PC World: Epson Unveils 'Ultra High-Def' Inkjet Printers

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136151-pg,1/article.html' target='_blank'>http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,136151-pg,1/article.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Epson America on Monday rolled out new Stylus Photo inkjet printers it bills as "ultra high-definition." The new R280, RX595 and RX680 models will ship in September for $99.99, $149.99 and $199.99 respectively. All three models feature six-color inks, borderless printing, print speeds of up to 40 pages per minute, and the ability to print on CDs and DVDs. They support print resolutions up to 5,760-by-1,440 optimized dots per inch. They connect to a Mac or PC using USB (an optional Bluetooth wireless adapter is available as well). The R280 is a slim-design single-function photo printer, while the RX595 adds a 2.5-inch LCD display, PictBridge and USB flash drive support, 48-bit 1,200-by-2,400 dot per inch scanner and built-in photo restoration capabilities."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/HD-epson-printers.jpg" /><br /><br />Owning the R1800, I'm a big fan of Epson printers and these new printers look quite impressive - I'm less impressed that they're calling them "high definition printers", because that's a useless marketing buzzword that means nothing...yet I'm sure we'll see Canon and HP follow suit quickly enough. On a more positive note, it's impressive to see Epson implementing in-printer photo correction for proper white balance, including face-detection technology. I wonder how well it works? More <a href="http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/Landing/UltraHiDefinition.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes">details are available at the Epson site</a>.

[jeffd]

I think i'm just going to use photo services untill ink prices stop becoiming obscenely expensive.

Right now my canon is only running on a black ink well. Not only am I out of color inks, but the reason they dried up is cause the head on the color carriage is broken, and it will cost 50 bucks for a new one. Its many years old now and it would probably be better to get a new one, either way, i;m saving my money.

[Jason Dunn]

Right now my canon is only running on a black ink well. Not only am I out of color inks, but the reason they dried up is cause the head on the color carriage is broken, and it will cost 50 bucks for a new one.

If you need to do printing at home, consider a colour laser. I bought an HP 2600n last year and it's the best damn thing I could have done - it's such a relief to have a printer that doesn't clog, dry up, or run out of ink after 200 prints. I've seen the entry-level colour lasers for about $199 I think, and if you don't do a lot of printing the cartridges will last you for YEARS. Then you get your photos printed using online services.