I work in a public relations office that is involved with advertising, marketing, brochure production, web page design, proposal writing as well as classical public relations with an emphasis on media relations. We use many different printers in different phases of the work that we do. The 1200 gives high quality output (but still inferior to the dye sublimation quality of the Alps MD-5000 (see my review)) and can generate large poster size prints.
For final delivery to the customer, we use the 1200 only for larger output and for output that is decidedly temporary. This can be overcome by using Lysonic or MIS inks which claim to last up to 75 years.
THE ADVANTAGES of the EPSON COLOR STYLUS 1200 ARE:
-The 1200 comes with a software suite that includes utilities such as alignment and printer maintenance, Adobe PhotoShop 5.0 LE.
-Ink cartridge level warning
-Adjustable for paper thickness eliminates undesirable problems that can often occur with thicker papers. Accepts film, ink jet paper, photo paper
- Six-color cartridge
-13 x 19 Paper size. Can print up to 44" long (you'll need a special banner paper) (actually infinite printing length with a trick)
-1440 by 720 dpi
-Varied paper use: Plain, bond, glossy, transparencies, envelops or labels
-Clear, bright, and sharp prints
-fast drying inks
-Input tray holds paper from 4-by-6-inch card stock up to one hundred 13 by 18 inch sheets. (Will handle envelopes (up to 10) also)
-Connections: Centronics parallel, USB, and 8-pin mini-din (prints directly from the Epson PhotoPC 750Z digital camera).
-1 year warranty (extendable)
THE SHORTCOMINGS of the EPSON COLOR STYLUS 1200 ARE:
-Bulky, very large footprint. With trays, it's a monster.
-some brown tones may print with a greenish over-hue
-Beware of ink cartridge drying out. It can kill your head
-small fonts may print fuzzy, blurred or be out of focus
-cheap, cheesy feel.
TIPS:
-Experiment until you get a feel for the relationship between scanning input and printing output. It may be best to scan your image at a lower dpi than that which you print out. Resolution set too high may actually lower the quality.
-If you plan to use your Epson with a Mac or with a USB cable/card on a PC, be sure to pick up an extra USB cable, if needed while you're at the store or from your order source if over the net. The printer does not come with a USB cable.
-Take the extended warranty. Its a good buy.
-Always use a dust cover when your printer is not in use. A custom 1200 dust cover is available from Epson for $15.95, #DPE110.
With any printer on the market today, you must choose between quality and speed. Expect about 35 to 55 seconds per page output on high-quality. Is quality output worth the wait to you? What are your (or your customer's) needs?
You can produce output on Epson 1200 the equal of a first class photo lab, but it won't last with inkjet output. The 1200 is probably not a good printer for the average home or small office user (unless you are in a business that demands it). This is especially true if you want to produce permanent photographs.
The Epson 1200 uses both a black and a six-color cartridge.. It costs about 91 cents per page (not the 29 cents claimed) to print a 8 ˝ by 11 color page at 720 dpi resolution; and about 14 cents (not the 6.1 cents claimed) per page to print a page of text. This does not mean that you should not use the claimed figures for evaluation against competitive printers. They all lie, or pc-ingly, enhance the truth.
Final thought: all ink jet output is inferior to dye sublimation output. If quality and durable product is your goal, definitely go with the dye sublimation enhanced Alps MD-5000 available for under $480. Remember top quality in office and home printing is slow (make that sloooooooowww) and expensive per unit.
If you want volume at great quality and low price, you will still have to go to your local print shop.
COMPARATIVE PRICES:
Buy.com $386.00 plus s&h
eCost $386.99 plus handling
Onvia $418.98 delivered
ACCESORIES & SUPPLIES:
The T001011 color cartridge lists for $27.
The S020187 black cartridge list for $23.99
20 sheets of 13" by 19" glossy photo quality paper (S041133) lists at $39.60.
C811062 Roll paper holder to allow use of banner paper list at $39.
S041233 13" by 10 meter roll of photo paper is $36.
Be sure to check both cnet.com and pricewatch.com for the latest price offers.
The Stylus Photo 1200 is a high quality A3+ printer ideal as a dedicated Photo Printer or for the everyday over size printing requirements of photogra...More at eBay
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