I've been flogging a 3880 for 6(?) years now. Does a good job. It has gotten finicky when trying to feed 17" papers. I think this has more to do with the desert humidity (or the lack thereof) in which I live. I'm considering the p800 as a replacement as it seems quite similar and - perhaps more important - with the purchase of Jon Cone's decoder board, I can continue to use my stock of 3880 cartridges.
So the question for master printers. If you have experience with both, how would you rate them against each other? Are there significant advantages to the p800? In particular, how well does it feed? I think that the 3880 feed mechanisms were not well designed. Do you notice any difference/improvement?
Please understand that the 3880 still works, but I'm doing more and more printing and am a bit tired of the hassle.
I let my 3880 sit unused and uncovered for over a year. When I turned it on it had nozzle clogs and the rear feeder wouldn't feed properly. Got on the phone with epson and after 2 hours getting the nozzles unclogged and various other tests, they had me vacuum out the rear feeder. Works fine and now I keep a light piece of fabric on it and my p7000 to keep dust out. I was getting an occasional clog in the cyan nozzle checks and used QImageOne that I use for printing set up to run a nozzle cleaning on only the one color. It would clear the clog for a day or two and then come back. I had used a half page cleaning. I tried 2 full page cleanings and the clog is gone. And I didn't waste ink from 7 other colors to do so. That $60 program is wonderful. The 3880 won't die. To eliminate ink waste going from photo black to mat black ink and back, I use the 3880 for the occasional mat print and pretty much use the p 7000 for photo black unless a larger mat print is needed. The ink costs on the 7000 with the 700 ml carts is 35 cents per ml, on the smaller 3880 carts, 75 cents. Also, I believe you can use roll paper on the 800. Buying platine 17 inch rolls in buy 2 get one free, unlike sheet purchase at $7.80 per sheet, it costs $1.90. 13x19 $ 1.20 per instead of $5 for a sheet. 8x10 about 50 cents, cheap enough for test prints on the same paper.
mrca wrote:
I let my 3880 sit unused and uncovered for over a year. When I turned it on it had nozzle clogs and the rear feeder wouldn't feed properly. Got on the phone with epson and after 2 hours getting the nozzles unclogged and various other tests, they had me vacuum out the rear feeder. Works fine and now I keep a light piece of fabric on it and my p7000 to keep dust out. I was getting an occasional clog in the cyan nozzle checks and used QImageOne that I use for printing set up to run a nozzle cleaning on only the one color. It would clear the clog for a day or two and then come back. I had used a half page cleaning. I tried 2 full page cleanings and the clog is gone. And I didn't waste ink from 7 other colors to do so. That $60 program is wonderful. The 3880 won't die. To eliminate ink waste going from photo black to mat black ink and back, I use the 3880 for the occasional mat print and pretty much use the p 7000 for photo black unless a larger mat print is needed. The ink costs on the 7000 with the 700 ml carts is 35 cents per ml, on the smaller 3880 carts, 75 cents. Also, I believe you can use roll paper on the 800. Buying platine 17 inch rolls in buy 2 get one free, unlike sheet purchase at $7.80 per sheet, it costs $1.90. 13x19 $ 1.20 per instead of $5 for a sheet. 8x10 about 50 cents, cheap enough for test prints on the same paper. ...Show more →
Mr. CA Thanks for the detailed response. I don't let the 3880 set that long, but in the desert it can be a problem. I have a viable solution that should fix nozzle and clogging. I've been using Jon Cone inks for years. IMHO better than stock. They sell replacement carts at a fraction of the Epson price. You can then refill them with superb color. Again at perhaps 20% of OEM. (I believe they have a set for the 7000.)
They also sell replacement carts that can be used with their cleaning solution. Reported to work well, but a lot of hassle. Guess I'm a bit lazy
My real issue is the feed problem. Despite my best efforts, it's a hit or miss (mostly miss) proposition. I've decided to keep the 3880 and do the work to clean it up, but desperately need advice on how to improve feeding. (Wish I had a p7000 ray: )
Thanks to both of you for helping me with this decision.
My Epson SC p800 also sat unused for 1+ years. I had it covered with a custon cover I bought when I got the printer. The nozzle check showed that the black ink nozzle was clogged along with one other. All the other nozzles were fine..
I did three head cleanings and the clogs were starting to clear. The Epson utility software doesn't offer a heavy head cleaning option but you can select it on the printer's small screen. The heavy cleaning uses more ink than the regular cleaning. The heavy cleaning did the trick....I'm impressed.
The p800 output is excellen coming from an Epson R2880. the prints, to my eyes, seem to have more contrast and show better color detail. I'd recommend the p800.
I can only comment on usability/durability of both. I had nothing but problems with the 3880 — constantly received error message. After three or four years I ditched it for a 800. Wow! What a difference! It works well, all the time, even after long periods of not printing. iMO, epson really got it right with it. I’m not the best at getting good prints but a machine that works well surely helps.
Can't comment on the P800, but my 3880 feeds 17" paper just fine. I don't even feed it "properly"; I put it in the regular feed tray. I'm using Premier Art Smooth Fine Art 325gsm, meaning it's like a sheet of cardboard. I've never had a feed issue.
I will miss my 3880 greatly when it dies because Epson has locked down the P800 so I can't easily refill (I use a monochrome inkset). Jon Cone has developed an add-on board for defeating the P800's lockout system, but it looks very kludgy and it is not cheap.
I don't know how you're coming to the conclusion that Cone Inks are better than Epson OEM inks?
Mark McCormick, the owner of aardenburdimaging.com, who employs the most stringent ink testing methodologies I'm aware of has come to some very different clnclusions, and this was for Epson K3 inks and not the P800 inks that Epson claims last 2X longer.
The K3 inks last 4-5X longer than Cone inks. See his post on the dp review forum here: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3865737. Scroll down to the 7th post, where you'll find:
"Compare ID#276 to 277, also 278 to 279 in the AaI&A light fade testing database... side by side tests of ConeColor on same paper and Epson OEM K3 on same paper.
The AaI&A Conservation Display ratings were, for example:
ConeColor ink on Epson Premium Photo Paper Glossy = 11-15 Megalux hours
Epson OEM K3 ink on Epson Premium Photo Paper Glossy = 53-67 Megalux hours
Similarly:
ConeColor ink on Red River Ultra Pro Satin 2.0 paper = 8.4-14 Megalux hours
Epson OEM K3 ink on Red River Ultra Pro Satin 2.0 paper = 59-80+ Megalux hours
If your room display illumination level is 228 lux for 12 hours per day, megalux hours equals years on display.
If you want to compare to the Wilhelm Imaging Research (WIR) "display years" rating scale which specifies 450 lux for 12 hours per day, then divide the megalux hours ratings by 2 to get to "years on display" before noticeable fading occurs.
Bottom line: Epson OEM has a weak yellow colorant. Conecolor has both weak yellow and weak magenta.
If ConeColor scores are good enough for you, then you could also be using Epson Claria dyes or Canon Chromalife 100+ dyes. They will perform as good or better than the ConeColor Pigmented inks on many popular RC and fine art photo papers.
cheers,
Mark
BTW, Epson claims 2x superior light fade resistance with the new Ultrachrome HD inks used in the new P600 and P800 printers compared to the older K3 inkset used in the 3880. I can't confirm that claim yet, but I have some of the new Epson UCHD ink on two different media now in test. We shall see, but if Epson claims bear out truthfully, then the light fade resistance gap between ConeColor and Epson OEM UCHD ink will become even wider for owners of the new Epson P600 or P800 printers."
Any serious printer should be supporting Aardenburg Imaging as Mark tests many different papers and inks on a number of different printers and posts the results on his website. He is supported entirely by viiewers of his website.
When I had my 3800, feeding 17" paper was fine. It was quite easy. However, it does not accept rolls and that might be a reason for you to upgrade to a P800.
ray: )