Epson launches three inkjets: R260, R380, and the RX580 all-in-one

Epson unveiled three new "Ultra Hi-Definition" photo printers on Monday with the launch of the Stylus Photo R260, R380 (pictured) and RX580 all-in-one. All three share the same print engine and redesigned print heads to print 4x6 photos in just 13 seconds while spitting out B/W or colored text at up to 30 pages per minute -- both bests for Epson photo printers. They also feature Epson's unique, out-of-the-box ability to print direct to printable CD/DVDs dropped into the front-loading tray. The R260 is the base model with the R380 adding memory card slots and a large, 3.5-inch LCD right up front for viewing your shots when printing directly off memory cards; something you'll do oh, maybe once in a lifetime if you're one of the lucky few to actually own a computer at home with even the most rudimentary photo management software installed. The RX580 drops that pointless LCD down to 2.5-inches but brings a 1,200 pixel per inch optical scanner with a useful direct-to-PDF function. As you'd expect, scanned images can then be copied (aka, printed) at that same 30 pages per minute rate. And when combined with Epson's new Claria ink, your photos will last longer than even those produced by a professional lab. Hey, that's what Epson is touting in the hopes of locking you into their replacement ink cartridges for the decades it will take to prove 'em wrong. Expect the R260 to pull $130 with the R380 and RX580 both demanding $200.

[Thanks, Art]

[Pipper @ Aug 30th 2006 10:33AM]

hmm... I have a cheapo Epson Photo 820, I think it eats up more ink for print head cleaning than actually printing... (and still have a few line of permanently clogged print nozzles!)

With this advanced "redesigned" ultra-resulotion print head, I wonder how much worse it can get...?

[Benticore @ Aug 30th 2006 10:50AM]

I'll never touch another Epson printer again. We bought the R300 and have had such a hassle with it. When it works, it prints fine but for a couple of glaring problems. 1) If one of your ink cartridges is low, even a light pink when you're trying to do a straight text print, the printer will refuse to work. 2) Im convinced that even if you print grayscale, the printer still uses ink from all of the cartridges. 3) If something wonky happens with your ink cartridge/printer while you are installing a new cartridge, the printer can read the new cartridge as empty and refuse to print with it. Anybody got a suggestion on a GOOD, RELIABLE printer I can buy that doesnt SUCK INK like a thirsty, evil...um...Ink Sucking Demon?

Benticore

[Just me @ Aug 30th 2006 11:03AM]

#2

same here with an RX425. Never again in my life will I buy anything from Epson.

[romeo echo @ Aug 30th 2006 11:08AM]

Good reliable printer recommendation? I love my Brother MFC-820CW to tears. Of course, I print most everything in draft mode to save ink; you'll always suck it down on any printer if you don't. And the Brother doesn't have any of the other nifty selling points of these Epsons (long ink life, cd printing, super-high-res, scan-to-pdf, etc) but it's still a damn good printer, and it's wireless networked!

[Randy @ Aug 30th 2006 11:11AM]

I have the previous Epson R340. One could ask how could Epson improve on printing quality? Can't wait to see what these new "Ultra Hi-Definition" will do.

[longofest @ Aug 30th 2006 11:40AM]

And in one year, your printer won't print a damn thing. I have had 4 Epson printers die like that, all at one year (I had been happy with Epson, then recommended Epson to my family. BIG MISTAKE!!! All our printers died!!!). I now use Canon, and so far have been happy (HP sucks too, at least in personal inkjets).

[Dave @ Aug 30th 2006 11:40AM]

I have a cheap (inexpensive) R200 I used just for printing on CDs. It worked pretty well; but, when it was time to buy ink, I found that replacing all the necessary ink cartridges would cost as much as the printer: $100.

[Mark @ Aug 30th 2006 12:18PM]

In most of the world Canon printers can print on cds right out of the box too, it's definitely not unique to Epson. If you have one in the US, do a little research and it's not to hard to make yours print on cds too. Besides, Canon printers print faster, have cheaper ink, use less ink and arguably have better print quality. Why on earth would you buy an Epson?

[psxp @ Aug 30th 2006 12:46PM]

yeah, I ditched Epson ages ago as well.. gone with HP and Canon.. Epson wastes ink a lot, gets mixed up with empty/full ink carts. etc. agh!

[TurboFool @ Aug 30th 2006 12:47PM]

First off, those of you with dead R300 series are in the minority. They're some of the best-lasting printers I've dealt with. Second, any professional photographer will tell you they buy Epson exclusively. They HAVE no competition in photos. Epson's reliability is the highest-rated alongside HP, but everybody has their issues.

As for their comparison to Canon, these new Epsons print faster than Canon, and Canon's newest line of cartridges are more expensive and use more ink than Epson, and nine out of ten side-by-side comparisons between prints from each will lead you to the Epson.

Why on earth would you buy an Epson? Because it's the best photo printer on the market, bar none.

Oh, and #7, I'm not sure where you were buying ink from, but a full set is about $82 retail. Go to Costco, it's $58.

[Shunnabunich @ Aug 30th 2006 12:56PM]

"...if you're one of the lucky few to actually own a computer at home with even the most rudimentary photo management software installed"

You mean a Mac? (Yeah, I suppose some PC OEMs come with buggy trial versions of photo apps designed for Windows 95 too, but meh)

Anyway, printing onto a CD seems pretty handy, but I've never had/used an Epson, and by the sound of the comments above me, I probably never will. :P

[Just me @ Aug 30th 2006 1:03PM]

TurboFool,

nevermind print quality.

If you have a black and three color cartridges and one of the color cartridges dies you should still be able to print black only. If you can't, as is the case with the Epson printers in question, well, either the manufacturer is grossly incompetent or a stinking turd of weasel dung.

[Luke @ Aug 30th 2006 1:15PM]

Benticore... like most printer endusers you unfortunently don't know anything about printers.

1) Any good printer will stop printing when a cartridge runs out of ink... why? Because if it drys up enough it will let air in your printhead and damage your printer. If you have a printer that lets you print without all the cartriges, it's a piece of crap as far as photo printing is concerned.

2) Of course it does. Any good photo printer will use all the cartriges to improve the color gamut. Once again, any printer that prints grayscale with only the black catridge is a piece of junk.

3) Learn to read the instructions and take care of your printer.

Basically, all the things you've listed as negatives are part of what makes Epson photo printers the best in the world. Anybody who would buy a Canon or HP for photo printing simply doesn't understand printer technology. It'd be like buying a Linux box for gaming...

[Luke @ Aug 30th 2006 1:19PM]

"Just me"

Any printer that will let you print one color only (with the others empty) sustains irreversable damage to the printhead every time it prints. Works fine for those cheesy lexmark and HP text or trash printers, but for a nice photo printer it will ruin your printer.

My Epson will actually let me print a few prints with one of the inks out, then it will stop and warn me that I simply have printed too much with an empty cartridge and it needs to be replaced. It simply doesn't get any better then that.

There is a reason that 90% of professionals use Epson. I'm kind of stunned reading these comments and realizing how stupid people are...

[Just me @ Aug 30th 2006 1:26PM]

Luke, did you know that a snowball can last very long in hell if it wears a little hat?

[Luke @ Aug 30th 2006 1:29PM]

Just me, did you know that time flys like the wind and fruit flies like bananas?

[Just me @ Aug 30th 2006 1:36PM]

Luke, I bet you're kicking yourself now...

[Luke @ Aug 30th 2006 1:54PM]

Not at all man... if I was suppose to pick up on that, I failed.

Anyway, it's amazing to me that the same techie types that will spend 5 hours a day researching Duo Core 2 or, Video Cards, or Digicams never bother to learn anything about printers. I never hear so much misinformation in technology as when I talk to people about the pros and cons of printers.

Like take a look at longofest up top. I bet he doesn't know that Canon and HP basically use the same printer technology (thermal). I always laugh when HP or Canon gurus go after the one one... because they're not too different. Epsons use completely different techlogoy (piezo crystal), which yes, can clog and have problems (what printers don't?) especially on the low end pigmented ink printers. But they aren't designed to be business printers, they're designed to be far and away the best photo printers in the world and will last almost forever if you take reasonable care of them.
Things you should never do with an Epson, or any high end photo printer:

1) Use off brand ink. Yes it will clog the printhead.
2) Print with an empty cartridge. I don't care if the printer lets you, don't do it. If you do more than a few, you could ruin your printhead.
3) Leave the printer on for more than a few days at a time without using it even a little.
4) Pull the cartridges out of the printer when you go shopping for new ones. Worse yet, leave them out for a few days while you get around to installing the new ones. Never have your cartridges out of a printer for more than a half hour.
5) Power off the printer in any way other then the power button. Yes using that surge protector to power your printer on and off will ruin it in time.

And for those of you that don't follow this list, and get some fairly bad clogging, do not keep running the print head cleaner over and over. Run it once or twice and let the printer sit for 24 hours then try again. 95% of the time that will fix the problem.

Hope that helps.

[jaime @ Jan 10th 2009 11:37AM]

Some of my ink is working and some isn't . all are full but nozzles aren't working .Should I use the nozzle cleaner that they sale on line?

[hmurchison @ Aug 30th 2006 2:27PM]

Mark it depends on what you're doing. Canon printers have been a distant 3rd to Epson and HP in print permanence. I'd say that if you're a general user no problems but if you are a photgrapher Epson is still king of the kill IMO.

[doofusgumby @ Aug 30th 2006 2:44PM]

we've had lots of epsons die on us from improper use, storage, and supplies replacement. IF ONLY THE FREAKIN' PRINT HEADS WERE USER REPLACABLE!!! GAH! other than that, fine printers indeed. photos on our high end canon or HP's look like crap compared to the same photo on an epson.

[tekdroid @ Aug 30th 2006 6:14PM]

comp.periphs.printers
is a great newsgroup for printer discussion.

Personally,
I will never buy a printer that doesn't work reliably with "off-brand" ink/toner. Using a printer every few days or once a week just so the printheads don't clog in this day and age (2006) is quite ridiculous. Improve the technology or face the wrath of a customer backlash (as some comments here can attest to).

Anyhow, what the manufacturers charge for ink seems to be the equivalent of buying liquid gold. My pockets aren't that deep and my needs aren't so demanding. Give me something that lasts 3+ years with reasonable running costs.

[Luke @ Aug 30th 2006 7:13PM]

Tekdroid, it's not important to use the printer every few days... it's important to use the printer every few days if it's turned on. That's all brands, not just Epson. If you turn it off it will store fine. I just pulled one out of the box that's been stored for over a year and a half, and after one cleaning cycle it printed perfectly.

As for off brand ink. I know what saving money on printing is all about... I'm a grad student. However, if you're trying to print photos on off brand ink you should do some more research, they're look like crap and generally be a waste of money. Tomshardware did a study showing that off brand ink products cost more in the long run because the quality is so crummy and they usually will break your printer. If you want to use off brand ink, buy a throw away text printer (or better yet, a laser). If you want better-than-lab quality photo prints, stick with an Epson. Besides, I don't know what's so "liquid gold" about $.24-35 per 4x6 photo... especially when they're far better and more convenient then you'll get for $.19-40 from a lab.

It's really an inverse relationship. Either the printer will have millions of fine nozzles that can clog if not taken care of, or it has large nozzles that look like crap for photos *cough*HP*cough* (LOL@ 17PL black droplets.) And of course, HP's clog anyway. Canon is having so much trouble with their new pigmented ink printers cloging their heads that they just got pushed back another 4 months. Plus, with an HP or Canon the thermal process inherently wears down the printhead over time, so you're getting screwed from both ends.
For the type of printing they're doing, Epson's technology is far more reliable and long lasting. When I used to work at Compusa and they did a trade in thing, I had people bringing in Epson's from the mid 80's that still worked perfectly. That's unbelievable for an inkjet.

[NicleT @ Aug 30th 2006 8:37PM]

Mmm. Does it makes coffe ?

[Rusty @ Aug 30th 2006 9:53PM]

I've had an HP7760 for a couple of years, I ONLY use HP brand inks, and it works perfectly for my needs. Almost 100% of the printing I do is photo printing. Yes, I could save money on "off brand" inks/refills, but the reason I use OEM supplies is because I've been a photocopier tech for 25 years. I KNOW what off brand toners and inks can do to a machine. The problem with off brand supplies is that they are usually manufactured for a WIDE range of melting points (in the case of powder toner). The other problem is the ability of the toner to retain the triboelectric (friction) charge. If you can't transfer the toner and then it won't melt properly, you will ruin the fuser unit and then also damage the drum. Not to mention the amount of dusting inside the machine. I've had repair bills I've had to hand to customers that can run in the hundreds to thousands of dollars do to non OEM toners and supplies. The same thing to a different level is with the inks for inkjet cartridges. You think that store down the street that does refills has canon, epson, HP, lexmark only inks? Heck no! He fills them all from the same gallon bottle of ink. I've been behind the curtains of a few of those stores to service their photocopiers. It's all the same ink! The viscosity of the inks has a lot to do with the droplet size and its ability to pump through the ink head nozzle. Spray the droplet wrong and at best you get a lousy print. At worst you end up with a damaged ink head, and a mess inside your printer.
You get what you pay for with ink and toner. You can pay me now or pay me later......

[Chris Reddy @ Aug 31st 2006 5:04PM]

I have owned an Epson CX5400 all-in-one for the last 3 years. I bought it to supplement the laser on my wife's comuter. I wanted several things from this printer:
1) Replace the scanner on my desk
2) Cheap color prints (kids homework & throwawyas...)
3) A Decent photo printer
4) Cheap color prints (for keepers, I'll get them printed from a lab)

The way I researched what printer to buy was to look on Ebay to see what ink I could get cheap ($2-$4 per cart). Once I identified that, I chose the Epson - it has worked flawlessly and prints great using cheap cartridges - again, for real keepers, I will have them printed at a lab. I usually buy 10 cartridges at a time and have no problems. Follow the instructions for general care and you should do fine. Not bad for a $130 All-in-One.

[jim patelli @ Nov 29th 2006 2:12PM]

just replaced my epson photo 925 with a R380, the 925 printed perfectly but the rollers wore out and it no longer was able to load the paper. Anyone needs it?
The 380 is so nice....just the inks are not yet available from anyone but epson and quite expensive. I'll check out Costco next.
If you print professional photos, nothing else compares.
I used Carrot and 1ink replacement cartridges in the 925 and did not have problems.

[kenny @ Jan 21st 2007 12:29PM]

Here's what I do.....purchase several Stylus Photo R380's at around 100 dollars each. Then sell the cartridges on Ebay for around $110.00(free shipping). That is less than buying them new anywhere else. Then either toss the printer or try to get a few dollars off Ebay for it(cartridges not included of course).

[Karin @ May 7th 2007 4:50PM]

We just got an R260 - and the images looked wonderful, well until they started coming out distorted and sometimes with random magenta patches... (as of the 3rd print)
Taking it back tonight, not sure if we are exchanging or just dropping it yet...
Oh and the black ink doesnt seem to last at all on this one...
Overall, i still believe epson has the best quality... a few bad eggs to be expected...
But you hear as many bad stories about canon and all the others...

[Mitch @ Aug 25th 2007 2:46PM]

I mistakenly bought an Epson R260 about two weeks ago for the express purpose of printing label titles, in black,(no graphics) on DVDs. I have printed 12 labels and I get an out of ink message. I replaced the black cartridge and it isn't happy, it wants me to replace all the cartridges.

In my opinion, Epson is screwing the consumer big time with this piece of crap.

This is my first and last Epson printer.

[Christel @ Sep 17th 2007 5:36AM]

Exactly same problem as Mitch with my R340. I changed the black but the color cartridges are full and still the printer won't do anything until I changed them all.

That will be my last Epson inkjet!

[vis @ Oct 24th 2007 8:10PM]

r260 was worst buy i ever did
use canon for 12 years - no problem
r-260
1- to replace ink 6*20.00=120.00
2- you can see ink going down when watching printing
3- avarage cost to print picture is around 5.00
4- when cleaning(which is advised every second print
you can clean 1/3 of ink cartrages in 1 minute

[bill de renzo @ Dec 15th 2007 2:11PM]

DO NOT...I REPEAT...DO NOT BUY ANY EPSON PRODUCTS.
I purchased 2 R260's for my office thinking they would do the job better than HP, Brother of Canon.
Was I wrong! Not only can't you buy 3rd party ink replacements,but after buying $180.00 worth of epson's replacement cartridges NONE OF THEM WORKED in any of the 2 printers. I called tech support. That was my biggest mistake. The can't speak english and put you through hell to get to the problem that they can't fix. NEVER AGAIN....NEVER.

[Terry Pasley @ Jan 2nd 2008 1:13PM]

I had the same problem with the R260.
I picked one up for my church. We just started recording the sermons on CD, and wanted to print a simple text label on the disk.
The folowing week when I checked in with them, they said they could not print anymore.
The printer was says all cartriges were empty. That was after printing 10-12 cds, with about 4 lines of black text on each.
I called Epson and complained, she told me that the printer will use color, even when printing only in black. But she sent me a full set of cartriges for my trouble.

I have actualy picked up a R260 for my house now also.
Here is the secret.
This printer defaults to BEST QUALITY with every job. Change that!
When printing text, be sure to go into Manual Print, Properties (Change the quality), Advanced (Click Greyscale)

I print dvd lables at home, and I get about 120 full color beautifull labels per set of cartriges.
The trick there is DRAFT. Draft looks like crap for just about anything on this printer EXCEPT when printing on disc.
Draft looks beautifull on disks.

I also only use "Compatible" cartriges which I pick up on ebay for around $22 per set shiped.

I also never turn the printer off. Turning it on makes it prime the print heads and waste ink (I swear there is a little cup where the ink must get squirted in when priming, or where it like to shoot the color ink during your black text jobs, and rainbow-bright comes and drinks that ink every night

[Jim Koch @ Dec 8th 2008 3:43PM]

I am also disapointed in my Epson R260. It seems to gulp expensive ink. I spoke to the dealer who sold me the printer and was advised to leave the printer turned on becouse the printer primes the nossles each time it's turned on. I began to leave the printer turned which helps alot. Now I learn from Luke that this practice clogs the print head - Oh great!

Terry Pasley has some good ideas that I am going to try.

I've come to the conclusion that buying a photo printer like the R260 for general home use is a mistake. It may excel in photo printing but using it to print web pages etc. is just too expensive. A good office or a general home printer is the way to go.

By the way, I purchased a Canon IP4500 on advice from the saleswoman. She said that it's ink cartridges contain 13 ml of ink which is more than any other cartridge - for the price anyway. Canon is the only cartridge that prints the ink quanity on the box. It also has tranparent sides so you can actually view the ink quanity. No other manufacturer will do this becouse they don't want you to know how little ink is actually in the cartridge. So far I am impressed with it. I think that it prints photos as good as or better than the Epson. Alot of Canon printers can print CD covers - Google Canon CD printing to find out how.