-----------------------Introduction-------------------------
I've always been a fan of Epson printers--from the very beginning. Their focus on uncompromising photo printing and industry leadership in the field has also won over many others. So I was very excited to find this unit on sale at Fry's Electronics.
-------------------------Overview----------------------------
The unit is quite large-about the size of a small home copier, at 17.7 X 21 X 11.1 inches, and 15.7 lbs-and feels well-built. It's handsome and professional-looking, in businesslike gray, with light gray accents. There is a large (3.5") LCD screen in the center, angled 50 degrees (as are all the controls), and a flip down, tinted front-facing panel underneath, concealing the card reader. The top cover flips open to accept paper, protecting the unit from dust. There are a variety of indicator lights, including one that lights when a memory card is inserted, which is visible through the cover (nice touch). The front-bottom tray unsnaps and pulls down to reveal the pull-out paper tray, and a lever lowers the disc acceptor tray, and switches the unit into the associated mode. A USB 2.0 port and infrared sensor flanks the card reader's left side. It connects via USB 1.1/2.0, and prints at up to 5760X1440 dpi, on media from 4X6, letter, and up to 8.5 X 44 inches. It works with Windows Vista, down to Windows 98SE, and Mas OS X, 10.2.8 on up, and uses a system of 6 ink cartridges, which are individually replaceable. Are you excited yet?
There are 16 buttons on the front, organized into neat, related sections that have a very clean appearance, but they appear to be far fewer. On the left is the power button, next to a mode selector button for memory cards or optical disc printing. Four small buttons "rectangulate" the LCD screen, controlling displaying and cropping, print settings, "setup," and a back/navigating button. Four directional arrow buttons sit just to the right of the screen, with an "OK" button in the middle--these are used to select and confirm selections. Two buttons to select number of copies sit right between it and a "start" button. Lastly, there is a red-highlighted "stop" button to cancel printing and clear settings. It's a model of simplicity and practical ergonomics.
-----------------------In Operation-------------------------
When I first setup the printer, I simply plugged it in atop my kitchen counter, and inserted secure digital memory cards filled with pictures from my Canon A630 digital camera . Startup with a memory card inserted took about 30 seconds, and pictures started loading immediately. The printer loaded the pictures from this 2 gigabyte card, taking about 30 seconds, and then showed previews, which could be zoomed in and out, and also showed thumbprint previews of multiples pictures per page, much like most digital cameras, albeit more slowly, and at first showing a pixelated image (this is with 8 megapixel images). This slight slowness quickly became acceptable, and took a back seat to the convenience of not having to connect a computer. I was able to preview, select, and crop the pictures to be printed, and then choose the print settings, including image processing such as print image matching (P.I.M.), red-eye reduction, rotation, paper size and layout (including borderless), brightness, saturation, a sepia or B/W filter, quality, sharpness, and date on/off. You can zoom in to 8 different levels, and then move the rectangle around to make your selection anywhere in the picture. Once these were set, you simply pushed the "print" button, and a 4X6" printed at the highest quality, in about 30 seconds, although it can print them as quickly as a claimed 14 seconds. Text can be printed at up to 30 pages per minute.
-------------------------Quality----------------------------
The printout quality was excellent, easily matching and surpassing the output from my last Epson photo printer, the
Epson Photo 820. This is superior or equal to the printouts from the best digital printing labs I've tried (and Costco is the best), as well. And an 8X10 8-megapixel image I printed of my daughter playing in the fountains Universal Citywalk emerged absolutely stunning. Blacks appeared deep, and colors, brilliant. This is true photo quality, testament to its 6-color Claria inks, unlike the pedestrian prints from my general-purpose
Epson Photo C88. It also makes much better prints from the same paper, as evidenced by the dramatic improvement from using Epson's glossy photo paper in a Picturemate printer, and that will make the premium glossy paper only necessary for the very best impressions and the former, for all other occasions.
For comparison, I inserted a compact flash card with pictures from our
Canon S330 2-megapixel camera camera, on Epson premium glossy photo paper. At the "best setting," it took 2 minutes and 4 seconds to print at 4X6 inches, after loading the paper. The print was indistinguishable from a traditional photo print, with great contrast and deep blacks--a testament both to Epson's engineering excellence, and an older, but, tried and venerable product.
I have not tested the unit's text printing capabilities, though Epsons have tended to sacrifice text print quality for photo quality, and I wouldn't expect any different here. It does profess to print "up to 30 ppm" text.
-------------------------What Else--------------------------
When connected to a computer, the card reader is accessible, and you can read and write any data to it. My photos automatically pop up in an Adobe application for transfer, obviating the need for a separate card reader. The pictures printed without a computer actually looked better (as far as contrast/brightness/etc.) than those I tried to manipulate with Adobe Photoshop, ostensibly due to my inexperience (and lack of time).
You can directly connect a variety of USB devices to the printer, such as cameras and USB thumb drives, through its USB 2.0-compliant connection. Also, you can print from Bluetooth devices, such as cameras and pda's, as well as infrared-enabled devices. You can also connect pictbridge devices, This is connectivity galore!
The LCD will also play (w/o sound) slideshows of pictures and movies (in their entirety) on media, and you can print snapshots/frames of movies); you can choose to print one, or many, frames of a movie, and it even shows "chapters." The LCD is at a 50 degree angle from the horizontal, however, and is difficult to view from more than /- 50 degrees from straight-on. This makes it necessary to either place it nearer to the ground, or simply use it while standing up, when using the viewer.
To print on CD/DVD's, you depress a lever next to the print output tray, and the unit switches into the associated mode. You place the disc in a tray, push it into the slots, all the way until the 2 arrows line up, and then follow the same steps as when printing normally. I tried this with some GQ (apparently "printable") DVD's from Fry's Electronics, but the ink didn't seem to absorb, and the image was highly-contrasted. After several days, the ink still smudges to the touch. I haven't tried any other printable media, but I'm chalking it up to the unsuitability of the media--all I can say is the operation is as simple as it sounds, and you will just have to find compatible media. However, I can't confirm that the media is "printable," as I don't have the label--it just has a white-coated surface, and appears to be.
The Claria inks produce prints which will last up to "200 years" in album storage, far beyond any traditional photo prints, although ANY printed matter, under glass, will last almost as long as the average American life expectancy--about 72 years. They are also scratch, smudge, water, and fade-resistant.
In summary, this is a great unit that will handle most of your home printing needs, and look sharp while doing it. More information is available from the manufacturer's product sheet (pdf form), available at http://www.epson.com/cmc_upload/0/000/089/504/R380_InfoSheet.pdf I'm giving the unit 4 1/2 stars (not selectable)--slightly slow printing, and the reduced range of visibility held it back from a 5-star rating. A forward-facing LCD would've been more useful, as I doubt many would place this large unit on the floor.
For some interesting travel pics and related activities, check out my profile at http://www.epinions.com/user-kengland4
Here are some of my favorite reviews--
Tom Muzila's new book-Mental Karate
2002 Buick Regal LS
Microsoft Vista Home Premium
Ahead Nero Ultra v.6 CD/DVD-burning software
Rubbermaid Soap-dispensing Dish Wand
Tomtom One 3rd ed. GPS
Whistler XTR-330 Radar Detector
Kenwood KDC-MP435U CD/MP3 Car Stereo
