Digital BW, The Print

Thought people should see this post on reported problems...  I'm sure 
someone will accuse me of being anti-EPSON for having the temerity to 
report something negative..  Does anyone fully test products anymore, 
are they so worried that people will violate NDAs or so troubled by 
competitors that they cut testing much too short?  But, here it is, 
without further comment, along with my post which generated the responses..



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SKID Photography wrote:

In regards to problem cropping up:
It has recently become clear that on the 7600 and 9600 printers that the
'chipped' cartridges are shutting down with almost *half* the ink left
in them.
Yes almost half!!!!   That's a lot of ink down the drain.  So beware!

Harvey Ferdschneider
partner, SKID Photography, NYC

  >
  >
  > Thomas Fors wrote:
  >
  > >A search on pricegrabber.com indicates the 2200 as being in-stock at
  > >buydig.com and Etronics for whatever that is worth.
  > >
  > >Also, I attended a freebie seminar at Apple in Chicago this week on
"The Art
  > >of High Resolution Imaging." The speaker was Jeff Schewe
  > >(www.schewephoto.com) and it was very good considering the price.
He has
  > >PDF files describing some of his techniques on his site (click on
site map).
  > >
  > >They had a 2200 there, but it belonged to Jeff Schewe.  He displayed
several
  > >matted prints of his work all from the 2200 on Enhanced Matte paper,
but the
  > >lighting was horrible for viewing them.  There were no samples or
brochures
  > >on the 2200 for the taking.
  > >
  > >An Epson rep was there and he kept saying, "you better hurry and
order your
  > >2200.  Every photographer in the U.S. already has theirs on order."
  > >According to the rep., they are supposed to be available at the end of
  > >August, and he seemed genuinely surprised when I told him B&H listed
them as
  > >in-stock on Monday.  Infact, he said he didn't even have a 2200 yet
and was
  > >supposed to get his next week.  I offered him cash for it, but he
declined.
  > >
  > >I also mentioned the gray balance software and he made a comment to the
  > >effect that Europeans see things differently.  I don't know if he was
  > >speaking figuratively or literally.
  > >
  > >--Tom
  > >
  > >
  > >
  > >
  > Thought this was worth passing on for those who want to get a 2200...
  >
  > The "every photographer" comment does remind me a bit of the hype around
  > the intro of the 20-35 Nikon 2.8.. Many were on the list for that as
  > well, the feeding frenzy struck.. and the list price (not to mention the
  > street price) got raised to the point where there were suddenly spots on
  > waiting lists that had been full for months..
  >
  > The 2200 may be a great all-in-one product as sold, but so was the 1270
  > until a month plus went by and the first orange shift problems
  > surfaced.. I don't expect any of those sorts of  deal-breaker problems,
  > but the B&W output is at least questionable from the 2200 (especially
  > without the grey balancer) and they killed off the CD printing ability
  > from the 2100...
  >
  >
  > Keith
  >