Digital BW, The Print

Dear Joe, 

I am an Epson Retail Representative and have watched several 
generations of product roll-outs and terminations. I think you are 
safe buying a 4000 for now.


Disclaimer: Everything below is my opinion. It is not based on any 
inside information (they don't give me much), but rather on my 
observations of how Epson and other  printer companies operate. I 
also don't get any commission for anything you might buy unless you 
come to the store I work in. And of course, it is against company 
policy for me to recommend 3d party inks. I am here because I want to 
do B&W printing in my personal printers useing 3d party inks on my 
own time. 

My thoughts:

First: the marketing and engineering departments don't announce what 
they are going to introduce until shortly before it goes out 
Thankfully, this means no "vaporware". Unfortunately, it gives you 
little guidance in your decision. 

1)The 4000 is a recent introduction so it will stay around at least 
long eonough to pay off the investment in its design and production.

2) The 4000 is still getting rave reviews and demand is strong so 
there is no reason to replace it unless a competitor comes up with a 
better printer in its category.

3) The demand for the R800 is so strong that it is hard to get one at 
the consumer level. Until that demand levels off, there may not be a 
need to come out with another machine with the same capabilities.

4) I think the 1280 is the most likely to get an upgrade as has 
strong competition from Canon's wide carriage dye based printer. 
Guessing, I'd say it would get the engine out of the r300. If it got 
the R800 engine, It would become a serious competitor to the 2200.

5) That leaves the 2200 as a possible candidate, but it is not really 
in the sme class as the 4000. At $700US, it is near the top of the 
mass-market customer's willingness to pay for a printer so the cost 
of adding the R800 engine might cost its position in the market. 

Conclusion:
I think your investment in a 4000 is secure for now. We all know the 
price of computer gear comes down. Anoying as that is, that is why we 
can get such great equipment now. It is also the price of being able 
to afford the even greater stuff that is around the corner. If you 
get into that thought, you will wait forever and forego the pleasure 
of what you can get now.

bmaytum

> On Fri, 2004-04-16 at 02:12, Joe Davajon wrote:
> 
> > Fellow Photographers,
> > My quandary is this:  Should I lay out almost two grand for the 
present Epson 
> > 4000 and shortly after find that Epson has updated the 4000 to 
include a gloss optimizer 
> > and replacing two inks with two different inks producing a 
machine that would be 
> > significantly superior to the original 4000 and making my 4000 
worth a lot less and being 
> > relegated to dinosaur status and a severe drop in value?  
> > Joe Davajon
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]