Members blue2blue Posted March 8, 2006 Members Share Posted March 8, 2006 A while back I bought an Epson R200 'photo' printer which is one of a series of low cost Epsons with CD/DVD printing built in. There was a co-promo that meant if I bought a digital cam I could get the printer for almost free. I sold the cam to a friend for $60 on a $90 brand new cam and got the printer for around $35 after all the bs was done. Unfortunately, the first thing I realized was that the print quality for regular text was far inferior to the old HP it was supposed to replace. The next thing I realized was the photo quality on any of the photo paper I had sitting around was lame, too. The next thing I realized is that this POS is one of the balkiest, most frustrating devices I've owned in quite a while. It simply decides to not print a major part of the time. Usually the driver hangs up, as well. But sometimes the driver thinks everything is fine and blithely goes to sleep, leaving the three lights on the printer blinking like a psycho Christmas tree. SOMETIMES, all you have to do is reboot. Not change the document or fix the printer. Just go through the VERY lengthy printer boot cycle (maybe about a minute and a half... my computer is halway into its workday before this POS printer has even stopped clunking and chunking through its tortured boot up) and it'll be okay, as though nothing had happened. But somtimes NOTHING you can do will make this FPOC print. You just have to walk away. I do NOT walk away from this kind of thing easily. It is not in my nature. OF COURSE, there's never ANY useful information at all on the source of the problem. Garbage. PS... the thing that REALLY pisses me of is that WHEN this thing works, it really does do a decent job of printing on blank CD's. Of course, you won't want to set your cocktail glass on one... the ink runs like a rich kid from the draft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted March 8, 2006 Members Share Posted March 8, 2006 We have an Epson Stylus Color 740 printer here at work. If you get this for FREE, don't use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members offramp Posted March 8, 2006 Members Share Posted March 8, 2006 OTOH, I've had three Epsons and loved them all...PhotoStylus 740, C80, and C82. Occasionally frustrating, yes, but no moreso than any other thing related to computers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted March 8, 2006 Author Members Share Posted March 8, 2006 I'm think quality control issues. I have friends who SWEAR by Epson printers -- at least for photo work. (I have a LOT of graphics pals.) But even from them I've heard a few horror stories. I can't say I've been all that crazy about my last few HP's either -- but that was more paper-handling issues (grabbing too many sheets -- even using HP's own 'special' paper). At least I could get the damn thing to print, even if it spewed the occasional blank sheet. I just had to vent. My relationship with this POS has NEVER been good, it's always been balky, but now it's really ticking me off because it boots up fine but as soon as you try to print, lights start blinking and, often as not it hangs up, leaving the driver frozen in mid-thought on the screen. Bad. Think about how ticked I'd be if I'd spent the full $100. PS... the color cartridges are a total rip off... they go fast, around here you can't buy them separate anyway, so what's the damn point? A new set will cost me twice what the printer cost. I can't imagine I'll EVER buy another Epson. How do folks like Lexmark? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted March 8, 2006 Author Members Share Posted March 8, 2006 I think the printer has suddenly decided it's "out of ink" even though the driver app says it has ink (the colored stuff is all low, to be sure, under the quarter-full mark -- I bought a new black and its fine). Now, the amusing thing is (amusing, he says through grinding, clenched teeth) is that, if indeed it is one or more of the colored ink carts that's "out" -- I haven't used any colored ink in a month at all. The printer is set to use BLACK ONLY. And there's plenty of friggin' black ink -- and the colored ink is at precisely the same level as it was yesterday when this POS was printing -- since I'm not using any. In fact, in between the last print job that printed and now nothing whatsoever changed. I REALLY HATE THIS MACHINE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hard Truth Posted March 8, 2006 Members Share Posted March 8, 2006 These days printers ae just devices designed to get you to buy replacement ink. Sometimes they allow you to print. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MorePaul Posted March 8, 2006 Members Share Posted March 8, 2006 Ugh,I hear that remeber when like with HP IIs there wa that micro-industry in toner refills, then on the IIIs they redesigned the cartridge so it wasn't really designed to be torn down, then there were those kits to open them anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted March 8, 2006 Author Members Share Posted March 8, 2006 My mom got talked into buying one of those kits by some of her neighbots. It was, like, half the price of an HP cart -- but the instructions were three pages and filled with all kinds of warnings. She gave it to me. Being a game guy, I started to follow the instructions and ended up with a huge mess -- happily before I even got the freakin' thing near the printer. I threw it out. I'm going to go buy a new "color pack" for $60 or $70 bucks and throw it in and see what happens. I think you know you can be assured to see a long, VERY nasty post if it doesn't work. I WILL extract my vengeance one way or the other... even if it ends up making me into one of those guys you see in all the user review threads: "DONT BUY THIS FREAKIN' whatever NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO!!! YOU'LL BE SORRY IF YOU DO!!!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MorePaul Posted March 8, 2006 Members Share Posted March 8, 2006 The toner is super-fine-- yeah you kinda got into the groove -- kinda like screwing around with halogen lamps you just have to get used to not touching stuff It sort of reminds me of restringing a bigsby, once you get it it's no biggie, but the first time can be frustrating Working of written instructions could really suck The great things abt the kits -- the drums are a LOT tougher than stock -- so you only needed to replace the drum with the aftermarket one in 8-10 toner recharges after that initial it's clean the corona wire andd fill the bitch up with powder...and off you go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thankyou Posted March 8, 2006 Members Share Posted March 8, 2006 I bought an RX620 Epson last year, as I wanted scanning capabilities for slides and photos. It's usually OK, but when only one of the ink carts is low, it sometimes won't print in B&W, even when the Black cartridge is new. It's also one of the brands that Office Depot will not take the old carts in exchange. I did find a complete set of inks at Costco for about $40, which is almost half what you'd pay for individual refills. Next time, I'm going for an all tube, point-to-point wired boutique printer with a pre-ink out. The printer ink industry is just an offshoot of the pharmaceutical conglomerates, right? Can I sneak up to Canada to get a better deal? ( Voice over P.A. ) "Stay away from the brown toner." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members philbo Posted March 8, 2006 Members Share Posted March 8, 2006 I have a friend with an Epson color inkjet. 1) The manufacturer driver CD was infected with both viruses and spyware. 2) The fresh new drivers downloaded from the web were just as bad, but contained different (new & updated) virus ware. 3) The printer doesn't work for most users, most of the time. 4) He's trying to find someone he dislikes enough to give this POS to. So far, no one has been bad enough to him... I suggest doing to yours what they did to the copier in 'Office Space' - - find an empty field and a baseball bat, and release your frustrations on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MorePaul Posted March 8, 2006 Members Share Posted March 8, 2006 it sometimes won't print in B&W, even when the Black cartridge is new. man, I'm having that problem with an HP2250 laser right now "Dave, C toner is out" "OK, HP, please print in greyscale" "I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that" "but there's enough black, right?" "yes dave" "so, just print in greyscale- please" "I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that" Well, let's call tech support "I 'm sorry Dave the AE-35 unit appears to be malfunctioning...We currently are out of contact" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members HCarlH Posted March 8, 2006 Members Share Posted March 8, 2006 I have the R200. It's the best printer I've ever had. My Canons were awful. And Canon pretty much invented the ink jet technology...go figure. Everything I print is crystal clear....maybe your settings are whack? Or the nozzle needs cleaning? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blackpig Posted March 8, 2006 Members Share Posted March 8, 2006 I just got a HP psc 1410. It scans, prints and photocopies. It's the best damn printer I've ever had and it only cost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members doug osborne Posted March 8, 2006 Members Share Posted March 8, 2006 I bought my R200 refurbished, directly from Epson, for $59 shipped. It has performed flawlessly, printing on CDs, with an occasional text page. The generic inks I got from supermediastore.com seem to work identically to the Epson inks, and they sell them per-color. My previous Epson printer, a Stylus Photo 780, was a nightmare. The second warranty replacement was the one that worked (I will credit Epson's customer service for doing the right thing and replacing a DOA unit, instead of requiring a service call). It tends to require a head cleaning every time you use it - it's on my kids' computer now - good luck boys! For the cost of an R200, you can't expect the best photo printing quality, but it is better than the 780 and far better than the HP that the 780 replaced. Graphics professionals use the $600-and-up Epsons, and their output can be stunning. For text printing, I have a Konika-Minolta laser printer ($50 after a $50 rebate, and toner costs $79.00...) and generally inkjet printers can't compare with even cheap laser printers. When I installed the R200, I exhaustively searched for anything Epson related on my computer and in my registry, and destroyed it. I followed the installation instructions carefully (I don't always RTFM...) - install the driver, connect the printer's USB cable when the installer asks, let the installer detect the printer, etc., and everything has worked flawlessly. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted March 8, 2006 Members Share Posted March 8, 2006 The Epson Stylus 740 jammed the first day of use. It regularly prints/doesn't print, "runs out" of ink only to suddenly print again, feeds multiple papers through, crunches the papers, jams again, then refuses to work and sits there and blinks. It's the biggest piece of {censored} printer I've ever used, and it was this way straight out of the box. This thing makes purchasing an OWC upgrade processor seem like a good idea, that's how bad an Epson Stylus 740 is... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Raymar Posted March 8, 2006 Members Share Posted March 8, 2006 Originally posted by HCarlH I have the R200. It's the best printer I've ever had. My Canons were awful. And Canon pretty much invented the ink jet technology...go figure. Everything I print is crystal clear....maybe your settings are whack? Or the nozzle needs cleaning? Same here. I had a Canon 600e that I popped $500 for back in '95 and it really sucked(300 dpi max). When I went to Win95 it sucked even worse as with Win 98. I'm still using Win98 and the R200 is a real dream, never had any kind of problems with it, and it was a gift to boot! Great photo pics, have a couple hanging up, quick with the text stuff, CDs look great. No driver problems period. Still have the original inks but I might go for the generics to save money. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members elsongs Posted March 8, 2006 Members Share Posted March 8, 2006 Originally posted by blue2blue ... the ink runs like a rich kid from the draft. ...Or enlists in a domestic form of the armed forces that does not go to combat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted March 8, 2006 Author Members Share Posted March 8, 2006 Originally posted by thankyou I bought an RX620 Epson last year, as I wanted scanning capabilities for slides and photos. It's usually OK, but when only one of the ink carts is low, it sometimes won't print in B&W, even when the Black cartridge is new. It's also one of the brands that Office Depot will not take the old carts in exchange. I did find a complete set of inks at Costco for about $40, which is almost half what you'd pay for individual refills. Next time, I'm going for an all tube, point-to-point wired boutique printer with a pre-ink out.The printer ink industry is just an offshoot of the pharmaceutical conglomerates, right? Can I sneak up to Canada to get a better deal? ( Voice over P.A. ) "Stay away from the brown toner." Thanks to thankyou for the Costco tip... the five carts (NOW I couldn't find the group pack so I ended up with about a half cubic foot of waste plastic and cardboard) set me back 70 freakin' dollars for color ink cartrides I'll probably never use but have to have to print friggin' B&W. Make this official: I'll never buy another Piece-of-S--- EPSON PRINTER again! So help me Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted March 8, 2006 Author Members Share Posted March 8, 2006 Originally posted by MorePaul it sometimes won't print in B&W, even when the Black cartridge is new.man, I'm having that problem with an HP2250 laser right now"Dave, C toner is out""OK, HP, please print in greyscale""I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that""but there's enough black, right?""yes dave""so, just print in greyscale- please""I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that"Well, let's call tech support"I 'm sorry Dave the AE-35 unit appears to be malfunctioning...We currently are out of contact" Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer true... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted March 8, 2006 Author Members Share Posted March 8, 2006 Originally posted by HCarlH I have the R200. It's the best printer I've ever had. My Canons were awful. And Canon pretty much invented the ink jet technology...go figure. Everything I print is crystal clear....maybe your settings are whack? Or the nozzle needs cleaning? Well, Canons... no wonder! Don't you read the reviews?!? It always seemed odd that Canon made the engine for the HP printers (I assume they still do but I don't know) but had so much trouble making a printer people didn't just loathe. Of course, they didn't help themselves by screwing their users into the ground on ink costs. Have you ever looked at the projected ink costs on Canons? Ohmigosh. Of course, I should talk, huh? I just spent 70 friggin' dollars on color ink I may never use but that will probably just gum up and have to be replaced anyway. GRRRR! OF course, Epsons and HPs often do well in the same reviews. So, you know... I'm glad your machine works well. Cherish it. Mine's a balky, works sometimes-don't work others-drivers hang up-no meaningufl error messages EVER-piece of crap. I mean... it hangs up and has to be rebooted if you don't pull the CD tray out at just the right moment -- meaning you have to stand there and wait for the flippin' thing to get done and then be ready to grab the tray when it pushes back out. You only have maybe 15 or 20 seconds to grab it or it will hang up. But -- hey -- that's OK because most times if you try to print a second CD -- even though it give EVERY sign of being ready to go, it just plain f-----' hangs up and you have to reboot anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted March 8, 2006 Author Members Share Posted March 8, 2006 Originally posted by elsongs ...Or enlists in a domestic form of the armed forces that does not go to combat? I made that line a LOT less, um, specific than it was when I first typed it out... this isn't the political forum, after all. But, hell, y'all know what I mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted March 8, 2006 Author Members Share Posted March 8, 2006 Originally posted by Raymar Same here. I had a Canon 600e that I popped $500 for back in '95 and it really sucked(300 dpi max). When I went to Win95 it sucked even worse as with Win 98. I'm still using Win98 and the R200 is a real dream, never had any kind of problems with it, and it was a gift to boot! Great photo pics, have a couple hanging up, quick with the text stuff, CDs look great. No driver problems period. Still have the original inks but I might go for the generics to save money. Steve Steve... Win 98? Damn. I like Doug's idea of buying one refurbished. Of course, he paid twice almost twice what I laid out (after I sold the camera, got the rebates, yadda yadda) but he's got a machine that apparently is dependable which is the last way I would describe mine. Looks like I missed my window of opportunity on grabbing the CD tray out of this thing, it's hung up again. But at least it PRINTED! And I have to say -- as thoroughly awkward as the CD tray system is (and irritating in its demand for personal attention/monitoring/rebooting) it DOES make a nice CD/DVD printout. Which is surprising considering how sucky the print quality on paper or photopaper is. I'm guessing it's optimized for matte CD surface... which is kind of funny consider how incredibly clunky the CD tray apparatus is... OK. I guess I'm vented out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Raymar Posted March 9, 2006 Members Share Posted March 9, 2006 Originally posted by blue2blue Steve... Win 98? Damn. Looks like I missed my window of opportunity on grabbing the CD tray out of this thing, it's hung up again. But at least it PRINTED! And I have to say -- as thoroughly awkward as the CD tray system is (and irritating in its demand for personal attention/monitoring/rebooting) it DOES make a nice CD/DVD printout. Which is surprising considering how sucky the print quality on paper or photopaper is. I'm guessing it's optimized for matte CD surface... which is kind of funny consider how incredibly clunky the CD tray apparatus is... OK. I guess I'm vented out. Hate to rub it in but I don't have a clunky tray problem either. Just line up the arrows and let it fly, it does take a while to print a CD though. You can adjust what paper type it uses, it prints very well on glossy especially, looks like a magazine photo and its waterproof as well. Something to check - under Monitoring Preferences I don't have the Communication Error checked. Below are three examples of different paper types: 1) an ink printable CDR; 2) plain paper print of a Yves Tanguy painting jpg I nicked off the web; 3) glossy paper photo from my Nikon Coolpix digital(in fact I used that camera for this photo, a pic of a pic) complete with a flash reflection. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members amplayer Posted March 9, 2006 Members Share Posted March 9, 2006 Uh oh. I just bought an Epson R220 for the express purpose of printing on CDs. I have an HP PSC1315 that has been working great for me, and it was even cheaper than the R220. Do you think I should return it? What else will print on CDs for near that price? I was just getting ready to open the R220 box and start it up, but now I'm scared... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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