Epson R800 Questions

[Steven Wandy]

I have always prefered HP printers (currently have the 7350) because in
addition to making great prints they were also better (atleast IMHO) for
everyday use.

I am replacing the 7350 (bad USB connection on the back of the printer the
primary reason) and considering the Epson R800.

How is this for everyday use as far as basic black printing - printing
letters, printouts from e-mails, etc.? I have always heard - never actually
checked it out myself though I do have one Epson (Stylus Photo 760?) - that
they were (a) slow printing black and (b) the black text was not a pure
black but a combination of the colored inks which caused the inks to run out
quicker. The HP's photo printers (atleast the 7350) has a black ink
cartridge that is used solely for text, etc.

Thanks for any imput

 

[dp]

The 800 has 2 black cartridges (gloss & matte) so I am pretty confident
that it doesn't mix the color inks for black text.

I haven't timed it, but the 800 is spec'd for 17 pages/minute draft
black text compared to 22 pages/minute for the fastest hp home models.
For both HP and the 800 the draft black appears as sharp as higher
quality modes, but is just a dark grey instead of bottomless black.

The vast majority of text printing I do is draft, so I couldn't say
which is faster for HQ text.

For what it's worth, the r800 holds all it's inks at once. With all the
HP's I've seen you swap one of the photo cartridges (color or grey) for
the black text cartridge when you switch between documents to photos.

 

[Steven Wandy]

Thanks for the information. I already have an R800 on order.