RIP Epson R1800

[mike_j]

My R1800 has always been troublesome and expensive but when it it was good it was very very good.

It has now died again with a general failure alarm, probably the paper sensor. Minumum repair cost £50 just to look at it so I am going to buy a new A4 wireless network printer and forgo the A3 facility which was rarely used.

Most offerings seem to be all-in-one. I don't need a new scanner as I have an Epson 4990 but the office space will be welcome.

Any recommendations please? Current favourite is Canon MP640. Printing load is moderate to light.

[Fen]

I'm still using my Epson 1290s, so couldn't really recommend what to buy as a new printer.

However... I would steer clear of 'all in one' things. You tend to get an average level of each item. Much better to buy a printer that is only a printer and not a scanner and photocopier as well

[Malcolm_Stewart]

Sorry to hear about your R1800. In this thread I mentioned an Epson P50 which might suit you. Price should be well below £100.

[nimbus]

A friend has one of these that is approaching the end of it's working life. He contacted Epson and was offered a part-exchange deal on a new printer, he declined, simply because he can't currently afford to renew. Might be worth a try though.

[Roy5051]

Not necessarily; my Epson SX405 all-in-one gives at least as good results as my old Canon iP5600 and 3000F, and takes up less desk space. The only thing it will not do is scan slides/negatives but that does not now bother me.

[SqueamishOssifrage]

Why not look at the A4 version of the R1800 - the R800. It is still a current model, and Epson say they have no plans to replace it yet. It uses all the same inks, profiles, etc as the R800, as it is, other than paper size, essentially the same printer.

Incidentally, I have the R1800, and have had no trouble with it, apart from an occasional habit of feeding the first sheet right through without printing.

[LargeFormat]

Why not look at the A4 version of the R1800 - the R800. It is still a current model, and Epson say they have no plans to replace it yet. It uses all the same inks, profiles, etc as the R800, as it is, other than paper size, essentially the same printer.

I have the R800 as well and can endorse it as being a good A4 printer, particularly if you still have some cartridges.

[snowqueen]

My epson r220 has just died, i was going to post a question as to what is the next model up from this...

then i saw this thread, i still have epson ink and im a student! my budget is about £100 ..... only has to print A4

what would people recommend? stay with epson or are canon better printers?

I will be printing my photos and text for uni...if i get a place!

[Malcolm_Stewart]

Sorry to hear that.

My R220 is still working, and it's only a few days since I ordered £100 of Epson ink. Before doing so, I checked out the P50 which is also an Epson with similar features, but takes the more modern Claria ink. Claria ink is cheaper than that for the R220 because the amount of ink is less. Searching the web, I found that there are cartridges with the same volume of ink as the Epson seahorse types for the R220 - BUT, these aren't available in the UK. So, I ordered ink for my R220. I'm just hoping that it doesn't fail before I've got through a decent quantity of ink.

[snowqueen]

My r220 started to print blue lines all by itself

sometimes id get away with one print ok, took a copy into the epson shop in brighton, he said it wasnt worth fixing if it could be fixed, id be better off buying another printer...
I may jusy buy another r220 i did use and abuse it for a few yrs ......

[mrganderson]

Hi
I just did the leap from Epson to canon and i am really happy i did. My epsome R320 was great when it worked, but the blockages were too much to live with.
In the end i picked up a canon ip4600 for £60. and i have been amazed considering the price. the quality is great and its cheaper to run than the epson. What reallt surprised me was that at the recent focus on imagng show Ilford and fotospeed were both giving demo's prints of the quality of their papers by using a canon ip4600.
I dont think you could go wrong with this little baby and it a great price too.

Garreth Anderson

[mike_j]

Thank you all for the comments. I decided to remember thet I was once a decent instrumentation engineer before being chained to desk and computer. I found a full service manual for the printer, stripped it down to basics, cleaned/replaced ink system, adjusted everything and it is working like a dream. I didn't even have any bits left over. The evil day of choosing a new printer has been postponed.

[snowqueen]

Dont fancy doing mine do you !
I might have a look at the canon ones

[snowqueen]

Is the quality of photos printed from this canon very good? I read somewhere that someone had a problem with the images being grainy??
thanks

[mrganderson]

The images from my canon ip4600 come out exellent.
i was impressed with my images as soon a i started printing. I use canon pro II paper(gloss). Canon smooth textures rag. and fotospeed natrual textured, cotton paper. the print quality is stunning. Especially B&W on the texured cotton paper. they have amazing detail and depth.
I was also pleased to see ilford and canon using the canon ip4600 to demonstrate the print quality of there paper. Thats a great recomendation for such a cheap printer.

[snowqueen]

sold! lol

thanks for your feedback