A must have for anyone needing decent color output
Written: Mar 20 '05
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Pros: Quiet, professional output, ease of use great savings consumables $, sturdy, features. Itsa Winner
Cons: Not all models have viewer U need to specify,I didn't buy sooner!
The Bottom Line: Very affordable in consumables, professional quality output, EZ to use, great features, quiet, sturdy & great overall.
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| fussylady's Full Review: Epson Stylus Photo R300 InkJet Printer |
THE BEST printer for color photo and plain paper output!
My family has a printing business, so naturally all the kids were taught the business. A finicky eye for detail, crisp color, hue, brightness, clarity, etc.
My father esp is picky, and bought a 300 olympus camera, and was taking the XD cards in to a local photo store to have his photos printed out at an eye popping rip-off price per visit.
Tired of this, he said; "Isnt there a printer that can do the job of a photo store to save money and time?"
I searched epinions and other review sites as well as the local stores for what i thought was a color photo printer that delivered the best output considering inkjet consumable cost,ease of use, features, resolution, quality and durability. Options includes the ability to print plain black-and-white text in addition to color on plain paper, have it basically "P.H.D" Push Here Dummy...after working a 10 hr day, who has the patience to read a manual 2-3 times and still be confused?
This printer covered all the basics. It prints professional photo quality on glossy photo paper, borderless or with a border and is very easy on the pocket as far as cost per printout.
In fact, Epson is known to be the best for the home office, personal or light-medium use business user that needs a decently-affordable machine with close to the cheapest per print v consumable ratio while boasting fantastic resolutions, and crisp, clear, brilliant print-outs.
This printer ranked as having close to the cheapest consumable per page cost.
It is worth the extra 30-40.00 more than the photo printer Epson touts in its' TV ads [The basic 4x6 photo printer for 100-130.00], worth more than the R-200 printer, and blows the competitors away, including any HP, lexmark or canon photo printer away.
To print out glossy photo quality borderless prints, you simply put your paper in, click on the appropriate paper, settings for photo, check the photo enhance option, and click print.
Compared to the cheaper C-42UX, this machine can barely be heard. It is downright quiet and appeasing to the ear for all the work it does and fabulous output in no time at all.
The finished product is just as good, if not better than a professional photo print lab can deliver. EVen better considering the fact that at home you can alter, add, modify and crop your own photos via photo editing software before printing out the finished product.
It took all of 2-3 seconds to get a 4x6 glossy photo print out that was borderless, crisp and exactly like the photo in the camera.
I was a little disappointed that Epson did not include photo editing software, but hey, that is the worst comment I have about this machine.
The r-300 does come with a viewer for viewing each print on your memory card, but you have to ensure it does come with it at the time of order. Unfortunately, my printer did not come with this viewer. I have to view each photo on the computer until i decide to buck up and spend 35.00 to purchase the viewer.
It is still worth it.
I purchased this machine at Staples, which runs frequent rebate offers on popular printers. I am sure other electronics retailers do as well. I like staples because they offer replacement or repair warranties you can buy at the time of purchase for most major appliances they sell, and the warranties I think are worth the 30-50.00 depending on price of the item you are buying, to protect your investment.
Also Staples offers a 110% price match guarantee, which of course other retailers do. I encourage everyone to take advantage of this handy little promotional offer.
If you shop around, your bound to find the item you want cheaper at another place, and Staples sales reps are always pleasantly willing to offer money back to keep up their end of the offer.
Online ordering brought this R-300 printer to my door next day, and not only did I get a 30.00 rebate, I also got a 35.00 price match refund to sweeten the deal.
How can you beat that?
Back to the R-300. did i mention with the viewer, you don't need to have the computer turned on to print out photos? that includes the Index, a handy tool when you want to see or create a record of what is on your memory card.
And it prints CD/DVD media with an included handy tray.
The printer has a neatly hidden compartment that is easily opened with one hand, to access a multitude of card readers. From SD to XD, it is pretty easy to figure out where your specific memory type slides into.
The printer also has a control panel that albeit is very basic, does the trick to work through the photos on your memory card to print either a specific range or individual photo out from the memory card...all without having the printer attached to a PC or a PC that is on.
The printouts are phenomal. I cannot emphasize this enough.
The menu to select certain parameters like paper type, border-free or bordered prints, output-paper size, enhanced or normal mode, etc. is all straight forward.
Additionally, the advanced tab offers many print specific options for professionals and print-savvy users alike.
I found i got professionally printed photos without using the advanced tab options. All I did was select Glossy Photo paper, The "BEST photo" option, 4x6 print, enhanced photo printing, borderless, and portrait or landscape mode.
Many users don't bother to tell the printer what type of paper they are using. I find this one of the main determining factors of print output.
As far as using Epson paper, I did notice a slight improvement over using HP paper in the printer. Probably because as Epson says, Their papers are specifically made to accomodate the technology in their ink systems.
I didn't believe this at first, but after comparing both paper types, now am a believer in this disclaimer.
Additionally, and most importantly, Don't try any other ink that geniune Epson INK. For the lousy 2-3.00 per ink cartridge you save up front, it will cost you quality output and/or the longevity of the printer in the long run. REfills, and generic ink just doesn't work in this machine, or any other major brand printer. It's tempting, but not worth a broken, unfixable printer in the long run.
Epson, or any other company, will not fix your printer if it is within the warranty period AND found to have used generic or refillable ink.
For a few dollars more, genuine ink cartridges will extend the life of your printer and ensure the best possible printouts for the life of your printer.
The ink cartridges for this machine, 6 individual tanks, are pretty cheap compared to other brand printers.
I've found for 4x6 "BEST PHOTO" prints, I needed to print out 10 photos, on glossy 4x6 photo paper on borderless setting to see the ink gauges move down a notch.
Epson's claims of consumables costs per page are pretty accurate I've found, and like i said earlier, Epson is one of the best consumable cost v overall cost ratio for the output, durability, and overall features of the printer out there.
I have another major branded photo printer that i bought first for myself 6 months ago, and sold it/practically gave it away when i saw the output quality of the R-300 printer. IT blew my former photo printer away.
DON't BE FOOLED by reviews and advertisements for another major brand of photo or color printers.....
For Quality, consumable cost per page, ease of use and best output on a variety of papers, Epson, in my opinion, is the BEST.
Everyone told me to buy another major brand.....they last longer, they have a print head unique to every inkjet cartridge minimizing clogged inkjet heads, blah blah blah.
Well, i still say Epson is better for professional quality printouts. Period.
MY last Epson lasted 4 1/2 years of everyday grueling use before it bit the dust.
I can honestly say i got my money's worth out of it, and it didn't have what the R-300 has.
The R-300 now features 6 individual colors, which is cheaper and more cost efficient for users in the long run. You can replace the specific color that runs out v a black and a color cartridge.
Each cartridge now has it's own ink head on it, reducing the chance of a clogged or cracked head.
Every change of an ink cartridge means a brand new head.
This means crisper printing and output, the same quality as day one.
It was very, VERY hard to differentiate between the professionally printed out photo and the photo we printed out on the R-300.
The settings are easy to do, simply, well laid out menus.
The R-300 can also print Printable CD's/DVD media. A CD/DVD tray comes with the printer.
The instructions looked a little difficult at first, but they were well written and basic. Following them step by step it became clear by the 3rd step just how simple it is to make a printed CD. Epson gives you 1 CD to print on, enough to either make you want to buy printable media, or decide to continue to use the label making program and paper you already invested in.
Nonetheless, if you resisted buying CD labelmaking software and labels, now's your chance to create superbly printed labels easily and quickly.\
Last, the CD that came with the printer contained drivers and software that will take you to the Epson.com website.
This was a little disappointing. I feel Epson could have included a lite version of photo editing software, even clipart. Oh well. If you have XP office SBE, or XP, clipart is contained on the CD, you can access the clipart via Microsoft Word, powerpoint, and even publisher. The Media version of XP has even more features for desktop publishing I understand.
There is also alot of free clipart on the microsoft.com website for you to download. Too bad The Epson CD didn't contain photoediting software or useful software.
In sum, this printer is quiet, quick and efficient enough to have a rightful place in any business or home and stand out in all aspects.
Again -At the time of purchase, be SURE to specify you want the model with the photo viewer attachment, and look for rebate offers on this printer and competitive pricing for this printer if you have internet access.
You won't be sorry!!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 145.00
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
fussylady
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Reviews written: 11
Trusted by: 0 members
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