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Reviewed by UK Guest, 25th Jul 2006. |
| Review Summary: Software Hiccup - But Superb Photo Prints |
Overall Score: 5/5
 
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Review: I've long admired Epson inkjet printers ever since I bought one of their first - a Stylus 800 (anybody remember those?). I wanted a high quality photo printer capable of A3 or better and settled on the R1800. My choice of this model was influenced by the fact that it can take a roll of photo paper (panoramic prints maybe?) and also that it can print onto suitable CDs/DVDs. It arrived within 4 days of ordering, unpacking it and putting it all together was straightforward. Installing the software (the full set installs various other utilities such as Epson Easy Photo Print) was painless enough as well. However, although the printer worked fine, the status monitor stubbornly refused to display the ink levels; instead displaying "Communication Error". More worryingly, when printing a Word document to it, although it printed OK, I also got a "Microsoft C++ runtime error"! Epson's tech support tried their best, but initially to no avail.
The PC in question had previously had drivers etc for an Epson Stylus Colour 980 installed on it, which I had previously removed via the control panel (before installing the R1800 stuff). "Could there have been something left behind in the registry?" I asked Epson's tech support. It transpires that indeed there could have been, and they sent me a .reg file to clean it out. That did the trick. Ink levels now display when they should, and the printer works perfectly when handling photos and documents.
This printer produces staggeringly good results - photos are crystal clear and the colours true to life - at least when printed on Epson papers. I havn't tried a different manufacturer so I don't know whether Epson's claim that their inks on their papers produce the best results is realistic or not. I tried Premium Glossy, Premium Semi-Glossy and Archival Matte papers, in each case printing a borderless A4. My preference is the Semi-Glossy, but the other two were equally good. Can I put in a plea to Epson to make their Premium Semi-Glossy paper available in 7 x 5 cut sheets please? Print time was about 1 min 30 in each case. This printer is particularly quiet when printing. Other documents printed on reasonable quality inkjet paper came out extremely well too, with sharp text and faithful reproduction of colours.
All in all then, a superb photo printer. Just watch out for a possible problem if you have previously installed an earlier model, and if this happens, ask Epson tech support for the necessary registry changes. I would also agree with an earlier reviewer's comment that it this price it would nice if a USB cable was included. |
Ratings
| Value For Money: |
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5 |
| Review Score: |
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5 |
| Recommended? | |
Yes |
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Computer Hardware