had them printed at a lab. On any printer, the paper used for photos makes all the difference in the world - so I use Epson's premium glossy photo paper, as well as their heavyweight matte paper - and the results are excellent. This is my second Epson printer - the first was a 640 - and when the time comes to upgrade, I'll definitely buy another Epson.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Photo Printer
Review: If your looking for a GREAT Photo Printer. This is it!
Using Epson Premium Gloss Paper, Photo's are near equal to
store kodak prints. There are few products today that are trutly
outstanding... This is one! And ink cartridges are a third of the price of HP.. If purchased on the Net.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Customer Support Stinks
Review: Its my findings that have led me to this review. If you should have the good fortune to get through you warranty period with your product> Then watch out, here is when the printer will cost you. If you have a question regarding your product from EPSON, it will cost you $9.95 a pop for a question. Even if it is only (HOW DO I CHANGE MY INK CARTRIDGE ). Their corporate guidelines mandate that they charge you ten bucks to answer that question. Or any question if your product is out of warranty.

For this I wish I had never bought my printer from them. Along with tiresome calibration sequences that the thing goes through every time that you turn the thing on, even if it was earlier the same day. My printer does not seem to user friendly, and I feel hassled every time that I go to use it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Awesome Color Photo Lab Opportunity!!! Apply Within!
Review: Let me start by saying that this printer is pretty phenomenal! I was a little spooked by a 7/31/2001 review which severely panned the product. However, I'm glad to say that the issues raised in that review did not surface within my experience.

Overall, This printer is awesome! It has decent speed and phenomenal output. The pictures I print have been consistently as good as or even better than the same pictures I get from the store (I've compared picture quality with others who've been with me & taking pictures of the same things I was with their traditional cameras on hikes, family outings, etc.).

The setup was a snap. The directions were clear and easy, and the setup routine was a menu-driven automated system. The printer comes without a cable (as is noted on the marketing literature), so I purchased a USB cable with it. Final installation was as simple as pulling off a few pieces of tape, installing two ink cartridges, and running the automated software.

In printing my first photos, I wasted no paper other than a sheet of plain white paper I used for testing. I utilized the Epson photo software that came with the printer to print my photos. That software is very easy to use, works with any graphics format (jpg. gif, etc.) and and provided stunning results! The only DISSAPPOINTMENT is that the software is only a 21 day trial, after which you must purchase it from Epson ... The other software Epson includes does not have this limitation.

With my purchase, I also purchased ... supplies (8 paper packs, 8 ink cartridges, 3 paper rolls - enough to produce several hundred prints!). The prices of these products were no more expensive than standard ink cartridges and paper products for other printers.

I've used both the photo paper and the roll paper to print pictures with. I actually prefer the roll because it prints with NO waste. The roll paper is a little tricky to install (the print head has some difficulty finding the paper after fresh loads), but a little patience goes a long way as once it's installed, your printing will be a breeze! I've printed 10 photos using regular glossy paper, and ~100 pictures using the roll and I have not experienced the "3 bad prints for every good one" that was written up earlier. I HAVE NOT HAD ONE BAD PRINT YET!

Text printing has been of high quality as well. I wouldn't call it laser printer quality (not quite as crisp). Nonetheless, it's fine for reports, memos, etc. You won't notice the differences until you REALLY look at it.

...you agree that the cost of traditional picture taking and development at a local photolab (24 exposures) is about $20 ($10 for film, $10 for development), and you also consider that you have maybe one or two pictures worth saving from any given roll, it doesn't take long to see how this printer will save you money if you're an avid photo shooter. The digital camera and this printer makes picture taking FUN for me and my family!

In short, if you're going into digital photography, and you've bought the digital camera, you're only half-way there. Finish what you've started and close the loop with a printer purchase. I recommend the Epson Stylus 890. you won't be disappointed.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Stunning
Review: My wife complained that I should have bought prints instead of the Minolta scanner and this printer. There were delays deciding on products, scanning 40 rolls of film, etc. But then, when the best pictures came out on the printer, cropped, adjusted, filtered for best results, she was converted! No more photolab prints! The pictures come out on glossy paper exactly as shown on print preview out of Photoshop. So far (a few months) they have not degraded. It is everything I wanted. With the bonus roll paper, it is now a better deal than with the sheet paper that is still sitting around.

Some negatives: We have used only 4 inch roll paper so far. You have to learn to load it in the holder before removing the cover paper, and the curl often interveres with getting it started. Also, be careful not to hit the middle button when loading as it will waste the roll if you leave it alone. Then you have to press out the curl after the prints are cured. In return you can get borderless prints if you set the minimum dimension to 4 inches.

The printer will continue printing after the ink is gone if you ignore the first message.

The print menu allows user defined paper sizes, but it does not tell you it recognizes only three. They seem to think all photos should be 4x6, but at least you can define other lengths (heights in portrait mode).

There are no alternative (cheaper) sources for the ink and premium glossy paper.

Software installation instructions are to avoid the standard Windows install. I assume that is why we have to reboot to switch between our default printer and the photo printer, both USB. Sometimes we have to reboot twice. This is annoying.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A Total disaster
Review: Photos printed by this printer have a serious problem. Ink becomes small color patches, similar to a very dry human skin or turtle back. The 4x6 inch photos were printed from digital files of 2700x1800 pixels, with PhotoShop 5.0 interface, and Kodak Premium Glossy, Satin Papers.

I have contacted Epson technical support, who first suggested a nozzel check and then printing of some simple colors. Without finding any problem with these two methods, he stated that Epson recommended customers to use Epson papers for best results. However, the problem I encountered was not an issue of good, better or best result. It was a defect. When I asked if this printer only worked with Epson papers, he avoided a direct answer, and repeated his original statement about best results. Later, he even shifted the blame to the PhotoShop software.

The printer did come with two pieces of Epson paper - glossy photo paper and heavyweight matte paper. I used these pieces of paper for black-and-white photo printing (with color mode. with b/w mode the resolution would be lower). No patch was found, although the photos looked slightly green. This greenish problem became even more serious when using Epson Photo Quality Inkject Papers.

In summary, my printer has the following problems:

1. The color images printed on Kodak Premium Photo Papers are totally unacceptable. If this model only accept Epson papers, then it does not worth $270 value. If this is a defect specific to my printer, then the explanation from the Epson technical support was unprofessional and unacceptable.

2. Black-and-white images printed on Epson photo paper and heavyweight matte paper were OK, although they did not seem to be much better than the same images printed by Epson 777. Since I have used the Epson papers for b/w white printing, I had no way to verified how my printer worked with color images using Epson paper.

3. Both b/w and color photos printed on Kodak Brochure Papers were so bad that they were unviewable.

All experiments were done with a correct selection of paper type on the printer interface.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: amazing printer well worth the money
Review: this is an amazing printer. i am able to print professional looking 8 x 10 for less than $.75 the printer is fast and does not jam.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great performer on more than photos!
Review: This is my third Epson printer, purchased in June, 2001, just before a trip to Italy where I planned to take lots of digital shots. The first Epson lasted me 4½ years, and the second one, a Stylus Color 800 (refurbished) is still going strong as my everyday "workhorse" for non-photo applications after 4 years. After poor HP experiences, I am absolutely sold on Epson.
When this printer is given Epson papers to work with, it produces the most stunning (and lightfast) photos imaginable. I've actually taken some of the same digital images to a local drugstore and printed on their Kodak machines, and BOY, are mine superior!
Well worth the price even though it has been superceded by faster models with individual ink tanks.
I've heard fairly often that this is an ink drinker, but that hasn't been my experience. As long as you set the proper settings in the printer options panel depending on the job, they'll last a reasonable length of time.
This one will keep me happy for a few more years, I trust.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great performer on more than photos!
Review: This is my third Epson printer, purchased in June, 2001, just before a trip to Italy where I planned to take lots of digital shots. The first Epson lasted me 4½ years, and the second one, a Stylus Color 800 (refurbished) is still going strong as my everyday "workhorse" for non-photo applications after 4 years. After poor HP experiences, I am absolutely sold on Epson.
When this printer is given Epson papers to work with, it produces the most stunning (and lightfast) photos imaginable. I've actually taken some of the same digital images to a local drugstore and printed on their Kodak machines, and BOY, are mine superior!
Well worth the price even though it has been superceded by faster models with individual ink tanks.
I've heard fairly often that this is an ink drinker, but that hasn't been my experience. As long as you set the proper settings in the printer options panel depending on the job, they'll last a reasonable length of time.
This one will keep me happy for a few more years, I trust.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Almost perfect, but read this first
Review: This is probably the bext printer available for the hobbyist who wants to print digitial photos at home. Overall print quality really is outstanding, with excellent color reproduction and good clarity, and it can be quite cost effective to boot.

The one weak spot is potential color changes that can be brought about by high levels of ozone. This was an issue with the predecessor to the 890 (the 870), and since the two share inkjet cartoridges it has not gone away. I have never experienced the problem, but it does seem to occur for some people. My experience says that this is still the bext printer, even if red colors do shift a little bit towards orange over time.

I prefer to print 4x5 photos, so I print on the 4x5 roll paper from Red River - its less than half the cost of Epson's paper and I like the results better. Print cartridge life is terrific with 4x5 prints, and obviously a good bit shorter with 8x10s. Print speed is fast, and I had no installation issues. It does take a few minutes to become familar with the print driver options, as there are a lot of choices.

I highly recommend this printer. In my experience with Canon and HP photo printers, this Epson photo printer is the best one for money.


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