Has anyone else had problems with epson printers? I have a photo 750 which I use just for printing up proofs as its cheaper to run than my main one. Over the last week or so it has acted like its got a death wish!! It slams the ink cartridges up the carriage bar and smacks into the end really violently. Then it won't print colours properly (going through a purple phase tonight!). Mostly it will print black text ok but goes beserk if you try to print colour proofs!
Does this sound mechanical or software? is it time to say good bye do you think?

Hi Sam
I am no expert with computers,But you could try and uninstal the software and printer. set it up again from scratch
and hope this solves the problem.
linda

Funny you should say that as my printer is printing colours really strangely. I am getting blue grass and purple people.

Funny you should say that as my printer is printing colours really strangely. I am getting blue grass and purple people.

mineis astylus 480 :D

Sam I have a 750 which is getting old now, if re-installing the softwear does not work, check to see it the toothed belt that drives the print head is worn and slipping it could be that. Mine has done that too, in fact I went and bought a 950 to replace it, installed the 750 on a different PC and it is working fine, so I would suspect the drivers.

While on the subject of printers, we are thinking of getting a new one. We have an Epson Colour 850 - but it is lousy at printing photos and is also SO, SO slow when it is warming up. We want something that is good at photos and fairly fast at printing black/white text - don't want to spend a fortune, but something that does the job is more important than the money (if you see wht I mean :) )

Have been really frustrated since getting our digital camera some years ago as can't print good piccies :(

Thanks

Daisy

Have always used an Epson Stylus Photo. Never tried a anything other than a PHOTO Epson so I can't comment on the Colour ones. It may be that you can't set a high enough DPI. Also it makes a good deal of difference the quality of paper you use, for quality prints you need quality ink and quality paper that will take a high DPI. When printing photos it will take a long while because you are asking the print head to make a lot of passes over each small slice of paper.

Another point, the finished quality of the picture also depends on the, camera and the way the graphics have been handled whilst on the PC. Make sure the saving system is not degrading the photo everytime you save it and that it is being saved at a high enough quality. Jpeg at 75 is fine for the Web but not for printing.

I use the proper paper (unless I just want a quick copy), but find that I get lines through the picture - also the colour isn't right. I've tried fiddling with the settings, but can never get it right. At work we use HPs - they seem to produce good pictures. I don't want fantastic pictures - but just something that looks reasonably good :)

Daisy

Cameras are getting better and thankfully somewhat cheaper, most small ones will support 3 million pixels. I use a Fuji s602 and a303 and I'm having food results from both. What is interesting is that printer companies such as Epson are now consulting with camera firms to make printers compatable with their cameras. Fuji use the Exif 2.2 file system which the Epson 950 will recognise and this should give better print quality. I normally print at 1440dpi on Ilford paper on a slow speed, an A4 taking 3 minutes. Epson recommend using their Colour Life paper at 2880dpi but I am very happy with the results on Ilford at 1440. The 950 also uses 7 cartridges, 2 black, 2 cyan normal and light, 2 magenta normal and light and 1 yellow. It should therefore be cheaper to replace ink one at a time rather than the 3 in 1 that most printers use. Only time will tell if the Epson will be relieable. Karen

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how does the 950 compare with the 2100? ( iam contemplating buying the latter but not seen a 950)

Sam,
The 950 is relatively new and there are big differences from the 2100. The 950 is a six colour A4 printer priced at around £330 to £380, the 2100 being A3 and priced at £600 plus. The 950 is a dye based inkjet giving about 20 years lightfast on the recommended paper and the 2100 is a pigment inkjet giving 60 years plus. As I am now only a hobby photographer the 950 was just right for me. I did a lot of research on it and all the reviews gave it very high recommendation, calling it outstanding and the leader in its class. Most of the reviews came from the States where it is called the 960. The 2100, 2200 in the States seems to be one of the most popular printers there and again it has had very good write ups. The points of the 950 is the quality of the finished print, up to 2880dpi, a good range of custom settings allowing for manipulation of individual colours and a print time of just 3 minutes for a top quality A4. It is also designed to work with the Exif 2.2 storage system on my Fuji cameras. Cartridges are around the same price for each printer, ie £9 for the 950 and £10 for the 2100, the individual colour making both less expensive to run.
Hope this helps, let me know what you decide on.
Karen

after uninstalling/reinstalling twice, now only prints in yellow ink, despite 5 head cleans and nozzle cleans and new cartridges....I give up! Need something quickly for proof printing so ordered the 950 from viking, should arrive tomorrow.....9100 was going to take a week or so & need it NOW to proof the weekends shows! Hope its as good as its reviews say it is!
sam

I don't think you will be disappointed with the 950, my only advice to you would be to look at the many driver settings available. They all seem to be geared towards Epson's own papers so if you use those, then no problem. I prefer Ilford paper after a long love affair in the dark. They have all their driver settings on the Ilford website for the 950. I print out at 1440dpi and they are good, very good. I recently printed out a pic of a friends border collie oldie and the printer easily picked out the grey hairs in her coat. You say you need to proof the weekend shows, do I take it from that , that you are a pro? I can obviously see the ease of use a digital camera and printer or do you scan your negatives. I am yet to be convinced that digital is as good as film, although I am certainly having fun with my Fuji 602, something I would have not contemplated when using 35mm, cameras that I disliked by the way. To me nothing will beat the quality of 6x7 neg, but my Mam RZ67 went south a long time ago along with my health, and the Fuji is a lot lighter to carry around in comparison. Anyway, hope you get on with the 950, any problems start a new post I'll be glad to help if I can. By the way, who are you?

Gerwyn (Karen's better half)

Gerwyn
i have been trying to find the Ilford site you mentioned...in vain...can you give me a clue!!!
I am not wild about epson papers...need to find one that "feels" like a photo in your hands...preferably lustre not gloss.
The 950 arrived today in a box big enought to live in....spent the day wishing I had an engineering degree so i could find out where all the bits are meant to go! Run off all the weeks proofs but cant get enough punch in my colours....especiallynoticably lacking in NSDTS's and Irish setters!
thanks
sam

Sam, I use a 950 and find a good deal of difference with different papers. Not keen on Epson paper either and for everyday use I use CompuColor, from Photoglossy.com, would think it was adequate for proofs, depends on personal standards I supose. It is only 260g though and glossy, they also do a light card 230g that is mat. Both a reasonable price. Pardon spelling.

Sam
Ilford's site is www.Ilford.com, go to the bottom of their introduction page and there is a contact Ilford tab. A pop up window will arrive and ask them to e-mail you driver settings for the 950. As for printing Irish I have just done the bitch CC from Crufts on the 950 using Ilford Gallerie Classic Pearl. It weights 240gsm and has a semi matt finish. Light fast tests using Epson genuine inks have shown 20-25 years, this test was against Epson's ColorLife paper, which I have not used. As I said previously there are a lot a driver settings, it took me a while to find the right one, try this paper-photo, high speed off, micoweave on, 1440dpi, on custom settings click ICM. If your photo looks good on screen, it should come out the same with these settings. Best of luck.
Gerwyn

How old is your printer?

We have an Epson Stylus C40 Plus which is the 4th one we've had in less than a year! The original one stopped printing magenta and because it's a 4-colour printer it wouldn't print at all. We called Epson and they replaced it immediately. The 2nd printer wouldn't push paper through, so that was replaced overnight! The 3rd printer got the same problem as the first one, but this time it wouldn't print black. This always seemed to happend when I wanted to use the printer, no problem when my hubby used it! We are now on the 4th one, keeping our fingers crossed that it continues working as our 1 year is up in May!!

Epson will replace printers overnight by courier at no charge if they are still under guarantee!

No you see , you lot ...you should have bought an HP like me ;) ;)

Melody :D :D

You're probably right - I had my HP connected to a pc for around 2 years originally, then I bought an iMac. The HP wasn't compatible until I contacted a company in London called Black Box who sent me some software and a cable to connect it. The HP went on for another 2 years at least before giving up the ghost, that's when we bought the Epson after hearing only good things about them.......... No further comment, although the company itself is very good as I previously said.

I used to print up cheap proofs on a Lexmark x75, but it was so slow it wasn't worth the wait. My main printer is the Epson Photo 950 and it is giving excellent results. I tend to stick to one type of paper, Ilford Gallerie Pearl, and my driver settings remain the same for general photography. This machine has a good range of custom settings that you can spend hours messing around with plus or minus colour settings, just like the bad old days of being in the dark. I would certainly reinstall your software first off, then go to Epsons on line site for a download if there is one available. Failing that look straight at it and say ''Pick a window, you're leaving''.

Well, can only speak as I find, had a HP and it went into the bin 2 years younger than my 750. I did not say proper paper, I said quality paper. Never had a problem with the Epson Photo printers but as I said quality in quality out.

I use a HP printer and have always found it gives excellent results, you do have to use a good quality paper and ink though. I did some photo printing for someone once and they gave me some of those cheap refilled cartridges in exchange and they were just awful !!!! I buy the high user cartridges, they cost a bit for for twice the amount of ink.

Ingrid

I have an Epson Stylus Photo 810 and use it with Windows XP, I get lovely results.........and I can use compatible cartridges which is even better :-) I always use Inkjet Photo paper, brings out the true colour of your photos!