The basics: Six-colors. 1440 DPI. 13 x 19 Paper size. 500 bucks. PC or Mac. The printer will take paper up to 13 x 19 in a number of different thicknesses from film to photo paper to plain old ink jet paper.
The print cartridges are not overly expensive and they seem to last a real long time. My OEM cartridges last a LONG time. You'll pay about 55-65 bucks for the two cartridges.
On the downside, the OEM Epson papers and inks are by no means archival. The estimated print life of an Epson paper/ink combo is only 2 to 3 years when displayed in an average room. This isn't good. Epson sacraficed longevity for print quality. There are tricks to make them last longer but the best way is to purchase different inks and papers.
There are a couple of different archival inks just coming out on the market for the 1200. You can choose between Lysonic and MIS inks, the MIS inks are supposed to last 75 years, thereby making them archival when printed on acid-free paper. Many online ink jet supply stores will have archival inks for the Epson line of printers. Archival inks will run you about 85 dollars. There are numerous archival papers available.
The quality of this machine is outstanding. The six color inks bring out detail that no other $500 printer can match. There are some tricks to getting the best results. I have found that the best way to get great detail is to actually scan the image at 400 DPI and print it at the 720 DPI printer setting. Too much resolution can actually hinder the quality. The OEM inks are fast drying and are nice and bright. Depending on your application, experimentation will be needed to get the best results.
The Epson also comes with software that handy little utilities such as the usual alignment and printer maintenance but it also has a nifty little gadget that tells you how much ink is left in the cartriges, which is nice if you don't like to have extra ink sitting around.
It does NOT come with a USB cable. I use the Epson on a Mac and had to make a return trip to the store for a USB cable.
With all it's trays extended it takes up a good deal of space and it will not fit on your desk, unless you have a huge desk. The Epson printmonitor software is nice.
The speed of the printer is good. Not fantastic but it's worth the wait when you see the print. Even close up many people need to use a printers loupe in order to see the dot in the print.
The printer also is adjustable for paper thickness, in order to avoid the dreaded "pizza-wheel" and "ink drag" effects that can happen with thicker papers.
It's cheap and the quality is outstanding. That's why I'm going to stick with Epson.
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
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2010 Shopping.com, Inc.