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Epson P800 any first impressions?

atanabe

Member
The printer head on my Epson 3800 has decided to stop working, so time for a new printer. Anyone have thoughts or impressions on the new P800?

Thanks in advance

-Al
 

kdphotography

Well-known member
It seems to be well-received---there is some talk over in the printer forum over on LL. Some review links are there. $200 rebate right now.
 
It's just a modest upgrade, and is the natural thing to buy if your 3800 has died and you don't want anything larger.

The loading arrangement for fine-art papers is a nuisance, and I don't see why it had to be designed that way.

The Epson user interface is perverse – but you're used to it, so that's nothing new. I'd been using a wider-format Canon that was less clumsy in both loading and interface.

The print quality isn't much different from 3880. P800 claims deeper blacks on matte papers, compared to previous Epsons. But we've measured them and they're not deeper than Canon. Resolution is considerably better than middle-aged Canon, though.

The image quality, which is really all that matters, is quite good.

Take advantage of current rebate?

Kirk
 

atanabe

Member
Thanks for the information Ken and Kirk! The $200 rebate is nice, it brings the price to the sub $1K line. I have had bad experiences with the Canon dyes fading very quickly (back in early 2000's) and have since been with Epson through multiple ups and downs. But one thing is certain with Epson is their service when I have had issues under warranty, a replacement printer was at my doorstep the next day and at no cost to ship to and from. I don't print with fine art paper so the front load issues that all the negative reviews have mentioned should not be an issue.

Thanks again!
 

Pradeep

Member
I bought a P800 last month when my old 3880 had stopped printing either PK or MK. I did the best I could to try and fix it but it just did not work and after throwing $200 down the drain in wasted ink on cleaning, I decided to quit.

The good thing about buying a new printer is that you get a full set of ink carts, which in itself is a $500 value. You do lose about a third of that in priming the lines but there is still enough left over.

The printer is a bit easier to set up and has a better interface, allowing you to set various parameters. All the newer bits are covered in the reviews.

From a user's perspective, it does print beautifully, I just did a batch of 13X19 on Moab Slickrock Silver (which, IMHO is the best metallic paper around) and they are superb. I can't say if the overall quality is better than the 3880, the print speed does seem faster - no formal testing though.

I agree, fine-art prints are a pain to feed through, sometimes it does take several tries, but I don't do them that often. The regular tray and paper-feeding path is improved, because in my old 3880 if I placed more than 2-3 large size papers of heavy stock, it would not feed, with the new one, I can put 10-15 heavy, large papers and there is no problem.

My favorite papers for the P800 are:

Moab Slickrock Silver for high gloss, high micro-contrast images
Canson Infinity Baryta or Ilford Galerie Gold silk - they are both identical papers but the Ilford profile is better. Canson's profile is too yellow. Fortunately you can apply the Ilford one for Canson paper and it works out great.

Epson Exhibition Fiber: Very nice too, but I think the Baryta is a bit brighter.

Still trying out others. Hahnemuhle Pearl works a bit better than it did on my 3880, but I think this is still a paper looking for the right printer.
 

DougDolde

Well-known member
Hard to believe they ship with "starter cartridges" 64ml instead of 80ml. Talk about Epson being cheap asses !
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
Any updates from owners of this printer. I really like that it can accept roll paper which previously required a Epson 4xxx series at least. I'm a little disappointed that there's not a cutting function though. Overall it seems like a great home printer.
 
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