Printers: Epson R1900 or Epson R2880

[Phillip L]

For those in the know, which would i be better off with, in terms of value for money, and quality of print:

Epson R1900 (RRP $1099 AUD) vs. Epson R2880 (RRP $1499 AUD)

Thank-you in advance,

Phillip La Peyre

[stopa]

In Poland we have R2400 and it is REALLY good printer. (R2880 is propably your local equivalent of our R2400)

[rrdesign]

I agree...The Epson R2400 is a fantastic printer!!!

[Phillip L]

The 2880 is brand new,and superseeds the 2400. So you think that would be better than the 1900?

THanks heaps.

Phillip.

[rrdesign]

I would suggest the 2880. It seems to be similar to the 2400 and will probably have a better color range than the 1900 (for both color and b&w prints).

[PhotoCat]

To put the pedigree straight:

• R2880 is a successor to R2400
• R1900 is a successor to R1800

Each family of printers has different specialization, caters to different types of prints (and hence different groups of users), has different ink formulation and excels in particular types of output.

• R1900 is probably the best wide color gamut printer currently available. It excels in producing bright saturated color prints on gloss/semi-gloss paper and excellent skin tones. R1900 struggles with black & white prints and art paper.
• R2880 is probably the best B&W printer on the market. It creates superb black & white prints and produces subtle art prints with extremely smooth gradations. The gloss printing is in line with industry standards, but clearly inferior to R1900.

The question “which printer is best” is meaningless – you cannot compare apples to oranges. The real question is “which printer is best for the kind of prints I am planning to do”. The rule of thumb is:

• If you are primarily interested in high-gloss color printing – R1900 is for you
• If you are primarily interested in B&W and art photography – you go for R2880
• If you want to do both, consider which one is more important for you

The price difference between the two is misleading. R2880 is more expensive simply because it is more of a niche printer and has fewer users (not many people are doing B&W nowadays). R1900 is more mainstream, hence cheaper. Additionally, over here in UK R2880 inks are harder to find (and more expensive) then R1900, but this may vary from country to country.

Over here we ended up owning both R2880 and R1900 which are working side-by-side (sitting one above the other in a rack) - so we have the best of both.

[TreesOfMyTime]

I am still waiting for Epson to produce 17" printer that allows both photo and matte black to be installed at the same time. I get driver hassles each time I change black inks on a Mac.

[bobgreen1]

This is for Photo Cat if you're still out there: When you say the 1900 "struggles" with b&w do you mean there's a color cast? Or it produces b&w prints that simply aren't as satisfying as the 2880?

[ediom]

R1900 is not good for me....I purchased one - about USD 800 and found no good ink for it!!! original inks are too expensive and I have to buy refillable inks... many people boast their inks are very high quality but after testing- all craps ! I just used once and it's still lying there in the box...also it is said - it's unknown how to chipset the waste ink tank...because EPSON changed it and made it different from R1800!!

[Dave.Cox]

I have an R1900 and it works just fine for me. It is pretty much the bottom of the line of the professional set. But it is a very fine printer.

[RooB]

Originally Posted by ediom

R1900 is not good for me....I purchased one - about USD 800 and found no good ink for it!!! original inks are too expensive and I have to buy refillable inks... many people boast their inks are very high quality but after testing- all craps ! I just used once and it's still lying there in the box...also it is said - it's unknown how to chipset the waste ink tank...because EPSON changed it and made it different from R1800!!

Try http://www.inkjetfly.com

I know a few commercial printers who have R-series printers, and they use CIS bulk ink systems from these guys, and give it the thumbs up.

The quality prints that they get matches that of Epson geniune inks.

Mind you, you need to color calibrate your printer every time you re-fill inks or buy new paper (and should keep calibration profiles on hand too). But, this should be done for genuine inks as well, because there could be subtle variations in the processing of the inks/paper.

The lifespan of the prints may be a slight bit shorter, but honestly, in the digital age, very very few people will actually care if prints will last 200 years or not.

[ediom]

Thank you very much RooB for your advice! I'm now thinking to convert my EPSON R1900 to a DTG printer. As I no long needs it ( I have purchased large format one ) and DTG would be a best choice for me. I'm looking around still to find as much information as possible for DIY work. A service manual may work and also will read more others' experience. This is really interesting.