williamcarter
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 p.5 #5 · Epson 4000 Report - First Impressions | |
I'll just add my own initial blurb on the 4000. (First, I didn't get my problem w. installing the updated firmware resolved yet -- simply haven't had time).
Printer setup was fairly straightforward, if a bit annoying (are all the pices of blue tape really necessary? And why does the uses need to lift and lower the ink leves a dozen times during the ink charging procedure?). The printer is physically bigger than you think, but not as big as I'd feared. It's actually not a whole lot longer than the 2200, but is much deeper, particularly given the built-in roll-paper holder, which hangs way over the back. And it's a LOT heavier than you'd think a 17 inch wide printer would be.
I really like the detailed info the LCD panel on the printer gives you. E.g., when I loaded my first sheet of cut paper incorrectly (by just resting it against the right side of the intake at the top), the LCD told me "Paper not loaded correctly -- load more deeply." Of course, it then later told me that the paper was crooked, so I had to re-load. I think I've got it down now. (By the way -- does anyone know how to get the paper out when loaded incorrectly? There's gotta be a paper advance or retract button somewhere, but I don't know what it is, so I yanked it out by hand (I would not recommend this, as I do mean "yanked") I mean, I would know if I studied the manual, but no time so far).
First print was an 8x10 B&W on Enhanced Matte. I concur w. Gerry's observations on printing spped -- this thing is FAST. (I"m connected via Firewire, but only because I didn't have a free USB cable -- I've never found that firewire makes much of a differnce in speed on Epson printers). I printed at 1440dpi, using "printer color management" in the Photoshop driver and "color controls" in the Epson driver. I did this b/c I found on my 2200, this method gets closer to neutral grayscale than using a profile and "no color adjustment." I'm quite pleased w.t he print quality. Here's the big caveat, though: while this print looked neutral under indoor tungsten lighting, I have no reason to think it will have less metamerism than any current Epson printer. The B&W prints form my 2200 also look neutral under tungsten, but take on a visible greenish tint under daylight. I can't draw any firm conclusions on the 4000 w. regard to metamerism yet, b/c it's really really cloudy here today. When I looked at the print under the severely overcast outdoor light today, there was a barely perceptible color shift, but just barely. We'll see how it holds up under sunlight.
What else? Build quality is exceptional. I like the fact that it has 3 ways to feed cut sheets (paper tray; rear; and top) plus roll capabilty. I'm highly annoyed that the cutter won't cut "fine-art" paper, much of which (like Ultrasmooth/PremierArt) is not particularly thick. This problem is made worse by the relatively high price and short supply of cut 17 inch sheets. I'm glad it has a firewire port built in (my 9600 does not -- seems strange to me that the smaller printers (2200 and 4000 do, while the bigger printer, to which you'll be sending larger files, does not). As I said, I've never found the type of connection to make a tremendous amount of difference, but I like having alternate connection options, since I've run out of space on my USB hub.
Tonight I'll move on to some color prints and report back. By the way, my 2200 available to buy is anyone's interested.
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