Digital BW, The Print

I'm looking to buy a printer for b&w digital printing and from the 
advice I've gotten and the posts I've read, Epson appears to be the 
printer of choice for the group with the 2400 being the preferred 
model. At this time my budget probably won't allow for the $500 refurb 
unit I saw on the Epson web site. My question is:

Does anyone have experience with the following Epson models in b&w 
printing?

R800

1200

1800

Also, if you have found a good, reliable place to buy one, please let 
me know. Any and all comments greatly appreciated.

Alan

Thanks Paul. Will do.

Alan

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Roark" 
<paul.roark@...> wrote:
>
> Alan,
> 
>  
> 
> Take a look at Jeff Randall's 1/29/07 post Re: Latest QTR profile.
> 
>  
> 
> Epson has had refurbished 1800s for cheap lately.  I'd look very 
closely at
> that and Jeff's results with the 1800.
> 
>  
> 
> Paul
> 
> www.PaulRoark.com <http://www.paulroark.com/>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>   _____  
> 
> From: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
> atrembly2001
> Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2007 8:13 AM
> To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [Digital BW] Epson printers pro & con
> 
>  
> 
> I'm looking to buy a printer for b&w digital printing and from the 
> advice I've gotten and the posts I've read, Epson appears to be the 
> printer of choice for the group with the 2400 being the preferred 
> model. At this time my budget probably won't allow for the $500 
refurb 
> unit I saw on the Epson web site. My question is:
> 
> Does anyone have experience with the following Epson models in b&w 
> printing?
> 
> R800
> 
> 1200
> 
> 1800
> 
> Also, if you have found a good, reliable place to buy one, please 
let 

> me know. Any and all comments greatly appreciated.
> 
> Alan
> 
>  
> 
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

Alan,

 

Take a look at Jeff Randall's 1/29/07 post Re: Latest QTR profile.

 

Epson has had refurbished 1800s for cheap lately.  I'd look very closely at
that and Jeff's results with the 1800.

 

Paul

www.PaulRoark.com <http://www.paulroark.com/>  

 

 

  _____  

From: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
atrembly2001
Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2007 8:13 AM
To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Digital BW] Epson printers pro & con

 

I'm looking to buy a printer for b&w digital printing and from the 
advice I've gotten and the posts I've read, Epson appears to be the 
printer of choice for the group with the 2400 being the preferred 
model. At this time my budget probably won't allow for the $500 refurb 
unit I saw on the Epson web site. My question is:

Does anyone have experience with the following Epson models in b&w 
printing?

R800

1200

1800

Also, if you have found a good, reliable place to buy one, please let 
me know. Any and all comments greatly appreciated.

Alan

 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Alan:  Other than printer cost the big decission you have to make is 
OEM inksets that can also print color or 3rd party inksets that are 
optimized for B/W only.  The OEM inks and native Epson drivers create 
very good/excellent B/W prints with the 2400 right out of the box --
hence the strong recommendations.  The R1800/R800 printer, although it 
has 3 black/gray inks, only uses 2 at any one time with the Epson 
driver.  For smoothness I've found you need 3 or 4 black/gray inks.  
Therefore if you go the R1800/R800 route, you will need to go the rip 
and third party inks (I use QTR and modified MIS inkset described by 
Paul Roark -- MIS K4+Ccm.  www.paulroark.com

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Jeff Randall"
<jrandall@...> wrote:
>
> Alan:  Other than printer cost the big decission you have to make is 
> OEM inksets that can also print color or 3rd party inksets that are 
> optimized for B/W only.  The OEM inks and native Epson drivers create 
> very good/excellent B/W prints with the 2400 right out of the box --
> hence the strong recommendations.  The R1800/R800 printer, although it 
> has 3 black/gray inks, only uses 2 at any one time with the Epson 
> driver.  For smoothness I've found you need 3 or 4 black/gray inks.  
> Therefore if you go the R1800/R800 route, you will need to go the rip 
> and third party inks (I use QTR and modified MIS inkset described by 
> Paul Roark -- MIS K4+Ccm.  www.paulroark.com
>

I had an early R800, which I originally bought for black&white
printing.  In my opinion, it was not a very good choice by me.  The
R800 used the K2 inkset.  After months of frustration, during which I
was never able to get a decent black&white print from the printer, I
sold it and bought an R2400.  Good choice!  The R2400 with it's K3
inkset is so far superior to the K2 inkset for black&white printing. 
I highly recommend the R800 for color, but I would steer clear of it
for black&white.  I also highly recommend the R2400 and it's K3 inkset
for black&white.

By the way, the person that bought my R800 loves it, but he prints
exclusively glossy color.

The preceeding is my opinion and my opinion only.

Good luck on your decision.

keithz

Keith,

>I had an early R800, which I originally bought for 
>black&white printing. In my opinion, it was not a very good choice by me.
>The R800 used the K2 inkset. ... 
>I was never able to get a decent black&white print from the printer, ... 

Were you using the Epson driver and an OEM ink arrangement?

I've avoided the printer for Epson driver B&W workflows due to the
cross-overs.  However, having all those 1.5 pl jets available through a rip
could be interesting.  I have not, however, actually ever worked with one.
If I didn't have a good 13" printer, however, I'd probably give the 1800 a
try. If one is not comfortable with rips and profiling, however, it may be a
bad choice. 

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Roark"
<paul.roark@...> wrote:
>
> Keith,
> 
> >I had an early R800, which I originally bought for 
> >black&white printing. In my opinion, it was not a very good choice
by me.
> >The R800 used the K2 inkset. ... 
> >I was never able to get a decent black&white print from the
printer, ... 
> 
> Were you using the Epson driver and an OEM ink arrangement?
> 
> I've avoided the printer for Epson driver B&W workflows due to the
> cross-overs.  However, having all those 1.5 pl jets available
through a rip
> could be interesting.  I have not, however, actually ever worked
with one.
> If I didn't have a good 13" printer, however, I'd probably give the
1800 a
> try. If one is not comfortable with rips and profiling, however, it
may be a
> bad choice. 
> 
> Paul
> www.PaulRoark.com
>

I was using the Epson driver and the OEM inkset.  The best I was able
to get was a cool blue-black, which was definitely better than the
green-black I was getting most of the time.  Sepia was easy, but not
all images are conducive to sepia.

I did try Cone's Piezo inkset, thinking it would be my solution, but
had problems with the learning curve for QTR and ran out of ink in one
of the carts before I could complete my testing.  It was just too
expensive for my wallet to continue pursuing.

keithz

> Does anyone have experience with the following Epson models in b&w 
> printing?
> 
> R800
> 
> 1200
> 
> 1800
> 
> Also, if you have found a good, reliable place to buy one, please let 
> me know. Any and all comments greatly appreciated.
> 
> Alan
>
Alan,

As an owner of a 1280 (I assume that's what you meant when you said
"1200"), I would get the 1800 instead.  Not because the 1280 is a bad
printer, but because there are now easier, more reliably printers
available.  The 1280 does a beautiful job on B&W prints when you use a
third party ink set such as the pigment UT-2 inks designed by Paul and
sold by MIS.  However, the 1280 is an older design dye-based printer
and as such requires more maintenance to keep it working properly.  If
you use pigment inks in a 1280, you must print at least once a week or
you will have clogging problems, whereas the 1800 and 2400 are
designed from the beginning to pump pigment-based printers and are not
as prone to clog if they sit for a while.

Besides, like Paul said, $300 for a refirb'ed 1800 is going to be hard
to beat!

> > >I had an early R800, which I originally bought for 
> > >black&white printing. In my opinion, it was not a 
> > > very good choice by me.

> > >The R800 used the K2 inkset. ... 
> > >I was never able to get a decent black&white print 
> > > from the printer, ... 

>I was using the Epson driver and the OEM inkset. ...

That seems to be the normal reaction to the OEM inkset and R800/1800 B&W.  I
think for those who can deal with QTR, a standardized approach with MIS LK,
LLK, LC, and LM, among others, is quite viable on those printers.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com

My R800 has only *two* black inks -- matte and photo black -- and no
gray, so the native Epson driver will only print with one black ink.
You will definitely need to use a RIP and third-party inks for quality
b&w with this printer.

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Jeff Randall"
<jrandall@...> wrote:

>
> Alan:  Other than printer cost the big decission you have to make is 
> OEM inksets that can also print color or 3rd party inksets that are 
> optimized for B/W only.  The OEM inks and native Epson drivers create 
> very good/excellent B/W prints with the 2400 right out of the box --
> hence the strong recommendations.  The R1800/R800 printer, although it 
> has 3 black/gray inks, only uses 2 at any one time with the Epson 
> driver.  For smoothness I've found you need 3 or 4 black/gray inks.  
> Therefore if you go the R1800/R800 route, you will need to go the rip 
> and third party inks (I use QTR and modified MIS inkset described by 
> Paul Roark -- MIS K4+Ccm.  www.paulroark.com
>