Is Epson Stylus Photo 820 still a good choice?

[Carmen]

Hi,
Very soon I may be in a situation where I will have little or no
access to a photo lab (i.e. walmart, ritz camera, sam's club, etc) to
print my digital photos. So, I thought about do-it-yourself solutions
and found the Epson Stylus Photo 820 for $59.99 from Epson, free
shipping. So, I thought, "hey, why not just buy that, all the
newsgroups say that it makes photo-quality prints, indistinguishable
from the prints you would get back from your typical Walmart photo
lab." Is this true, that a 60 dollar printer can make true
photo-quality prints, or is the printer just some cheap piece of crap?

I am looking to get photo quality prints from a printer for under
$100. Is this even possible? Also, has another cheap printer come
along that would replace the Epson 820?

Thanks,

-Carmen

 

[Safetymom123]

It is a great photo printer. Just be sure when you shut it down to give a
nudge to the cartridges. For some reason they don't fully park and that
leads to head cleaning issues. I have one and never had a problem.

 

[Mikey]

The Epson 820 prints beautifully, you will be amazed what this inexpensive
printer will do on good glossy photo paper..glossy prints that are every bit
as good and virtually identical in appearance to the Wal-Mart prints your
used to.
The only thing to remember is to always use it and print something at least
once a week, or it may be prone to clogging, but as long as you use it
weekly, you shouldn't have any problems, I don't and I have had mine for a
while, long enough to use about 8 sets of ink cartridges , mostly printing
8.5X11 prints to frame and hang.

If you do get this printer, get the new driver from the website, it enables
a higher quality mode than the one that was on ( mine at least) CD.

 

[Rick]

Carmen;

I have read the other replies you have already received, and mine
follows exactly in line with the others.

The 820 is an excellent quality printer. It would be hard to beat the
print quality without spending 4x the money.

Unfortunately the heads have a serious clogging problem. I can't go
much more than 2 days without the heads clogging. Sometimes the
clogging can't be noticed when printing a photo, the problem is
visible only after printing a nozzle check pattern.

It seems that I have spent as much on ink cleaning the heads, as I
have on actual photos. ( well maybe closer to 33% ). If I wasn't using
bulk inks I would have gotten rid of this pig a long time ago. The
cost of bulk inks is the only thing that makes this "inexpensive"
printer affordable.

Although the print quality is excellent, the frustration of performing
a head cleaning everytime I wan't to print a quick photo is almost at
the point were I am going to take a sledge hammer to this thing. Even
performing the head cleaning is a pain, because after performing the
cleaning the test pattern still shows a clog. It is only after sitting
for an hour that the heads finally clear up.

If you wan't a good quality printout, and you intend on using it every
day (religiously), and you will be using bulk inks, then I would
highly recommend this printer.

For my requirements of printing a few photos on weekends, I have been
keeping my eye on the Cannon I850.

If you do a search of Google News you will find many examples of
people who discovered that "inexpensive" printers are not always less
costly.


Rick

Hi,
Very soon I may be in a situation where I will have little or no
access to a photo lab (i.e. walmart, ritz camera, sam's club, etc) to
print my digital photos. So, I thought about do-it-yourself solutions
and found the Epson Stylus Photo 820 for $59.99 from Epson, free
shipping. So, I thought, "hey, why not just buy that, all the
newsgroups say that it makes photo-quality prints, indistinguishable
from the prints you would get back from your typical Walmart photo
lab." Is this true, that a 60 dollar printer can make true
photo-quality prints, or is the printer just some cheap piece of crap?

I am looking to get photo quality prints from a printer for under
$100. Is this even possible? Also, has another cheap printer come
along that would replace the Epson 820?

Thanks,

-Carmen

To reply by email please remove the first R from
my return address

 

[hm]

Unfortunately the heads have a serious clogging problem. I can't go
much more than 2 days without the heads clogging. Sometimes the
clogging can't be noticed when printing a photo, the problem is
visible only after printing a nozzle check pattern.

I was deciding between a Canon and an Epson 830 (820 in US) and
finally went for the 830, I'm very very happy with the print quality
and I do not have any clogged proboles so far, I am through one color
cartridge though, it guzzles ink!!! But the results r really very very
good. I have gone three or four days without any printing and there is
not a hint of clogging.

You can look reviews by real users at amazon.com or epinions.com. I
have written a review of the printer myself and if ur interested,
here's the link:

http://www.epinions.com/content_108546461316

Whichever decision u choose, always base it on what u intend to DO
with the printer.

Good luck in ur search!

 

[Rick]

First, can anyone testify to this printer's black-and-white printing
capability? I read a few times that sometimes the printer can leave a
color cast to black-and-white prints if not set up properly. Any tips
for making really good black-and-white prints with the Epson 820 if I
choose to buy it?

Carmen;

The Epson 820's B&W photos are just as good as the color photos. I
personally believe ( as you have mentioned), that color casts are more
a problem with configuration than with printer design.

For example I use Adobe Photoshop to print my photos. Photoshop
supports ICM color profiles. I have a collection of ICM profiles
designed for different paper types in my Epson 820. I configure
Photoshop's "print space" to use one of these color profiles.
Photoshop then alters it's output to the printer to match the profile
loaded. If I were to use the wrong profile ( or switch to a different
brand of paper), the colors in the final photo would be incorrect.

Second, you say that your buying bulk inks is the only thing from
stopping you from throwing the printer out the window basically
I'm a little concerned, however, that buying the inexpensive 3rd party
inks will degrade the quality of the prints. Have you found a brand
of bulk inks that exactly matches the quality of the original
Epson-made inks?

I have purchased inks from http://www.islandinkjet.com/ I was able to
purchase a refill kit rated for 8 refills for only a few dollars more
than a single OEM color cartridge. The color match with the OEM inks
is identical, however I have no way to compare the longevity of the
prints.

Because the Epson uses a "chipped" cartridge, I use the software
available at http://www.ssclg.com/epsone.shtml to reset an empty
cartridge back to "full" status.

p.s. As I am really nervous about buying a printer without being able
to actually see the quality of the prints, it would really be handy to
have a sample 4 x 6 test print from the Epson 820. I would be willing
to pay someone to send me one or more 4x6 samples, e.g. one color, and
one black-and-white print. I can pay you a few bucks through Paypal.

Save your money!!! You will find the quality of the photos to be
excellent. I think by now the comments you have already received will
attest to this.

Once again the only bad thing about this printer is the head clogging.
Some people have mentioned that they can go a whole week without
clogging. As I mentioned before I cannot go more than 2 days, and the
clogging is not always apparent in the photo output. Sometimes it is
only visible in the nozzle test pattern. Perhaps that is why some
people can go a week without noticing the clogs, or perhaps they are
only using the printer for text or web pages were the clogging would
probably also go unnoticed.

In comparison I put my HP720 in the basement when I purchased the
Epson 820. It sat there for 8 months, with the cartridge installed,
until I needed it to print some banners. It worked flawlessly the
first time.

If you use this printer on a daily basis, you will not be able to beat
the quality unless you are willing to spend 4x the money. It also will
be quite affordable to operate when using bulk inks. It's ability to
print true borderless prints ( i.e. no need to rip off perforated
margins) for 4x6, 5x7,8x10 and 8.5x11 is also a feature rarely found
in a printer at this price.

Good luck

Rick

To reply by email please remove the first R from
my return address

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Not only can the 820 provide you with photo quality prints for less than
the cost of the first set of replacement ink cartridges, but it also can
wash your car and take your dog for a walk, (and even use the little
doggie dropping bags for him/her if your municipality requires them).

It can print up to 5760 x 720 dpi, do borderless prints, and share your
ice cream cone with you, like a good friend. It will even speak pig
latin around people who you don't want knowing what you are discussing
with it.

It comes with a full year warranty, just for fun, and its favorite color
is magenta. MacHome gave it 5 apples and MacWorld gave it four mice,
and a partridge in a pear tree.

It uses 6 colors, has 48 nozzles per color head, uses two cartridges, a
black and a 5 color, and the inks are dye based. The prints can last up
to 27 years on Epson Color Life paper, it takes about 54 seconds to
print a 4x6, and an 8x10 in under 2 minutes.

It has a USB and Parallel interface, and speaks a number of different
languages, including Klingon (it will even speak Klingon pig latin!),
I've been told.

It promises not to tell your mother about the naughty pictures you've
been taking with your "friends", and never drinks (well, only ink) and
drives.

Heck, its the best $59 a person could spend, other than maybe on beer.


Art

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Rick wrote:

I have purchased inks from http://www.islandinkjet.com/ I was able to
purchase a refill kit rated for 8 refills for only a few dollars more
than a single OEM color cartridge. The color match with the OEM inks
is identical, however I have no way to compare the longevity of the
prints.

Because the Epson uses a "chipped" cartridge, I use the software
available at http://www.ssclg.com/epsone.shtml to reset an empty
cartridge back to "full" status.


Once again the only bad thing about this printer is the head clogging.
Some people have mentioned that they can go a whole week without
clogging. As I mentioned before I cannot go more than 2 days, and the
clogging is not always apparent in the photo output. Sometimes it is
only visible in the nozzle test pattern. Perhaps that is why some
people can go a week without noticing the clogs, or perhaps they are
only using the printer for text or web pages were the clogging would
probably also go unnoticed.

In comparison I put my HP720 in the basement when I purchased the
Epson 820. It sat there for 8 months, with the cartridge installed,
until I needed it to print some banners. It worked flawlessly the
first time.

Is it possible the problem with the clogging is the 3rd party inks you
are using with the Epson?

Are the inks in the HP also from the same vendor as those in the Epson ?

Art

 

[Rick]

Is it possible the problem with the clogging is the 3rd party inks you
are using with the Epson?

Are the inks in the HP also from the same vendor as those in the Epson ?

Art

Hi Art;

In the past I always swore that I would never use 3rd party inks. I
always thought that nobody could produce ink as well as the people who
understood the construction of the original printer. So when I
purchased the Epson 820 I had no intention of ever using 3rd party
inks.

It was only after of year of trying to keep this thing operating that
I realized that I was only getting about 66% of the photos I could be
getting while the other 33% of the ink went into head cleanings. The
OEM cartridges were also fairly expensive compared to Cannon's using
the Think Tank ink system. I was at the point of cutting my losses by
trashing this printer, but when I realized I could get 8 ink refills
for almost the cost of a single OEM cartridge , I decided to make one
more investment in this printer.

Since that time the amount of clogging has not changed for the better
or the worst. The color accuracy is just as good as the OEMs. The big
difference is affordability. Remember, I only get the time to print my
photos 1-2X per week and the 3rd party inks make this printer
affordable to me. Imagine the benefits if you were a heavy user.


BTW, the inks in the HP720 were original OEM.
To reply by email please remove the first R from
my return address

 

[Daniel F Valot]

Is it possible the problem with the clogging is the 3rd party inks you
are using with the Epson?

I only use EPSON genuine ink cartridges and get head clogging on mine. (even
with the head manually pushed to the right). Head clogging is a real problem
with some of this printers.
But print quality is very good.

 

[hm]

Once again the only bad thing about this printer is the head clogging.

Some people have mentioned that they can go a whole week without
clogging. As I mentioned before I cannot go more than 2 days, and the
clogging is not always apparent in the photo output. Sometimes it is
only visible in the nozzle test pattern. Perhaps that is why some
people can go a week without noticing the clogs, or perhaps they are
only using the printer for text or web pages were the clogging would
probably also go unnoticed.

In comparison I put my HP720 in the basement when I purchased the
Epson 820. It sat there for 8 months, with the cartridge installed,
until I needed it to print some banners. It worked flawlessly the
first time.

just want to add to that...

i mentioned i can go four days (longest so far) with no head clogging
cos it's true, i have not had any (so far!) and I am printing photos
only with this printer. I print text on a laserjet.

I also do a nozzle check and this shows no clogging. a good idea is to
do a nozzle check every couple of days or so, the check tells u of
clogging and also gives the ink heads a run through. however, make
sure ur readyt o continue printing a photo or two as there is no point
turning it on and having a ink head cleaning cycle just to turn it off
again!!

Also, as I mentioned before, the Canon Think Tank printers do head
cleanings just as often (I had a BJC3000 with Think Tank). Not sure
about the new models but my cheapo Canon S100 does the head cleaning
jig frequently too.

All in all, the Epson guzzles ink (indisputable), and its dye-based
inks seem to last much longer than Canon's dye based inks. The photo I
printed on coated paper and left in the bright sunny room is still
good after more than three weeks. With my old Canon BJC3000 and S100
printouts, they would have started to fade in the same situation
(tried and true).

So, again, it all depends on what you intend to do and how picky you
are, if u don't mind your photos looking like high speed film photos
(a bit noisy), I guess the Canon i550 would be a better, affordable
bet. (just don't display your photos on a wall and expect it to look
the same after a month without special treatment/photo paper).

BTW I use genuine Epson ink also, I dare not take the risk of
compatibles, the hassle that may ensue is just NOT worth it.

I just wished Epson could come up with a better design that both
produces excellent photos but minus the dreaded ink head clogging
(cheaper inks are welcome).

 

[Arthur Entlich]

I think that "safetymom" has it right. Give the heads on the 820 a
little nudge to the right when shutting it down to help the head caps to
engage, and you might find the clogging problem solved or at least
reduced. I'm not excusing Epson, as this appears to be a design flaw,
but it may have a fairly easy if not somewhat annoying "fix",

Art

 

[Marguerite Smith]

This is my third Epson....an 820......and I have a yet to have a clogged
nozzle or anything else to complain about...and I have found that their tech
help is excellent.................

 

[Caroline]

This is a cheap printer which make very good prints, BUT although some are
very happy with it, a lot of users have head clogging problems or cartidge
air lock problems with it.
I have the Epson 810 (european equivallent to 820) and most of the cartridge
ink is used for head cleanings. So this produce very expansive prints.
This is my last Epson printer. Stay away from 810, 820,830 EPSON printers.
You can look for Cannon printers which are more expensive but produce
cheaper prints for equivallent quality.

Hear, hear! Exactly my experience...

Caroline



Caroline Picking, (e-mail address removed)
Milton Keynes, England.

 

[Sue Beale]

does any1 know anything about epson cx3200 or epson cx5200 printers, as i am
looking 2 buy a very good quality printer and cant decide which of these 2
go 4.
with the cx5200 the colour cartridges r separate and cost more but r
supposed 2 last longer than the 3 in 1, could this b true? answers will b
very much appreciated!

 

[Safetymom123]

3200 uses dye based inks, the 5200 uses pigmented inks. Dye will give a
brighter print but pigmented will last longer. It depends on what you are
printing which one to go with but the 5200 is a great all in one.

 

[Stick Stickus]

If you want to print photos, then Epson are the recognised masters as far as
printers go in this field. I use an 830u and find the quality is unrivalled!
It may use a little more ink than some but you cant have it both ways! If
you get your cartridges refilled at Cartridge World (01865 764454) then your
costs are reduced by at least 50%. So in this respect I save money but do
not lose the quality.
regards
Stick

This is a cheap printer which make very good prints, BUT although some are
very happy with it, a lot of users have head clogging problems or cartidge
air lock problems with it.
I have the Epson 810 (european equivallent to 820) and most of the cartridge
ink is used for head cleanings. So this produce very expansive prints.
This is my last Epson printer. Stay away from 810, 820,830 EPSON printers.
You can look for Cannon printers which are more expensive but produce
cheaper prints for equivallent quality.

Hear, hear! Exactly my experience...

Caroline



Caroline Picking, (e-mail address removed)
Milton Keynes, England.

 

[Bob Kos]

Safetymom123 wrote in message ...

It is a great photo printer. Just be sure when you shut it down to give a
nudge to the cartridges. For some reason they don't fully park and that
leads to head cleaning issues. I have one and never had a problem.

Great Advice. I just opened the lid on my new-to-me Epson 1280 and sure
enough the cartridges moved over about 1/8" to the fully parked position
with just a little 'nudge'.

Thanks....

 

[Mr 645]

The 820 delivers awesome out put and is pretty fast but cheaply made. See if
you can still find the Epson Photo 890 for under $100. Slightly slower and
much better built
http://www.jonlayephotography.com