gheller wrote:
Don't forget that you have to factor in to your cost test prints, replacing printers as they get old / obsolete ,etc.

If I don't like the print from Costco, bring it back, money back...try that with a home printer.

Said TIC, of course, but the home printers have no idea how good *my* Costco is.

Perhaps a bit sorry or jealous, or whatever.

greg




How did you guess........all along I have been jealous of Costco.......

papageno wrote:
If you don`t print much you will probably never really learn how to tweek things to get a excellent print from your printer anyway. There is as much of an art to making a good print as there is at taking a good picture .

Thank you so much for those encouraging, helpful thoughts. I take it I should hop on the nearest ice berg and push off.

No......I`m just saying that if you don`t want to print a lot and deal with these printers idiocies. Learn the art of print making.....be amazed at what these home printers can do. Do you realize that just 15 years ago a 100,000 + dollar printer could not match the quality of a 1,000 dollar Epson 3800 ? Your 400 dollar printer was capable of prints that are almost as good as that 100,000 dollar printer. And yes your printer was known to have clogging problems.........time to move up to a newer print . But this is why I said....look for a good print house.....there are many. It`s OK if you don`t want to mess with printing.......a few years ago some of us worked in dark rooms.....some sent their stuff out to be processed. It`s all OK.....but you can`t really blame the printer companies. Inkjet printing is still fairly new and evolving at light speed.....this does create the problem of the older printers having problems and newer printers being much better....but not perfect. This is just how evloving technology works.....you came play the game and get amazing results.....or you can go another way. If Epson was not producing better and better printers I would go along with you ......but they are. Every new printer of any of the big 3 I use I am amazed.....this has brought so much power to Photographer print maker............something you could never do before so easily at any price............Peter

How did you guess........all along I have been jealous of Costco.......




I guess that makes me jealous of marginally better prints for 8x the cost




Admission is the first step to recovery, so good on ya (if you agree, do a "thumbs up" below)

I agree that this is Epsons fault. That is right up until they make it clear they are not going to do one iota of anything to help with the problem anyhow. At that point it is up to the person with the problem printer to decide what if anything he can do about it. If Costco is not an option, that is real simple. Do not use them. If it were me and I am also on a limited budget, I would make my best attempt to either fix the problem myself or if I could not, then look for someone in the area that would give an estimated cost. I just bought a slightly used Epson 2000 P at a church bazaar sale today and when I got it home I discovered that the black appeared to be dried up. The colored cartridge seemed to be out of a color or two. Then I did a nozzle check and head cleaning once. After that I made my first real print and it looks really nice. I paid $5 for the printer. I see where back in 2000 it retailed at $899 . Heck , if I get 5 or 10 13 by 19's out of it after I get some paper, I will have proven there is hope for all of us on a budget. I wish you the best on that printer issue. I wish me the best also.

No......I`m just saying that if you don`t want to print a lot and deal with these printers idiocies. Learn the art of print making.....be amazed at what these home printers can do. Do you realize that just 15 years ago a 100,000 + dollar printer could not match the quality of a 1,000 dollar Epson 3800 ? Your 400 dollar printer was capable of prints that are almost as good as that 100,000 dollar printer. And yes your printer was known to have clogging problems.........time to move up to a newer print . But this is why I said....look for a good print house.....there are many. It`s OK if you don`t want to mess with printing.......a few years ago some of us worked in dark rooms.....some sent their stuff out to be processed. It`s all OK.....but you can`t really blame the printer companies. Inkjet printing is still fairly new and evolving at light speed.....this does create the problem of the older printers having problems and newer printers being much better....but not perfect. This is just how evloving technology works.....you came play the game and get amazing results.....or you can go another way. If Epson was not producing better and better printers I would go along with you ......but they are. Every new printer of any of the big 3 I use I am amazed.....this has brought so much power to Photographer print maker............something you could never do before so easily at any price............Peter

Where did we get started on the idea that I don't know how to print? I very much do know how to print. I bought the printer to control my prints. When it is working well it does a nice job.

The issue in this post is that it isn't reliable. No one has made any useful suggestions as to where I can take this and have it tuned up reasonably, which is what I'd like to know. Is there anything I can do? I do not know what to do here. Can anyone provide useful help?

PLEASE!

Where did we get started on the idea that I don't know how to print? I very much do know how to print. I bought the printer to control my prints. When it is working well it does a nice job.

The issue in this post is that it isn't reliable. No one has made any useful suggestions as to where I can take this and have it tuned up reasonably, which is what I'd like to know. Is there anything I can do? I do not know what to do here. Can anyone provide useful help?

PLEASE!

I understand where you are coming from. Unfortunately, the consumer printers like the r1800 and r1900 are really not well conceived. My experience is if they last 3 years you are lucky. From what you are explaining you need to get it serviced; cleaned and aligned.
You could, if you are mechanically inclined, get a copy of the service and field service guides (http://www.2manuals.com) as well as the utility mentioned in the manual.
I've used this source a few times, they seem reliable.
You may be able to fix it yourself for around $50. Note if you need to change the print head, all the mechanical aspects associated with this are doable but the color calibration is not if you want to bring it to factory specs. You need the epson x-rite utility and scanners.

My opinion is try the service manual for fun, it's educational. If this doesn't work, scrap the printer and buy a used Epson 4800. You can get these for $500 if you are patient (ebay, craigslist) and don't mind travelling a little (I drove 12 hours round trip for mine!) and these are MUCH better printers. First off all they are much more economical on ink (although the cartridges cost more up front) and even if they clean they clean only 4 cartridges at a time.Second the print quality is better due to better paper profiles. Not to mention you get a lot of paper handling flexibility and 17" wide prints. You can get the ink on ebay for around 1/2 price. Again you have to be patient.

Is this useful?

Yes!

Not sure what to do next since the 1800 really fills my space available for a printer, but this gives definite things to think about. Thank you for your very thoughtful response.

You know what's even better than Costco? A good friend who has a wide carriage ink jet printer. I have given up home printing because of the obscene costs associated with printing at home. Yes, I know about the quality trade offs, but with the very very low volume of printing I do, the cost/page is outrageous.

Paul
www.melor.com

The used printer market is a very good option. I sold my 2200 with a full set of inks for $50, which was more than the value of the ink (ok, the person I sold it to had no cash and was just getting started in photography and really wanted it). My point is with a little detective work you can probably get a very good printer used for very little money.

...and don't push off on the iceberg unless you've got good wireless.

You know what's even better than Costco? A good friend who has a wide carriage ink jet printer.

He lives just a little too far away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you go for a epson 4800 don't be put off if it has a high page count. There machines are real workhorses and can print around 12000 16x20's before maintenance is needed.
I will never, ever print this many pages (unless I get famous which I doubt) and if I did, then I could afford it!

Peter Le,

The amount of sarcasm in your posts is unbelievable. I don;t think that is what the OP asked or deserved. Also please cut out the holier than thou attitude (I ate tuna blah blah..) I don't see much in terms of actual information that may help his case.

Greg (Heller) has a point about commercial printers. Yes, I HAVE seen photos from both commercial printers as well as latest inkjets. IMO, the inkjets do have an edge, but there are quite a few commercial printers (e.g. Adoramapix) which are very very good. I decided long ago in the favor of commercial printers for a variety of reasons and am reasonably happy about that decision.

Sorry OP, cannot be of much help in your situation, but if you do go the commercial route, do checkout Adoramapix.com, especially their higher end Metallic and Lustre papers.

-- Vivek

I have two 2200's and a 2400 and have worked with a 4800. All worked flawlessly and that is why I stick with Epson.
Not trying to discount any claims on this post that Epsons create problems I'm just stating that for many years now I have used Epson's and they have been quite reliable.

gheller wrote:
tomm101 wrote:
On a good running inkjet a 12x18 should cost around $4-5.
I have thrown out 4 C series Epsons because of clogs, not fun.

Tom

wow, then your cost per print is much more that $ if you are buying new printers so often.

my Costco photo manager is VERY good (again, guess I am just fortunate)

greg

Just a stream of thought, my $4-5 estimate is from my Canon iPF5000, though that should be rethought as I haven't been using the 5000 in the month or two I have had computer problems. Luckily I no longer live off my computers and printers. The four C series is true though, 1 at work 3 at home (letter printing).

Tom

I was happy with my R2400 until this past weekend. I tried printing one simple 4"x6" print of my kid, but for some reason I was not able to get the skin tone right. I loaded it up with new ink cartridges (about $115.00) and ended up wasting about 15 prints. The end result was a mediocre print with innacurate skin tones. Funny thing is that I have been using this printer somewhat successfully for the past three years (minus the extremely wastefull ink behavior). The last time I wasted this much ink and paper was when I first purchased it and was trying to figure out how to use it. I have decided to cut my losses and go with an online lab. My R2400 will be stored away in some closet next to my absolutely useless Epson 4870 "pro" flatbed scanner.

Speaking of headaches, my Epson 4870 scanner has to be the biggest purchasing mistake I have ever made. I hardly ever used it, it never yielded a high quality scan for me as advertised, and the top light died with no replacements available on the market. As far as I'm concerned, my two bad experiences with Epson have convinced me not to purchase another Epson product again. There are way too many other companies out there that make better products to have to give my money to Epson.

I had an R1800 printer, Never was just real excited about it, though it worked well for me (and a lot!) for some time. Then, during hurricane Ike, when we just got the power back on, and I had a rush job to get out. Labs were still unaccessible, internet service still non-existent, and roads either closed on traffic so jammed it took you 2 hours to go 2 miles due to lights being out.
I ordered an R2880 from Epson, explained my problems to them over the phone. The next day I had my new printer, which worked wonderfully right out of the box! Job got done on time, trade show went off well with photos as needed! (Trade show was in Denver, and my boss was leaving at noon the day the printer arrived!)
I love my new 2880! The prints blow my mind! And my paper choices are much greater! It has definitely been worth the investment. I gave the R1800 to my grandson to learn on. He is having a ball, and about ready for an upgrade.

I've had a 2200 for years and it's been a workhouse. But, when I first got it, it had two major problems. A green cast on things, and a really bad problem with the rollers, which would suck up fresh ink, as the paper spit out on fine prints.

The green cast was fixed with some profiling.

But the rollers required a more tricky approach of inserting the ends of plastic ties, in order to force the rollers to stay 'up' off the paper as it came out. I couldn't believe I had to do this to a brand new printer and found on the web many others that have had the same problem.

So, truth be told, I love the printer as it has been a workhouse, but it didn't come out of the box perfect. In fact, come to think of it, I've never seen a printer come out of the box perfect.