Epson Aculaser C1100

[D M Smith]

Hi,

I'm looking for a colour laser printer around the £250 mark which I
can use for producing leaflets and brochures and am considering the
Epson C1100 but I'm surprised that the types of paper it will handle
seem to be limited.

For instance in none of the specifications I have read for the C1100
has it said that it will handle glossy paper, unlike the HP 2600N
which I am also considering.

Will the C1100 accept glossy paper and which of these printers gives
better photo reproduction?

Networking capability is not an issue for me.

Many thanks

Duds

 

[me]

Hi,

I'm looking for a colour laser printer around the £250 mark which I
can use for producing leaflets and brochures and am considering the
Epson C1100 but I'm surprised that the types of paper it will handle
seem to be limited.

For instance in none of the specifications I have read for the C1100
has it said that it will handle glossy paper, unlike the HP 2600N
which I am also considering.

Will the C1100 accept glossy paper and which of these printers gives
better photo reproduction?

The colour lasers take different papers to the coated ones that inkjets
take. How many prints do you expect to be printing? If its many
thousands it may be worth looking at a more expensive machine.

 

[D M Smith]

The colour lasers take different papers to the coated ones that inkjets
take. How many prints do you expect to be printing? If its many
thousands it may be worth looking at a more expensive machine.

I'm looking to print no more than a couple of hundred sheets on an
occasional basis.

What I would like though is for the paper used for the brochures to
have a slightly better quality feel about them than normal paper.

Regards

Duds

 

[me]

I'm looking to print no more than a couple of hundred sheets on an
occasional basis.

I would guesstimate that the price point at which it becomes worthwhile
to look at more expensive printers (which generally have cheaper
consumables) would be about 1500 pages a month.

What I would like though is for the paper used for the brochures to
have a slightly better quality feel about them than normal paper.

The Xerox Colortech range maybe worth looking at, they do both matt and
glossy versions although some printers maybe a bit fussy when it comes
to the glossy version (my c. 7 year old Canon CLC doesn't like the
glossy but my 2-3 year old Xerox Phaser (solid ink) is quite happy with
it).

I _think_ the Epson shares the same print engine as the low end
Konica-Minolta machines (or at least they used to) and HP machines often
seem to use Canon engines. Nothing wrong with that, just if you are
looking at one, you might as well look at the machine its based on.
Having said that, apparently the Epson is now a Xerox engine!
(http://www.theprinterdatabase.com/profiles/by-id/6413/)

You may find www.theprinterdatabase.com worth looking at.

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Someone on this very newsgroup recently indicated he ruined another
brand of laser printer by using an HP glossy laser product. The paper
surface melted and transferred onto printer components.

Do not assume any specific laser printer can print on glossy paper.
Some may have fusers which run too hot to safely print to glossy laser
papers. Check the glossy paper product for it's temperature limitations
before melting and then check the laser printers you are considering to
see if the product is safe to use with another printer. Then test.

Art

 

[D M Smith]

I would guesstimate that the price point at which it becomes worthwhile
to look at more expensive printers (which generally have cheaper
consumables) would be about 1500 pages a month.


The Xerox Colortech range maybe worth looking at, they do both matt and
glossy versions although some printers maybe a bit fussy when it comes
to the glossy version (my c. 7 year old Canon CLC doesn't like the
glossy but my 2-3 year old Xerox Phaser (solid ink) is quite happy with
it).

I _think_ the Epson shares the same print engine as the low end
Konica-Minolta machines (or at least they used to) and HP machines often
seem to use Canon engines. Nothing wrong with that, just if you are
looking at one, you might as well look at the machine its based on.
Having said that, apparently the Epson is now a Xerox engine!
(http://www.theprinterdatabase.com/profiles/by-id/6413/)

You may find www.theprinterdatabase.com worth looking at.

Hi,

Thanks

for the info.

Studying www.theprinterdatabase.com is what made me choose the c1100.
Every review I've found so far has recommended it.

Regards

Duds

 

[D M Smith]

Thanks for the warning.

I'll have to look into this more closely.

regards

Duds

 

[Yianni]

Just notice, Atrhur Entlich means the *specific* "photo glossy" papers
dedicated for inkjet printers. You can use any other "normal" glossy paper
for a laser printer, begining from the cheap velvet up to anything (except
the specific inkjet specially coated papers that also cost much -at least
0.4$ a A4 page-). I send this post for clearing the confusion, "glossy" is a
frequently used term for inkjet printer aspects, but it means "photo
glossy".
"Normal" glossy papers (like these used in brochures) could be used for
laser printers.

 

[Arthur Entlich]

No, NO.... please don't reinterpret what I wrote. I typed exactly what
I meant.

I am speaking of the high gloss coated papers that are made specifically
for laser (often color laser) printers, not inkjet specific papers.

There are some very high gloss papers made for laser printers which have
coating that can melt with high fuser temperatures. These papers are
glossy enough to see your reflection in them clearly. These papers are
one sided, and usually thicker than standard bond papers (like a photo
paper). They are not designed for, and will not work well with inkjet
printers.

I am not speaking of "clay coated" "glossy magazine" paper.

Art

 

[D M Smith]

Ok. I will obviously need to check the specifications very carefully

Thanks for the sdvice

Duds

 

[kolorwell]

Glossy paper is meaningless for laser printer because toner is dr
powder and always covers on the glossy paper surface. The story i
completely different with inkject

The melting temperature of EPSON toner is higher than the other brand
Be careful

The toner transfer from OPC drum to paper in C1100 is by belt. It doe
not use typical electrostatic filed (non-contact method). It is ver
difficulty to make sure different paper is possible to compatibl
with C1100.

My job is for photography printed by laser printer and had tes
successfully with EPSON C900/C1900/C3000/C4000/C4100. But, I give u
the investment on C1100

Not recommend HP 2600n for photographic printing! HP 2600n does no
offer PostScript printing language. HP 2550 is acceptable

 

[me]

Glossy paper is meaningless for laser printer because toner is dry
powder and always covers on the glossy paper surface. The story is
completely different with inkject.

Well it isn't, many laser printers apply a gloss finish as part of the
fusing process. The toner may cover the glossy surface, but it
generally doesn't cover the whole piece of paper, some lasers provide a
glossy finish, some (most) a matt finish. But using the different
papers does make a difference, or at least it does to my eyes.

 

[Grum]

I've always used Epson printers. I purchased a C1100 for my own business
printing labels. I'm not impressed. Please see the new thread above titled
C1100 doesn't print straight onto paper.

 

[Coup]

Hi,

I'm looking for a colour laser printer around the £250 mark which I
can use for producing leaflets and brochures and am considering the
Epson C1100 but I'm surprised that the types of paper it will handle
seem to be limited.

For instance in none of the specifications I have read for the C1100
has it said that it will handle glossy paper, unlike the HP 2600N
which I am also considering.

Will the C1100 accept glossy paper and which of these printers gives
better photo reproduction?

Networking capability is not an issue for me.

Many thanks

Duds

One big warning:

Here in the US the Epson C1100 is NOT available, I suspect because
DELL has an exclusive on the same engine which they sell as the cn3100
which I own. Now Dell may well have slightly different firmware, but I
suspect it's only minimally different from the Fuji-Xerox base
software... unless Epson has done some serious reworking of that
firmware... these printers are braindead in one very annoying respect:

If you want or need to change the paper size or settings for EITHER
paper source (MFT or Lower Drawer), you must not only change the
settings in the printer driver/ application, but YOU MUST ALSO CHANGE
THE SETTINGS ON THE PRINTER ITSELF USING THE BUTTONS AND DRILLING DOWN
THRU THE HARDWARE SETTINGS. Failure to do both just gets you endless
"Settings Mismatch" errors. Since Dell markets this printer as
"Network Ready", including an Ethernet port on it's base
configuration, it becomes a cruel joke for networking... and even if
your printer is sitting next to your computer... when was the last
time you had a printer that needed to be "double configured' like this
just to change a paper size ?

It is possible that Epson has developed their own firmware/drivers to
eliminate this braindead behavior, but I would confirm that by direct
observation before considering this unit.

BTW if anyone confirms that Epson has corrected this gross stupidity,
I'd like to explore how I might change my firmware/software since my
Dell is beyond it's warranty and Dell shows absolutely no interest in
updating these units or technical knowledge of this printer they are
rebadging....

 

[Arthur Entlich]

My experience is that each toner is different. Yes, in general since
toner is a pigment, it tends toward a matte or luster surface, but the
other components of laser toner are plastic and the fuser oil.
Depending upon the type of fuser roller used, if it uses fuser oil, how
hot it gets, and how much styrene plastic and the original surface of
the paper, you can get a mild gloss on a color laser printer. I don't
like the look myself, I prefer all matte, but that opinion differs
between people.

Art

 

[Arthur Entlich]

That does sound like a horrible error in the firmware, maybe that's why
it was rebranded to Dell ;-)

Could there be a preference in the software that gets around this "feature"?

Art

 

[measekite]

My experience is that each toner is different. Yes, in general since
toner is a pigment, it tends toward a matte or luster surface, but the
other components of laser toner are plastic and the fuser oil.
Depending upon the type of fuser roller used, if it uses fuser oil,
how hot it gets, and how much styrene plastic and the original surface
of the paper, you can get a mild gloss on a color laser printer. I
don't like the look myself, I prefer all matte, but that opinion
differs between people.

THIS SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD ARGUMENT TO USE THE OEM RECOMMENDED TONER.

 

[Coup]

That does sound like a horrible error in the firmware, maybe that's why
it was rebranded to Dell ;-)

Could there be a preference in the software that gets around this "feature"?

Art

If only Arthur. The fact that not a single reviewer noticed this tells
you something about the 'depth' of reviews these days. OTOH in their
user forums there are questions every week by some new owner who can't
believe this situation which they discover the first time they change
paper sizes...

Oh, it also mangles standard #10 envelopes with alarming regularity,
thank goodness I have a b&w laser for that task

What's even more frightening is calling Dell to ask ANY technical
question about this model... they know nothing... promise to 'get back
to you' and that's the last you hear...

This is why I'm curious if Epson actually shipped their version as
braindead...

 

[kolorwell]

Basically, toner embraces wax inside as fuser oil. The other approach
glossy is by laminating.

 

[Gary Tait]

THIS SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD ARGUMENT TO USE THE OEM RECOMMENDED TONER.

OR do your research and buy a compatible aftermarket toner.