Epson Stylus Photo 890 First impressions
Dane Pestano
The new Stylus Photo 890 arrived two days ago.
The unit itself is quite sturdy and well built and a nice change to the
flimsy 580 I was using as a stand in. The 890 has an on/off button
thankfully, also USB and parallel connections. I'm using USB and on the
second print run ( on the photo glossy paper roll) had a communication error
on the 4th print on the roll. So it looks like there's still a problem
here, although I had eradicated it from the 580. Sorted the communication
error
by taking out then re-inserting the usb cable, switched machine off then on
again..
The paper roll holder fits nicely at the back of the unit so that regular
paper can be used whilst it is still attached. The USB connection is on the
right side of the printer making it a bit of a stretch to my computer so
have
had to move my PC unit over a bit. May get a longer USB cable although I
understand this may not be ideal.
The whole of the cover of the unit lifts up giving ample access to the print
cartridges and there is a clear viewing window so viewing the prints as they
print is easy without having to lift the cover. The installation went
smoothly without any problems, only a slight hiccup when putting in the ink
cartridges, had to refit the colour cartridge again before permission to
continue was given by the Epson software. The unit still makes the usual
Epson noise whilst charging. Printing, although quiet, is not silent, but it
is at an acceptable level. The ink chips are clearly visible on the ink
cartridges and in the instructions it says not to touch them. The black
cartridge is the usual small affair although it is supposed to be the heavy
use cartridge as apposed the light use one that can also be bought.The five
colour cartridge feels quite heavy so hopefully you get a proper full
cartridge
with this unit.
Print quality is superb. As good as the 870's range if not better. Cannot
see the dots with naked eye. I could not tell with the Epson Photo quicker
software at what dpi the photo glossy paper roll prints were done at, the
setting was quality, but the standard set-up for the paper roll photo paper
is 720dpi. If it did print at this on the roll then again the print quality
was excellent with again no dots visible to naked eye. I did one 10X8 inch
colour photo print which took 7 minutes at 1440 dpi on Imagepro 180GSM photo
gloss paper (excellent paper). The bundled paper did not include premium
glossy
paper so have not printed at 2800dpi as yet.
Very surprised how good plain paper photo prints are, even at 360dpi normal
mode, will save me some money on Inkjet paper costs. A nearly full A4 720dpi
colour photo print on Epson's photo paper took only 3 minutes! Printed two
versions of same picture on one sheet, separated them, and then put one on
window sill and other in sealed envelope, stored in darkness. (so far after
2 days
no colour shifting at all, but then I may not be in one of the areas prone
to it. East Sussex, UK.) The 720dpi print was also superb, again couldn't
see individual dots with naked eye. For normal everyday photo prints this
dpi would be fine.
Black and white text printing on plain paper was fast at 360dpi normal mode
with text smoothing on( taking about 45 seconds for two full pages of A4)
although
the quality is as usual with Epson's not brilliant but more than acceptable,
showing the usual signs of feathering at close inspection, but not as bad
feathering as when not using text smoothing.
Now onto the PhotoQuicker software. This is surprisingly very good. You
first select the folder of pictures you want to import, then once imported
select which pictures you want to work with and as you are doing this you
can alter them to your hearts content with a multitude of filters, applying
filters to each one or all and finally choose the method and media of
printing, being able now to print edge to edge on roll paper and other paper
sizes. The only gripe I have with the software is that you can't re-size the
program display window. I have a 21 inch monitor and the option to resize
the display window would have been welcome. Seems to be standard with Epson
as the same thing occurs with the Twain5 software with 1640 scanner.
The PhotoQuicker Modification filters are arranged in three groups;
Adjustments, Effects and Advanced.
Adjustments buttons : Original , Auto Adjust, Heavy Tone, Sepia, Monochrome
and Low Contrast Silver
Effects : Vivid and Clear, Crisp and Sharp, dreamy and soft, soft Portrait,
Sunset Scene, Oil painting, Shiny Illustration, Through the glass, Fantasy
screen, draft painting, Wall painting, Hand Colouring, wrinkled picture, old
picture, rough press print, woodcut, Blue paper, pink paper, low contrast,
high contrast, Heavy tone, low contrast silver, high contrast silver, super
contrast silver, antique, gold, vivid fashion, blue fashion, pink fashion,
green fashion.
Advanced ( manual adjustments) : Brightness, Contrast, Vivid, colour
balance, sharpness, monotone, memory colour correction, paint, texture.
Before printing you select the paper size and printing options. Here are the
options for A4 :
Index X20, Index X40, Index X80. (prints indexes of pictures/photos)
Card, (fits 8 photos on one sheet with margins between)
76X102mm, (3 photos on one sheet with margins)
89X127mm, (4 photos on one sheet with margins)
4"X6", (2 photos one sheet with margins )
127X178mm, (2 photos one sheet with margins)
178X254mm, (one full size photo with white margin.)
No Margins, (full size edge to edge. No margins)
No margins X2 , (2 photos one sheet, edge to edge, no margins)
No margins x4, (4 photos one sheet, edge to edge, no margins)
No margins X8, (8 photos one sheet, edge to edge, no margins)
Other paper sizes are A6, 100mmX150mm, Photo stickers, Roll paper.
Overall, a very good program. Just a shame about the lack of window
re-size.
Having used the printer now for a couple of days, I must say it is very good
and fast. I had an old Epson stylus 400 before getting a 580 as a stand
in, what would take the old 400 8 minutes now takes the 890 30 seconds. I
can now also print in 360dpi what I would have printed at 720dpi etc.....
Hope this helps, I am not a photographic expert, hence this has not been too
detailed.
Regards
Dane
Gav
"Dane Pestano" <da...@danep.plus.com> wrote:
[excellent account of experiences cut]
> Hope this helps, I am not a photographic expert, hence this has not
been too
> detailed.
Thanks Dane, I've been looking for info on the 890 for weeks and
this is the first hard information I've seen.
Can you give me some additional facts - like the resolutions
available and the cost (vs the cost of the old 870)?
I was tempted to get an 870 as the price had dropped, but if the new
890 isn't going to be a lot more and has more features/better quality I
will wait and get the 890.
Do you know if the 890 is using the same colour carts as the 870?
Some had been speculating that the 890 would fix the colour shift
problems that some had been experiencing with the 870 but I'd imagine
this is not the case if it uses the same ink....
Cheers,
Gavan
--
Highlander: There should have been only one.............
Sent via Deja.com
http://www.deja.com/
Ralf R. Radermacher
> Do you know if the 890 is using the same colour carts as the 870?
The 870 and 890 use the same inks and cartridges.
Ralf
--
Ralf R. Radermacher - DL9KCG - Köln/Cologne, Germany
coming soon: http://www.free-photons.de
e-mail from trash accounts (deja, yahoo) automatically rejected
Dane Pestano
"Gav" <gmo...@my-deja.com> wrote in message news:95borg$ht6> In article
>Thanks Dane, I've been looking for info on the 890 for weeks and
> this is the first hard information I've seen.
> Can you give me some additional facts - like the resolutions
> available and the cost (vs the cost of the old 870)?
The 890 in UK costs £172 if ordered online. Shops will sell it for about
£200+ no doubt. So same cost as 870 which has not been reduced in price yet
AFAIK.
Resolutions wise :
360dpi normal and fine modes
720dpi
1440X720dpi
2800X720dpi
Have found that 720dpi does a great job for everyday photo printing and is
very fast. If anyone wants me to send them an example of a 360dpi scan of a
720dpi Epson photo paper print let me know. Scanned with 1640SU unsharp mask
off. No other tampering except resizing. 340k jpg.
> I was tempted to get an 870 as the price had dropped, but if the new
> 890 isn't going to be a lot more and has more features/better quality I
> will wait and get the 890.
The 890 does have the ede to edge printing on A4 and other paper types and I
presume is faster and has new print technology, also plain paper prints are
very good. See the epson web site for full details www.epson.co.uk
> Do you know if the 890 is using the same colour carts as the 870?
> Some had been speculating that the 890 would fix the colour shift
> problems that some had been experiencing with the 870 but I'd imagine
> this is not the case if it uses the same ink....
Yes, apparently it uses the same cartridges. I have not had a problem with
colour shifting so far on Epson photo paper but after only two days it is
perhaps too early to tell.
Regards
Dane
Gav
"Dane Pestano" <da...@danep.plus.com> wrote:
[cut]
Thanks for the info. I think I'll probably pass up the discounted
local 870s I see (they aren't that heavily discounted - at least not
compared to reports about big US discounts anway) and pick up an 890
when they become available locally.