Digital BW, The Print

Hi Frank:

The main differences are not in the hardware, but in the software. Most photographers have no need for the graphic arts edition-there is no 3880 Portrait edition. I wrote another article about the standard vs. graphic arts edition:

http://imagingbuffet.com/2010/10/22/comparing-the-epson-professionalgraphic-arts-edition-with-the-standard-epson-driver/
or
http://tinyurl.com/2cvbbcu

About a month ago, they decided to bundle the 3880 with the EFI RIP instead of the ColorBurst RIP for their new "Designer Edition." I'm not sure if the ColorBurst Lite RIP is still available as a bundle.
http://epson.ipressroom.com/pr/epson/epson-america-expands-line-of-199679.aspx

All the best,

Andrew

Andrew Darlow
Editor, The Imaging Buffet
http://www.imagingbuffet.com
Author, 301 Inkjet Tips and Techniques:
An Essential Printing Resource for Photographers - http://www.inkjettips.com
and
Pet Photography 101: 
Tips for Taking Better Photos of Your Dog or Cat - http://www.PhotoPetTips.com
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On Apr 16, 2011, at 1:12 PM, frankg_photo wrote:

> Thanks for the reply and the article link.
> II think the choice is clear - 3880.
> However what's between the regular, the portrait, the pro & the graphic arts editions?
> Also...is there an imminent release of the 3900?
> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Andrew Darlow <ad@...> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Frank:
> > 
> > You have another option these days, and that's the Epson Stylus Pro 4900. The advantage of the Stylus Pro 3880 and Epson Stylus Pro 4900 are that changing from matte black to photo black will only set you back a few dollars in wasted ink. The 4880 is a whole other story. It will take about 10 minutes to change the inks, and the cost is about $40 in inks unless you have the ImagePrint RIP and their Phatte Black ink.
> > 
> > An advantage of the 4880 and 4900 over the 3880 is the roll-feed, if that's important. They both also take larger cartridges.
> > 
> > If you only print on matter or semi-gloss/gloss papers, then the above issue is not a big issue.
> > 
> > I wrote a long review about the 3880 here, which may help you make your decision:
> > 
> > http://imagingbuffet.com/2010/09/24/hands-on-review-epson-stylus-pro-3880-inkjet-printer/
> > 
> > All the best,
> > 
> > Andrew
> >