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Review: I bought this Epson Stylus Photo R300 inkjet printer as a result of reading the reviews from other buyers. I thought that even if it was only half as good as people said, it was worth buying at this price. I didn't compare it to other makes, as Epson use their own printing technology, which has a really good reputation. I liked the fact that the six colours come in separate tanks, and so you only need to replace each one as it runs out. The price per colour tank at just under £10 doesn't seem like a lot, but I suppose it depends how long they last. Installation on Windows XP was trouble-free, and I was quickly able to start experimenting with printing photos. One point - please note Epson - 3 free sheets of photo paper seems rather miserly. Luckily I had ordered a pack of 50 from Amazon, which arrived the day after the printer. I liked the way I could print directly from my smartmedia card, without connecting to the PC. If you want to connect to a PC, you'll need to have a USB cable, as they don't include one in the box. I had one lying around anyway, so that wasn't a problem. Other reviewers had pointed this out, so I wasn't surprised, but I'm not sure it was made particularly clear by amazon/Epson in the sales blurb. Print quality is fantastic. I was able to produce glossy photos that looked like they had come from a lab. My camera is just a Fuji Finepix, nothing fancy, and even on ordinary resolution you wouldn't know the photos were digital. When printing from a PC, don't be afraid to experiment with the Advanced print settings. Some of my photos were coming out very dark, compared to what I was looking at on-screen. So I clicked on a box that said ICM, which matches the print colours to your screen, and that did the trick. You can also achieve some creative effects like sepia-tones and soft-focus, if you're into that kind of thing. The printer feels sturdy, and although the paper tray and other little 'doors' are plastic, they don't feel as though they'll break easily. If you're limited for space, check the dimensions carefully, as it is quite big, but compared to the size and weight of the colour laserjet that I use in the office, this is tiddly. All in all I'm well pleased with the results and am looking forward to boring friends and family with my happy snaps! For the price, this is a great photo printer. |
Computer Hardware
