Rating: 
Summary: Skip this Printer and do your self a favor!
Review: DO NOT but this printer.....it ALWAYS needs to have the head cleaning utility used, and doing this, wastes all your ink! At 25+ a pop for ink, it is NOT worth it! You can NOT leave the printer off for a few days, without needing to run the nozzle cleaning util like 3 times, to print something decent!!WHAT A PIECE OF JUNK!! Do your self a favor, and stay clear of this printer!!
Rating: 
Summary: Buyer Beware!
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: clogs, clogs, clogs, clogging, drinks ink.
Review: Have used up all my ink running the thing through cleaning
cycles. No way to just clean the black cart- it goes through
both carts on a cycle- a huge waste of ink. Was clogged right
out of the box. I am sending this thing back to Epson
Rating: 
Summary: WOW!!! Best Epson ever. Inexpensive too!!
Review: I am amazed at the quality of printing and color of this printer. Always been an Epson fan and will never turn back. Not as slow as they review it. It only took it 5 1/2 mins to print an 8x10 full color reproduction of my artwork when it took me just about the same with the c80 with the difference that the colors on the 280 are extremely brilliant and it is just amazing the quality and detail that it can print at just 720dpi.
...Don't buy any other printer than this one if you want to reproduce art or pictures. One thing thought. It's not as good on regular paper because it's ink is too wet for regular paper and it kind of wrinkles it. Now, it does use a lil' too much ink. But who cares. ...At the end of it, it's all worth it. The people complaining about speed don't know much about speed vs. quality. Sure it is slower then the c80 or the 870. But it is way less expensive than both and way better quality than the c80. I know. I've had the c80 and I got my sister the 870.
BUY IT!!! You will not be disappointed. Trust me. It's better a lil' slower and better quality than faster and ...dull colors...
Rating: 
Summary: not as versatile as others
Review: I am a loyal epson user, however, this printer has got me frustrated. I have found that the pigment-based inks do not allow me to use the photo paper I had left over from my previous printer, no problem, but there are very few options for paper. The good side is that the printout is incredible. If you want to print lots of photos and mainly that, this is the printer for you. However, for regular home/office use I do not recommend it. The Epson C80 also appears to be a good printer but may have the same problem with the pigment-based ink.
Rating:
Summary: inka-drinka
Review: Consider this: printing at 720 dpi, on Epson photo-quality paper, I am only able to print about 30 pages (with one 4x5 image per page) per color cartridge. That means it costs over a dollar a page for the color ink alone! Beware. But they sure do look nice.
Rating:
Summary: my most cantankerous printer ever
Review: I've got to ditto the other reviewers who had communication problems and inconsistencies. Some of the prints were gorgeous, and some of them had completely dropped colors. Sometimes it would not print text, unless I had just run the nozzle cleaner utility, and then not again ten minutes later. A brand new cartridge did the same thing. Sometimes, as others have noted, it stops halfway through and ejects the paper. I haven't got to the point of gauging the ink usage...it's going back!
Rating: 
Summary: Trying to print a page after installation
Review: 1. I have Windows95. Installation was not difficult, but I could not get the page printed (including Test page). I kept getting the message that my printer connection (parellel) was not linked. No success after several attempts in plug in and out. The reference video in the program gave no direction.
By following the Test page HELP message, the answer came at the very last screen! Get to the Properties of the Printer, select Details, click on Spool setting (in the lower part of the screen), change the setting to "Print direct to Printer." 2. When you do not print in color, be sure to select Black by clicking on File/Print (do not click on the Printer icon). It seems the printer returns to Color by default. I used a lot of color ink when I was having problem in item 1. Hope this would help someone. Having problems settled, I like the printer, and it is not slow.
Rating:
Summary: Just an average printer
Review: I had some problems with image transfer between the PC (I'm using win 2000) and the 820. Sometimes I would get communication errors. Sometimes the picture would print half way and then stop. Also, photo quality was excellent at times and very poor at others. I tried to lock onto a batch of settings which would perform well with my sony DSC-S75 pics but once I thought I had the secret settings down I would receive a picture that just looked awful. What I'm trying to say is that the settings were truly hard to dial in. Maybe you guys will have better luck. I say give it a go. But as an engineer who does trouble shooting for a living, I felt as if the work day hadn't ended once I got home and played with my new toy. I think I'm going to give the Canon S630 or S800 a try. Later.
Rating:
Summary: Epson Stylus Photo 820 Review
Review: I have had problems with this printer and after two full days of trying to correct the problem it is going to be returned. I am using it with Windows 98 SE. I can only print 1-3 pictures at 5X7 using a usb connection when all of a sudden it will stop printing part way through the print and it freezes my computer. Epson Tech was of no help, furthermore expect to be on hold for about 15 minutes. My call was about 45 minutes in length and you have to pay for it, at daytime rates (no 1-800 number). 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.
| 
