[alt-photo] Re: Recommendations for Replacement Printer? Input Needed!

[Mark Nelson]

Francesco,

Sorry to hear about all your problems with this printer.  I've never felt the Epson 4xxx series were ever quite right for a number of reasons.  The earlier ones seemed to have terrible problems feeding OHP film.  I'm not quite sure why Epson even makes this size printer.

I wondered which color of ink was giving you the most problem or is it all of them?  I know a number of 3800 owners, including myself eventually got a minor clog in the magenta ink and could never get rid of them….this was sad because I felt the Epson 3800 was the best inkjet negative machine ever made, bar none, including the ink set.  Interesting that the 3880 came out with only one change i… VIVID MAGENTA! Hmmmm.  In fact, all the cartridges except Magenta are interchangeable between the two machines.

I have a 3880 now and it is working fine so far.  Very much like the 3800, but the density is lower when used with Ink Density set to "0".  So far, it appears to me that they have really changed the driver with this machine.  I'm basing this on the fact that it lays down much less ink when set identical to the 3800 and you can measure this with a densitometer.

I hope you have much better luck with your next printer.


Best Wishes,
Mark Nelson

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On Sep 25, 2011, at 1:56 PM, Francesco Fragomeni wrote:

> Hi all,
> 
> I need your help here. I have an Epson 4800 that I've had for about a year
> and a half. I HATE the thing. It gets persistent nozzle clogs no matter what
> I do which cause such a waste of ink in getting rid of them. I've read
> everything on the net about preventing such clogs and I've found no
> solution. I bought it used and part of me thinks something has been wrong
> with it all along even though there's never been any problem with prints it
> produces. At this point, the thing has a moist sponge inside the paper tray
> to raise the humidity. This is supposed to help keep the nozzles from
> clogging in dry climates (I live in Phoenix). In addition to the sponge, the
> whole printer is kept wrapped in plastic to prevent the escape of moisture
> from the sponge. This has made a slight improvement to the frequency of the
> clogs. What seemed to work for a while along with the sponge and plastic was
> to simply print off a full color pallet maintenance print each morning which
> I do like clockwork. The maintenance print allows the printer to go through
> every color and doesn't waste anywhere near as much ink as running a nozzle
> check every day which is what the Epson rep I spoke to said to do. This
> appeared to be working for about a month. No clogs! You can imagine how
> happy I've been. Well yesterday, for seemingly no reason (no drop in
> humidity and no skipping of the maintenance prints) the thing clogged as if
> it hadn't been used in a year. I'm talking a serious clog. I'm currently
> still trying to get it unclogged and I've already wasted probably half of my
> newly bought ink. I have the print heads sitting on a Windex soaked towel at
> the moment (the ammonia is supposed to release clogs) and its been there for
> 12 hours and still clogged. Anyway, I'll keep plugging away at it.
> 
> Anyway, I've had it with this thing. I'm going to replace it but need some
> help figuring out what I should go with. I've realized that I don't really
> need the size of the 4800 and I think I would be more then happy with the
> 3880 or similar size printer. I thought about the 4900 but the price is high
> and like I said, I don't think I need the size. I've found conflicting
> reports all over the internet regarding the 3880's predisposition to clogs
> and other problems. I've also heard reports that some Epson printers are
> more prone then others to the problem of "venetian blinds". I asked the
> Epson rep about this and the guy had the gall to acknowledge that one of the
> printer models is especially prone to this but refused to tell me which one.
> 
> I need some guidance here. I'm trying to figure out if I should get another
> Epson or change brands. Epson is pretty undeniably the standard but I'm
> hesitant to get another because of this year and a half long bad experience
> and waste of thousands in ink. If i could confirm that the output and
> rendering of a Canon or some other system would match or surpass the Epson
> systems without the incessant clogging I would have no problem looking at
> another brand. My needs vary but over all 17x20 is probably all I need but
> it would be nice to have the option to go larger (which is why I got the
> 4800). I vary rarely ever print anything in color so its rendering of B&W/
> greyscale is much more important to me. I use the printer to print paper
> inter-negatives which I then print in the darkroom. Also I use the printer
> to print inter-positives on high quality paper like Museo which I then use
> in the darkroom as part of a copy print process. My primary concern is the
> highest quality print rendering, everything else comes second. Hope that
> clarifies things.
> 
> I'm basically stuck between the Epson 3880 and the Canon Pro9500 Mark II.
> The Canon has a smaller max paper size but it uses smaller ink cartridges
> which purportedly keeps the ink from settling and clogging. I've not heard
> any reports of clogs with the Canon. I've seen a report that the blacks are
> not as rich on the Canon. Both printers hold photo and matte black inks at
> the same time but the Epson purges more ink when switching between the two.
> The Epson uses larger $80 ink cartridges but it has a larger max paper size.
> I've head conflicting reviews about the Epson's propensity to clog. I don't
> print everyday but I have no problem running a maintenance print through the
> printer every day to keep things flowing as long as it actually does keep
> things clog free unlike with my 4800.
> 
> If anyone could offer insight it would be very much appreciated. Thanks!
> 
> -Francesco
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