Epson Stylus Photo 1280

Pros: Print Quality
Cons: USB interface does not work correctly

The Epson 1280 prints excellent photo quality prints when it works. Often when I tried to print I would get a "communication error." I tried different USB cables, ports, and reinstalling the drivers. I also e-mailed their customer support for help. I ...

Pros: Excellent printouts, speedy, quiet
Cons: Terrible problem with heads getting clogged REPEATEDLY. Try to find a more reliable alternative.

Outstanding photo printing, very quiet, and surprisingly fast prints for such high resolution.

However, even WITH the expensive "official" Epson print cartridges, the print heads are CONSTANTLY getting clogged. When this...

Pros: nice prints, easy to set up
Cons: costly to run, printhead died 1 month after warranty

I purchased my 1280 about a year and a half ago. As a graphic designer, i was impressed with the prints from the epson 3000 at my office and the durability of this machine

when i got it home I found it easy to set up, and the prints quite...

Pros: Great print quality, reasonable price
Cons: The nozzles clog constantly

I loved this printer when I was occasionally printing photographic prints, but now that I am doing greater quantities, I hate it. The nozzles keep clogging and are time consuming to try to clear (with the utility that comes with the printer needs to be...

Pros: Beautiful prints, borderless, quiet
Cons: Doesn't come with a USB cable.

Epson has done it again. I just finished printing an 11x14 borderless picture taken with a low end digital camera. Just as good if not better than a photo lab picture. True borderless prints with no hassel, just click "no margins" in the setup area....

Pros: It prints nice reports.
Cons: It always prints with lines in it.

We bought this printer and it doesn't print very well. You can't get any nice pictures on it. Do Not Get It!

Pros: good photo print quality when nozzles are working, fast printer
Cons: clogged ink nozzles

The quality of the prints is good, but be prepared, as with other Epson printers for clogged heads and stripes in your photos.
In some printers the print heads are in the cartridge so a new cartridge means new heads, but in the Epson they are separate and inaccessible, so if the cleaning utility doesn't work (as it rarely does) you will continue to get stripes in your photos from the clogged ink nozzles.
In the Epson 740, I could solve the problem by taking out the cartridges and spraying water into the opening, letting it sit overnight, so by the next day it would usually dissolve the clots.
Why did I buy another Epson (1280)? Because it was a gift, otherwise I would have learned from my scrapped 740.
Unless Epson changes the means of cleaning the print heads, or unless you use the printer continually (don't let it sit for a couple of weeks without use), better to look at another brand of printer. Don't go on vacation, because when you get back your print heads will be clogged and you will have stripes in your photos along with the wasted glossy photo paper and wasted ink.

Pros: Quality, pricing is average, options for printing.
Cons: Ink cartridges should be larger. Size is a consideration of this unit.

I have several Epson printers, this being one of them I must say that Epson quality is outstanding. The only problem with a "Large Format" printer is that depending how much and what you print, the ink will be a comodity. The one thing that will fix this is a "Dye Sublimination Feed System" this is a direct ink feed system that you hook up to the printer itself.
The ink cartridges are not expensive though with several online ink suppliers ranging from $5.00 to $13.00 for each Black/Color.
All-in-all this printer is very good. The price is all over the place pending the merchant you choose, but you might want to check Ebay for both printer and even for the Dye-Sublimination system.

Pros: Photos are beautiful, nice to be able to do large format
Cons: Ink carts are too small and "absolutely cannot refill"

The photos are fine but very expensive to print.
A 13 x 19 photo printed on this machine works out to about $13.00 CNDN.
The rep who sold us the machine told us the carts were refillable and as it turns out they are not.
They have a chip embedded in the cart that prevents you from using a refilled cart.
So far the chip resetter that is used at the local refilling stores will not reset this new chip.
I wish I had read more reviews and then looked for another machine.

Pros: The best quality inkjet prints I was able to set Profiles that work great
Cons: Epson clearly ignored the Mac when they wrote drivers for this printer.

Just like all the others I was amazed at the print quality of this printer but I was angry that the ink was so expensive. One color cartridge causes problems if you use a lot of one color, say red at christmas time!
If you run out of one color the whole cartridge must be replaced. I also discovered that the best quality paper make the best prints.

Then I discovered the magic of Froogle at hte Google site.

Now I purchase generic ink for less than $3/cartridge.
For paper use Epson S041257 ,recently paid $5 for 50 sheets.

Pros: Good color.
Cons: Prints fade very quickly.

Read the fine print. All photos must go behind glass or some type of covering as not to fade. That is difficult for many 4x6 prints and therefore I have lost many to fading quite quickly. I live in a high humidity area and I believe that contributes to the fading. I printed an 11 x 14 which won first place in a local contest, put it on the side to frame at a later date but it faded in a couple of months and had to be reprinted. Now when I give people a photo I printed on the Epson 1280 I must tell them to cover it immediately or it will fade. Also, the cartridges plug up quite often if you don't use it at least 3 or 4 times per week.

Pros: None
Cons: Service Sucks

I bought this printer on-line through B&H photo in New York City
They shipped it just before Christmas. I went out of town for a week
I returned on day 8 and the printer never worked
Epson said B&H said call Epson.
There is NO service center in Manhattan
I have to take this brand new printer to UPS
Pay for them to box it up and pay for shipping round-trip
for a defective product out of the box

Pros: will keep you busy for hours.
Cons: see above

it will disable your OS!

the product drivers that come with the printer managed to completely disable my system (Windows xp home). my computer would just shut itself off without warning, restart, and turn off, on, off, on, repeatedly. all by itself! after lugging the machine to CompUSA a couple of times and getting angry at them for no reason (in hindsight...) i FINALLY confirmed it was the printer after i tried (like a fool to install it for the 3rd time). The Epson tech support fessed up to the problem, and suggested i get the latest drivers from their website. 'sorry the software we sold you completely f**cked you over!'

please, do not buy anything from Epson unless you enjoying executing a complete SYSTEM RECOVERY on your computer, which is what I am now doing... by-the-way, that means loosing all the files, programs, peripherals, etc. that you have ever installed on your computer. i hope you have it all backed up! enjoy!

Without a doubt, the best printer I have ever owned, I am thrilled with the quality of the print especially on Epson Paper.