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"Good quality prints but ......" on by skiziks
Pros: Prints on CDs and DVDs
Cons: Features and Support Questionable
Summary: The R380 does NOT recognize all standard SD memory cards. I have new SD cards that work in my camera, my card reader, several hp printers, and at least one other Epson printer but do not work in the R380. This printer is not compatible with Mac's iPhoto. To print borderless from iPhoto the image has to be cropped first, then you need to revert to orginal after printing. Support will not investigate into why the R380 card reader refused to recognize all major memory cards. Epson's on-line store's return/exchange division is resisting exchanging my R380 for one that works as advertised. Do not buy from the Epson on-line store. I made a huge mistake, learn from it. It also wastes ink every time it is turned on by pumping ink into a pad that must be replaced by having it serviced when it becomes saturated. My calls to Epson are answered with a recording telling me that my call will be answered in 56 minutes. E-mails to support take two days for an answer and they are not sympathetic or helpful. Keep looking.
Updated
The six ink tanks are almost empty.
I think that I could squeeze a couple more 4x6 pictures out of them, that would total about 30 4x6 borderless pictures from one set of six ink cartridges.
The cartridges cost about $14 each. $84 + tax to replace all of them. That means that each picture cost at least $2.80 plus the cost of the paper. -
"Excellent photo printer for the home." on by mgrizz
Pros: Print quality and speed
Cons: Seems to use alot of ink (esp on Best Photo setting)
Summary: I have owned this printer for over two months and am very pleased. I bought one the very day it was available. Printing numberous 4X6's and a few 8X10's, it has always given prints with "punch" and "snap". It will perform extra editing as needed, or you can turn the enhanced photo feature off, if you prefer to let your own editing override the printer. This printer is capable of preforming some very good photo editing-challening it with some unedited and poorly exposed pictures resulted in prints that rivaled PS Elements quick fix.
As an added bonus, the black & white printing with this printer is excellent! The best I have seen in a home printer (I have owned several HP, Lexmark, and my preference, Epson printers).
Printing on other than Best Photo setting is very fast, with little noticeable change in quality. Note that Best Photo seems to use more ink, and Epson explains this in the printer manual.
This new line of ink from Epson really does have more vivid colors. It is worth the expense to make the change, if you are concerned with quality. I also recommend using Epson ink and papers to get the performance this printer is capable of delivering.
Overall, I highly recommend this printer. For the price, I think it is one of the best consumer oriented photo printers currently available (December 2006). -
"I had HP’s and a CANON and" on by ronman101
Pros: Price, Photo Quality, and Direct CD/DVD Printing
Cons: Little Slow and Photo software Print Setup (PC) kind of awkward.
Summary: This EPSON is a good buy.
I have had a few HP printers over the years and (1) Canon printer, the i950 - the best printer I every bought (See my review), which decided to stop printing the color Cyan after 4 years. So, I started reviewing printers again. Right off the bat, two high-end printers sparked my interest (Canon Pro9000 & Epson R800), but thinking that they would not last (prove me wrong), I decided to save a little money because I am more of a casual user when it comes to printing photos. So, I focused on two printers in the $100-200 range: Canon IP6700D and the Epson R380. I knew that if I purchased the Canon, it was going to be a slam-dunk installation. The printing software was already installed and the Canon also had a better DPI resolution then the Epson, but I decided to take a chance on this Epson. The Epson was $70 less ($50 off sale), and I like the idea of direct CD/DVD printing.
Right out of the box with instructions in hand, 7 minutes later, it was up and running (Just like my HP Deskjet 693C still is). After being babied by Canon’s Easy Photo Software – select photo, select paper, print, I found myself dropping my novice user cap and grabbing my advanced user cap. Photo Impressions 5 is very easy to select a photo, but a little more involved in choosing paper, and print quality, which I thought was kind of awkward (Going to take a little getting use to). But, for amateur/expert photo enthusiast this is great. Why, the software has a feel like a SLR camera, where as the Canon software is more like a point-and shoot camera, nothing to it.
In comparison to my Canon, I noticed right away that it was a little bit slower printing a 4 by 6 photo (Hey, what can I say for $99 bucks). However, the quality was remarkable (like taking you pictures to the photo store), and printing text, way better. The coolest thing I every saw was watching this printer print an image on an ink-jet printable CD/DVD (make sure you read your instructions). I have been using labels for years, and it is one less step involved. I did try printing a few CD/DVD labels, and they still look as good as the ones I printed in the past.
Overall, I would say that I am very pleased with my purchase and I think the direct CD/DVD printing is fantastic. If it weren’t for that, I would be writing a Canon ip6700D review. For someone who wants the basics and a great printer, I’d say go for Canon (You can also use other photo software if you don’t care for Canon’s, like Adobe or Corel). For someone who wants to live on the edge a litle, this is your printer (and if you need a scanner, go for the RX580 - $20 more). To be honest, I would have preferred purchasing one of the high-end printers (even EPSON’s higher printers: Epson R1800 or the R2400), but not until I starting taking photo printing more seriously. -
"Noisy, poor print quality" on by wyosue
Pros: there are no pros
Cons: Noisy, takes a long time to print, poor photo quality
Summary: I have had Epson printers for 20 years and have never had problems. I have had the RX620 All-in-One for 2 years and have been happy with it but just last week (in the middle of a print job) I got a message saying--Service Required--Parts inside your printer are near the end of their service life. I had decided to purchase a Color Laser Printer but the one I want won't be available until the middle of September. I purchased this R380 to hold me over till my Color Laser Printer arrives. I thought it would be nice to have a photo printer but I am very disappointed with this printer. I am printing my quilting patterns to sell and the color is not the same. Pink on the RX620 prints purple on the R380 and the blue is a dull blue. It is loud and takes about 5 minutes to warm up and there is a delay between each print job. I would not recommend this printer.
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"Better than the professional photo labs" on by kevin361
Pros: Sleek design, clean clear photos, so much more
Cons: None at all
Summary: I've tried other photo printers from HP and Lexmark. None of them were satisfactory what so ever. Everyone of the HP printers would print grainy and too soft. One thing that drove me crazy in both the Lexmark and HP was the fact that you can see the dots where it printed. Example: A shadow on someones face, you can see small black dots where it tries to make it look darker. With this Epson R380 printer the shadows, and shades are very clean and you don't see a single dot in the prints. Sure you may wait a while for your picture to print, but that means it's doing a good job. I like the large LCD Screen that shows the pictures, then lets you crop and edit. I really like the CD/DVD printing option, I really put that feature to use. I recommend this printer to everyone. It won't dissappoint you. If you are looking for a quality photo printer; get the Epson R380. Forget HP, Lexmark, and Canon. They are horrible printers for photos. You may pay more for ink & paper but it's well worth it. The quality of prints is outstanding.
Epson Stylus Photo R380 user reviews (printer - color - ink-jet)
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