Digital BW, The Print

>>I have always felt that it
> was fundamentally wrong to squirt pigments out of consumer level printheads
> when they were designed for dyes. Paul Roark's recent work with the 2000P
> bears 
> this out when working with simplified monotone inks, since the printer was
designed for PIGMENTS and cost twice as much as it's dye brethrens.<<

Steve M,

I don¹t think your assumption above is borne out by reality. First of all
there is no fundamental difference in the chassis of a 2000P and a 1270 or
1280.  The jet droplet size of the head in the 2000P is larger than the
1280, and may be the same as the 1270 (sorry I don¹t remember that detail
spec), and finally the silver-top 1280 that has been selling lately is
believed to be a 2000P chassis with a 1280 compatible head and the 1280
firmware.

The Epson Pro printer division is quite independent of the consumer line.
From what I have understood from reading between the lines in my contacts
with Epson managers is that the Pro printers are designed by a different
engineering team and are manufactured in different facilities than the
consumer products.

However, I think Epson¹s strategy is to over-engineer their products and
maintain very high manufacturing tolerances applied to both consumer and pro
product lines. The result of this is a very low rate of repair returns, and
in many cases instead of repairing a printer Epson just replaces it. This is
an effective cost control strategy that has been adopted by many
manufacturers involving a lot of different digital photography products.
Most of these companies learned early on customer support and repair could
eat big holes in profits.

Regarding your remarks about how frequently new models come out, I learned
something interesting about how Epson (and I imagine other companies)
function. I had reviewed a new Epson Perfection consumer scanner, and not
too long after my report was in print (the lead time from when I get a
product to test and review until its in print is four months), some readers
were reporting the scanner was in short supply. I asked one of my contacts
at Epson if there was a problem. The reply was that Epson had sold many more
of these scanner than they anticipated over a very short period of time. I
asked if they were going to ramp up production, and was told production had
ceased some time ago. In other words Epson is capable of producing enough
product in just weeks or a few months to last a couple of years or so of
estimated sales. Then the production facility is converted to another
product or model. So in the case of this Perfection scanner Epson did not
have more product until several months later when they came out with a
replacement model. 

Regards, David B. Brooks
Shutterbug Magazine
E-mail: fotografx@mindspring.com




On 10/16/04 7:42 AM, "claudej1@..." <claudej1@...m> wrote:

> In a message dated 10/15/2004 10:13:59 PM Pacific Standard Time,
> DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com writes:
> 
>> > lost my taste for the epson driver along time ago, fourtunately I only use
>> > wide format machines now. People think this is too expensive? buts its
>> > really 
>> > a money saver and easier in so many ways.
>> > Steve M.
>> > 
> 
> David and Steve in particular
> 
> I too share your frustation/disdain for the subtle variabilities of many the
> "throwaway" plasic printers. On the other hand I'm constantly amazed that they
> can create such technological marvels and sell them so cheap by merely
> chargin $5,000 per gallon of "usable" ink from thos little cartrideges.
> (packaging, 
> packaging, packaging).
> 
> My 9500, 7500, 7600, 3000, 5500, 5000, and 4000 have all proven this in
> various forms of color/quad/matte/glossy applications with various
> coatings/lamintations. I have owned or tested just about every significat
> Epson printer ever
> made since 1994's original Stylus. Guess which ones I'm now seeking, keeping
> and using to earn a living or print family snaps?
> 
> Epson's head life rating and CONSITENCY over the life of the heads is triple
> for the Pro DX-3 units vs. the consumer printers. I have always felt that it
> was fundamentally wrong to squirt pigments out of consumer level printheads
> when they were designed for dyes. Paul Roark's recent work with the 2000P
> bears 
> this out when working with simplified monotone inks, since the printer was
> designed for PIGMENTS and cost twice as much as it's dye brethrens.
> 
> Wouldn't we think that, in the absence of close-out periods, that a printer
> that costs twice as much would have better mechanics and electronics inside?
> It's my electronics/design/manufacturing background talking, but given a
> certain 
> profit margin dictated by the bean counters that run companies, engineers can
> make a better product with more money to work with. You simply get what you
> pay for.
> 
> As a parallel point, was it really that much more money to get a
> vibration-free., motorized 4x5 Beseler enlarger than a plastic cheapie lens
> wiggler for 
> the serious B&W darkroom worker?
> 
> Like Paul Roark says, for matte papers, isn't a used 7500 printer that can be
> purchased for about $700 on Ebay cheaper in the long run than goofing around
> with the cheapies with their sloppier manufacturing tolerances?
> 
> That being said, the exception might be the R800, but that's color.
> 
> Given that Epson "abandons" old models at an alarming pace to keep up with
> Moore's law and market demands, we B&W guys, who are inherently "mavericks" by
> putting experimental foreign inks in older Epsons, benefit from "cheap"
> leftovers. This is borne out when you can buy used Pro level machines on Ebay
> for 10 
> cents on the dollar from just 3 years ago.
> 
> On the other topic: "It's easy if you work hard, but hard if you work easy"
> and the "seriousness" of the activity is directly proportional to the dollars
> and time spent.
> 
> Claude Jodoin
> Tech. Editor 
> Rangefinder
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> 
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