brad's Experience
Written: Mar 01 '03
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Pros: print results are very good for a $100 model. we use-it with our digital camera.
Cons: a seemingly unique "ink-drying" cartridge problem. please read about my experience.
The Bottom Line: Because of the problem with the design of the ink cartridges and the inclusive printer design, using this printer is a major inconvience. I would seek an alternative.
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| brad's Full Review: Epson Stylus Photo 820 Inkjet Printer |
Hello, pleased to be here to share my experience with the Epson Stylus Photo 820.
My family has two of these printers (exact same model). We’ve had them for about eight months and six months, respectively.
I’m disappointed with this Epson model; very disappointed is probably better put.
The problem with this printer is that so long as it is turned on, its ink cartridges dry up. In other words, you lose ink, if you leave the printer turned on. For me, this is a huge drawback. Other than this issue, however, the printer is great.
I switched to Epson inkjet printers in 1999, after several years using Hewlett-Packard inkjet printers. The key difference, as I’ve observed, between the competing brands, is the technology used. HP has its own inkjet technology, while Epson utilizes another. The difference has been glaring. My father needed a utility printer for one of his offices (he has his own business), and all he wanted is for it to print out simple spreadsheets. He wanted a low cost model. I bought the cheapest printer available at the time, an HP 640c model, and that was in October of 2002. At work, my employer has two HP models, a professional model and a low-end model. We use the professional model for printing, well, professional, color documents. In all cases, in which I have used HP’s inkjet printers, the problem with them is that the ink smears. Sure, if you wait three minutes, this issue isn’t a problem. But of course, we don’t have time to wait for ink to dry. We grab the documents just as soon as they pop out; that is, until we learned.
With Epson printers, this isn’t a problem. I have to give Epson this much, the quality of the printing is spectacular, as I’ve used low-end models as well as photo style models. In all cases, there isn’t a need to worry about ink smearing. You can grab the documents fresh out of the printer, handle them, and go forward.
I never had problems with Epson printers until this model (subject of review). Epson printers have notoriously been noisy; that should be noted. This model is no exception. Every Epson printer I’ve used has taken its time to warm up, and in the process, makes a lot of noise, and the noise is as evident while printing. That said, I’ve always overlooked the noise for the quality. It was a worthy trade off.
However, with this model, I found a problem that I’m not willing to deal with, so long as these printers live out their useful lives (probably not much longer, considering the cost of the cartridges). The problem, as I noted early on, is that of the ink cartridges while the printer is turned on. I hate this issue. It is not a fluke; I’ve experienced it with both printers. After the first encounter, I didn’t know what was wrong. I suspected a faulty printer. I phoned Epson and they confirmed the “issue” (not a “problem” in their eyes). They told me that this model will consume ink so long as the printer is actually turned on. I complained and told them that I would note this issue in future purchasing considerations.
Why not simply turn off the printer?
I can think of two important scenarios. First off, it is inconvenient to have to turn on the printer every time I want to print a color document (we have a monochrome laser for everything else). I’m used to every other inkjet printer I’ve used or owned – the printers could always sit idle and remain turned on, ready for immediate use. No need to reach over, or go over to the other side of the room, and turn it on. Not a huge problem, but an annoying inconvenience.
The other major problem with having the printer constantly turned off is that it is not available on the network. We have a local area network that spans several buildings; I would like to use the color printer, at times, to print documents or Web pages, from remote computers. I can’t, however, because the darn thing is turned off. We have a wireless LAN, with three computers that do not have their own printers. One advantage to having a LAN is sharing printers. Well, that’s impossible if the printer that is shared, is not powered. So, the only option we have is printing to our laser, which is monochrome (okay for most purposes, but of course, on occasion, I’d like to print off some color photos or color documents).
So, I’m writing off this printer, and I’ll probably move to another brand, next time I purchase an inkjet. HP is out; I can’t stand the smearing, so I suppose I’ll try Lexmark or Canon. From what I’ve read, Lexmark makes excellent printers, all around, and Canon has a fair market share in inkjets as well.
What about the other performance issues?
Hey, nothing to complain about. The reason I got this model in the first place is because it came free with an iMac I bought last summer (2002). The print quality was outstanding, so when my father needed a photo printer for his digital camera, I ordered the same model for him. Obviously, I hadn’t yet learned of the ink drying problem.
This printer prints at reasonable speeds, compared to most printers in its class. It certainly prints better than the $50-75 printers that are available (Epson C60 models or HP’s lowest-end inkjets). The Epson Photo 820 certainly prints faster than the HP 640c, which I bought only a few months ago (that was a $50 printer, however).
You can find this printer for $100.
I realize that at this point, this model is probably a bit outdated, as these companies relentlessly come out with newer models. The reason I’m writing this review is entirely about the technology of the brand. I want you to be aware of this ink drying problem, if you consider ANY Epson model. Do your research. While these companies crank out newer models, they generally hold true to the same technology for at least a year or so, usually more. Just because Epson has come out with multiple other models, it doesn’t mean they’re improved. A good analogy with this tactic is that of the classic “new and improved” dish washing agent, ketchup, pickles, or like products.
Since this model is unique because it is a “photo” printer, I should comment on its performance in printing photos.
Without doubt, it performs much better than low-end inkjets. I had a low-end Epson inkjet just before this model; it wasn’t a “photo” printer, and it produced grainy and pixilated photos most of the time. The same held true for my father’s low-end HP model.
So, it is proven that higher end inkjet printers are worth the added cost if you want to print photos. You’ll get better results; I guarantee it. Even the professional-class HP printer that we have at work, which is over a year old, prints very good photos and color documents, without the grainy, pixilated results. We have to wait a minute or so for the prints to dry, but the results are good.
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Just a bit more about the ink drying problem with this model, if you leave the printer turned on.
I guarantee, and this has happened to me about four times now between the two printers we have (of this model), that if you leave the printer powered on (with the light on), the cartridges will deteriorate, and it won’t take long. If a week goes by, and you print a photo, it is very likely that one of the colors will be missing, or at least, faded. This model uses two cartridges – one black and a color cartridge with five shades of color. More than likely, at least one of the colors will be faded, if you leave the printer on over time.
You can easily solve the problem by cleaning the print heads. This brings up another point – Epson’s printing software utilities. I’ve been very impressed with their software; it’s clearly superior to HP’s supporting software. The software utility always lets you know how much ink you have left, every time you print, and gives you a lot of details and options when printing. The cleaning utility is very straightforward; it’s easy to use and has always solved problems I’ve encountered.
If you’ve used inkjet printers a lot, you know that cleaning the print heads uses up a lot of ink – A LOT OF INK. As these cartridges are expensive to replace, even if you use them optimally, you can imagine how much you’re wasting if you have to clean them, simply because of the design of the printer (which is the case here).
I would avoid this model, and I would be skeptical about other Epson models, until they improve on this area. For me, it is ridiculous to have to keep my printer turned off, and unavailable on my network. It continues to frustrate me, and it probably won’t be long before these printers are replaced. I imagine that I won’t buy new cartridges for these printers more than a few times (have yet to replace them since we use the laser printer for most of our needs). It’s a good thing we have the laser printer, because my father prints a lot of spreadsheets and business documents in his main office (the remote office is where he needed the lowly inkjet – hundreds of feet away and not practical to print to the network laser).
That should do it. I hope this helps. FYI, our laser printer is a Samsung ML-1430. I’ve been absolutely thrilled with the performance of this printer, and I expect to review it shortly.
Yours, brad.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 100
Operating System: Windows and Macintosh
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Epinions.com ID:
brad
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Member: Brad Engelmann
Location: Helen Township, MN
Reviews written: 161
Trusted by: 94 members
About Me:
brad@engelmann.us (email address)
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