 Excellent CD/DVD printer |
| Review Date: October 29, 2004 |
| Reviewer: Tom T, Crystal Coast of NC USA |
(Update. September 30, 2007): Almost 3 years old, it's been a real workhorse printing DVDs, and I still rate it a 5-star printer. It did recently have a clogged nozzle. My fault. I read inkjets work best when exercised regularly -- print at least one page a week -- but the printer sat idle for about a month while I was on an extended roadtrip. Upon my return, black did not print. Status Monitor indicated more than 1/2 tank of black, but the Nozzle Check pattern printed all colors except black. So, for the first time ever, I ran the Head Cleaner. (You don't want to do this unless ABSOLUTELY necessary because it uses up a LOT of ink from all 6 tanks. You cannot select just one color.) Still no black ink flowing.
This site has the best information I was able to find about how to clear a clogged Epson printer nozzle:
http:/ / www.inkjetreview.ca / Articles / clogged_epson_nozzles.htm.
The first suggestion listed -- putting distilled water on the printhead sponges -- is what worked for me.
By the way, except for the tanks that came with R200, I never used Epson ink, and the printer ran just fine. Unfortunately, apparently the newer Epson inkjets use only Epson ink. The difference is that a complete set of generic R200 inks cost about as much as a single tank of Epson ink. So, I sure hope this R200 lives for at least another 3 years.
Here's my original review: Excellent printer. I purchased it only for the CD/DVD printing feature. However, I decided it'll also replace my Epson Stylus Photo 870 which, after 4 years of heavy use, continues to produce excellent results even with off-brand ink. By comparison, The R200 print quality is even better.
Here's some info that might be useful if you're about to buy the R200, or are still shopping:
It takes about 3 minutes to print 100% of the disk surface. Printing less, like one line of text on the top half of the disk, and one line of text on the bottom half - and no background graphic - takes about 1.5 minutes.
If you do a price check on a complete set of Epson brand ink cartridges for this printer, you'll see the cost is more than half the price of the printer. But, each color ink has a separate cartridge - so only the color that runs out has to be replaced, not the whole set.
The R200 does not include a USB cable, so you'll need to either buy a cable or use a spare if you have one.
It's important to read the section in the manual about printing disks before you try to print your first one. The steps are simple, but if you don't select the right settings for Printer Setup, the printhead might miss part of the disk.
I read some reviews here and at other sites which mentioned having problems using this printer with a Mac. So far I've printed on disks using both Epson Print CD and another CD printing app called Discus, and printed to letter-sized paper from programs including Word, Exel, Photoshop, QuarkXPress, TextEdit, Mail, and printed web pages without a single problem.
If you prefer to use Photoshop, Illustrator, or similar programs to create original designs, no problem. Both Epson Print CD and Discus import graphics files.
I've seen some comments on how quiet this printer is. It is very quiet printing, but it does make noticeable noise when it starts the job, especially when pulling in a sheet of paper to print. So, it's not totally quiet.
The R200 is the same as the R300 as far as quality and speed; it just lacks some extra features the R300 has that, in my case, I didn't think were worth the extra cost.
(Update) I'll add that I'm a wedding videographer, and print about 15 - 20 dvds plus dvd case covers, a week. I've lost count of exactly how many I've done with this printer, but I can say after 3 years the disk feeder tray and the whole unit still works perfectly.
(Update) I read one review here about a problem printing shipping labels. After connecting online with their sites, I regularly print both USPS Priority Mail and UPS shipping labels with the R200, and it's quick.
[Update) I have replaced the original ink cartridges several times already, But, because I'm using this printer for all my printing, it's difficult to estimate the average ink cost per disk -- maybe $.30 at most. I can state the R200 is by no means an ink hog. The Epson Photo 870, which this replaced, seemed to use (evaporate?) ink even when idle. Not so with this R200. Considering everything my R200 has printed so far, it was well worth the purchase price. If this machine ever decides to die, I'll definitely replace it with another Epson.
(Update) Well, altho I've had very good luck with this printer, I'm not sure about replacing it with with another Epson, because supposedly the new ones work ONLY with Epson ink. That would increase my printing costs 5-fold. I've read Canon inkjets are better, but none print directly on disks. |
CD/DVD Printing Makes It Worth The Price Alone
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| Review Date: April 21, 2004 |
| Reviewer: , |
| When I first read about this printer in a computer magazine, I was immediately impressed by its functions and price point. CD/DVD printers cost $100's more and even then, they usually just serve that single function. Later that day, I went out and bought one. The R200 not only prints directly onto the discs, but is also a quality photo printer. You can print out crisp images with that function as well as carry out normal day-to-day tasks like homework and other documents. It's great because the printer has an extra USB port on the front of the machine for easy hookup to a laptop. The software for the printer is easy to install and there really was no printer alignment necessary. It did all the work for me. The only thing you really need to buy, if you don't already have one, is a USB cable because it doesn't come with one packed in the box. Yeah, I know. I was disappointed in that too, but the features made up for that. Speaking of features, in order to successfully print onto a disc, you must use an Ink-Jet printable disc. Otherwise, you'll have a disc with a pool of ink on it. |
Overlooked Feature
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| Review Date: July 24, 2004 |
| Reviewer: Nick Tropiano, Havertown, PA United States |
| ... all set to buy a Canon that cost $100 more than this, when I noticed it on a table at the retailer marked "customer return/clearance" at 1/2 price. I looked under the hood of the demo model... What?!!
6 (six) count'em individual ink tanks. That's a good thing. A very good thing. Most printers I've seen in the sub 100 price range have two ink tanks - 1 for black and one containing yellow, magneta, Cyan. or, only four ink tanks. Last time I was in the market for a printer, only the $300 models boasted six individual color tanks. Six tanks means that you can replace the individual inks as they run out - much more economical. Just as important, more colors means that subtle gradients in shading are handled more accurately. Just my opinion, but I don't think that you can call yourself a true photo-quality printer w/o six ink colors.
Now for the negatives... there are none for the printer but some for folks who review them...
1. yes, you'll need a USB cable. get over it.
2. yes, you'll eventually need to clean the nozzle which uses ink. Again, get over it.
3. yes, your printer is calibrated for its make of photo paper. El-cheapo paper = sucky print. Again, get over it.
4. yes, photo quality prints use quite a bit of ink for coverage. It's a consumable and quality ink is expensive to produce - get over it.
5. It takes a couple minutes to produce a print. Here's your option, spend a couple hundred more for a faster printer or learn a little patience.
6. Sometimes you buy stuff, take it home, and it's DOA. That's why there's a manufacturer's warranty and a store return policy.
I read printer reviews and almost feel badly for the manufacturers. Here - by the nth generation of home printer, you can get what amounts to a home photo lab for less that 100 bucks. Fact of the matter is, you really can't go wrong with any of them. They all make terrific prints and do a decent job with text and graphics. Remarkable. Yey "Professional" reviewers beat them up over slight differences in print speed. "Users" vetch about there not being a USB cord. April? The only brand I would avoid is Lexmark. Fine printers but they charge $10 less than their competitor but absolutely gouge you on ink - by design, and it amounts to robbery.
Prints from this thing are true photo lab quality. Easy set up, and it includes good software that I actually bothered to load - including a PIM color management Photoshop plug in.
If you've read reviews of Epson's clogging by the way, don't be concerned. Those are the "stylus" models that use Durabrite inks, "the stylus photo" line, like this one, doesn't use Durabrite.
Oh, and this has a gadget that prints labels directly on CD-Rs. Nice. But buy this for its six individual ink tanks. Truth is though, The "entry level" Guns, Epsons, HP's, are all pretty amazing. |
Best "Budget" Printer, All in the Specs.
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| Review Date: August 31, 2004 |
| Reviewer: Ickna Ropianota, |
Printer has the highest resolution specs out there, and among the smallest "droplet size" at 3 picoliters. (Canon I960 is 2 picoliters, but less than 4 picoliters is invisible to naked eye. A couple years ago, the smallest droplet size available at any price, including pro-level inkjets, was 4 picoliters...) Has Epson's patented, (arguabley) more micropiezo (as opposed to thermal) technology and high quality nozzles built onto print-head, not cheaply built into ink cartridges, like other manufacturers. This model uses six individual ink tanks to more accurately produce gradients instead of the usual four colors - another feature, until recently, found only on higher end models that Epson pushed down into this consumer printer. Net-net? Absolutely amazing quality photos that rival or exceed far more expensive printers or "pro-level" technology that's a couple years old. All for a hundred bucks. I've made several side-by-side comparisons between photos from the R200 and the local photo lab. R200 wins, hands down, no question about it. Bye-bye photo lab.
So as not to bastardize more expensive R300,R500 photo stylus line, Epson R200 does exactly everything's resolution. Note, resolution specs are not on the box of the R200, but are big and bold on the box for the other R-series models. The printers in the R-series are identical, except you must print from your PC with the R200, it doesn't connect direct to your digicam, or have media slots like the R300, 300M... IF, like me, you tweak sharpness and adjust color levels - always, in a photo editor, before printing - you'll never use those features. Save your money; go with the R200.
As an added bonus this printer has the ability to produce professional quality graphics and text directly onto printable CDRs. A terrific, distinguishing feature that works very well. Another distinguishing feature is its ability to print borderless on every available paper size... don't take this for granted. Not all printers are this versitile when it comes to borderless. I use this printer for text as well as photos, and its text looks perfectly fine to my eyes. Is it "the best" ink jet text out there? Probably not, but I'll trade that capability any day for its superior photo quality.
Some pointers - to save on ink costs check out Abacus inks, and/or a software package called Ink Saver 2.0 (I would strongly recommended I.S. 2.0 to compensate for the R200's illegible text "draft" fashion...) If you want to stick to Epson original inks, Altex (dot com) has the lowest price available.
On a final point, the build quality of this printer appears MUCH better than the other manufacturers entry level models. This printer, based on its superior specs, versitility, build quality, and price point is a fantastic value. Epson outdid themselves by aggressively pushing the technology from their premium models into the entry level R200 and giving it capabilities - like direct CD printing, that other printers simply don't have. Epson, therefore, has managed to leap-frog the other manufacturers in a the very crowded field of capable sub-onehundred dollar inkjet printers. |
yes, you really need to use PRINTABLE cds.
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| Review Date: September 19, 2004 |
| Reviewer: David P. Sharp, St. Jose, CA United States |
I'm happy with the Epson Stylus R200 Photo Printer. Installation was straightforward on Windows2000, and Mac OS X can see the printer via Windows printer sharing with no problem. Colors are accurate. Text is sharp.
The R200 doesn't have the useless features of the more expensive printers: Clutter for working with digital photo images directly on the camera. Why would ANYONE do that when a computer is sitting right there, just waiting to catalog, crop, and color correct your photos? Instead of a useless 2" LCD display, The R200 expects you to use your computer like God, Gates, & Jobs intended.
I wanted to get a printer that could print on CDs because I'd seen the adhesive labels come loose after a few years, particularly in a hot car, and I don't want to gum up an expensive car MP3-CD player. I figured the printer would pay for itself in adhesive labels I didn't have to buy.
The downside: you can't just print on the stack of CD-Rs and DVD-Rs you happen to have lying around: the ink will beed up, never dry, and will smudge off at the slightest touch. If you buy the more expensive "printable" blank media, which looks like it has been painted with white-out, and has a slightly matte finish, then the print quality on the CDs is terrific.
Each of the 6 inks costs about $13, except for black, which is $17. (Epson brand ink cartridges.) You can buy the colors individually, so if you keep one set of spares, you can stock up as each runs out. You get one set in the package with the printer. Like they say, the first one is free. |
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