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

[francis schanberger]

here's my zwei pfennig:

I recently moved from an Epson 2200 to the 4800 (let's say March of this
year). For two months I was only able to use a 3800 during my Boston
residency. Most of the time the 3800 worked well enough except for some
Venetian Blind marks in midtones on one negative and the subsequent print.
This was before I read the recent message regarding the alignment issue
which may have caused these marks.

The 4800 has worked really well for me. The only reason I can see why Epson
makes this printer size is for roll paper which happens to be a problem with
the one of the two 4900's we just got at my school. I haven't tried to print
on the suspect printer but I hear it has a problem with the roll paper vs.
sheet paper configuration. Students are trying to print on sheets and the
printer is telling them it is loaded with roll paper.

Back to the 4800. I put the printer through an auto head cleaning and nozzle
check after having been shut down for two months and it has worked
flawlessly since then. I didn't see how much of the maintenance tank I had
used up or the ink levels have changed but I suspect that it used up less
ink then if I had done a manual check and cleaning of the print heads.

Ignoring the driver changes with the 4900 it does have the advantage of
having both matte black and photo black cartridges installed simultaneously.
Since I am printing just digital negatives on inexpensive transparency (like
Inkpress) and color photos on cheaper inkjet stock I am fine with keeping my
4800 loaded with photo black. The 4800 lays down a nice amount of ink for
highlight areas. If I am creating a negative for a print with extensive
light ground I will usually create a red mask out of ruby or amber lith, or
print a red stencil for blocking the ground rather than laying down lots of
black ink.

Regarding the 4800 vs. the 3800, "do you really need the larger footprint?"
question, I'll know in about a month when I attempt a negative that is
roughly 17" x 50". I have to measure our Nuarc at school to see if the glass
will allow enough exposure for the longer dimension.

-francis

On Sun, Sep 25, 2011 at 11:15 PM, Don Bryant <donsbryant at gmail.com> wrote:

> >
> So it turns out that the 3880 has been recently discontinued although there
> is no word about a replacement.
> >
>
> FWIW,
>
> The Epson 3800/3880 can be refurbished by Ardito's Business Machines for
> $580 including head replacement.
>
> Ardito's is a nationally recognized Epson repair center and has been in
> business quite a number of years. In short they will adjust the printer and
> make it like new. This is what I plan to do with my 3800 when it croaks as
> long as parts are available.
>
> Why purchase a new printer?
>
> For $800 they will refurb. the 4800.
>
> Here is the link:
>
> http://www.arditos.com/NewAndRefurbished.html
>
> They also sell wide carriage refurbed printers at reasonable prices.
>
> Don Bryant
>
>
>
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>



-- 
francis schanberger

www.francisschanberger.com