Epson printing - Disappointing

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joaquimjssoares

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Joaquim
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Hi Guys,

I've been organizing my photos and found some photos I would like to print. I have an old Lexmark Color printer that was really cheap and has been doing the trick for small printings. I have to say the quality of the Lexmark was good to my standards (it was my first printer after my good companion HP560C).
So excited as I was to print big, that today I did some research on internet and found that the Epson Stylos Office B1100 was a very good A3+ printer for the price. I was always curious about the Epson quality as everyone says it's one of the best brands for photo printing.
I found one good deal in a retailer close to me and bought the printer after work. I got home, installed the printer (it was straight forward) and did my first test with the same picture I've printed yesterday on my Lexmark... I couldn't believe. The colors were blend, there's a mark (like a track) on the photo.. overall it's an awful printing.
Am I doing anything wrong? I don't think it's a monitor calibration issue as the Lexmark quality is very good. The photo from the lexmark is more shiny. The photo from the Epson looks dull...
What do you guys think? Can it be these ink cartdriges?

Thanks

JS
 
Has the printer been set to print photo quality finishes? Sounds like it may be printing in draft or something. Also, is the printer specifically a photo printer? The lexmark perhaps wasn't but printing small covers up a multitude of sins. Printing big won't!
 
Hi menthel,

Thanks for your reply. The quality is set to the highest photo quality. Yesterday I printed over 20 photos playing around with all the possible options, but the results are always disappointing. I'm really thinking in return the printer, but all the reviews I read say the quality of printing is really good, so I'm sure I must be doing something wrong... what? I really don't know.
:(

JS
 
looking at the data on the Epson web site it looks as though this is an office, rather than photo printer.

Not sure exactly how Epson differentiate, but it may be down to printing speed ink lay down and paper used. You may be better off looking at one of their Photo ranges.
 
Well according to several reviews I found on the net it should be really good. Slow, but good. The problem is that only 1 of these statements is true... it is slow.
 
What sort of reviews. Are they from general review sites or ones that deal with photographic reviews. If I were printing photographic images that's not a printer i would normally go for. I'd opt for one from the Epson Photo range.

In fact I just went to the Epson web site and clicked on A3 printers and the B1100 showed as a selection. However when I then added "Photo" as a requirement , it was deleted from the list. Here's the link.

http://www.epson.co.uk/Printers-and-All-In-Ones/Inkjet#filterBbar
 
You're right, the reviews I've seen were from macworld.co.uk and pcadvisor.co.uk and not from any photografic related website. I also checked the user reviews on amazon and everybody says the printer is good on color printing, not as good on text printing.
I've done some more tests just now and besides the bad photo quality, the worst is the track mark the printer leaves on every photo. It's just horrible.
I'm realy disappointed.
 
It shouldn't leave a track mark. It's not the cart as the print head is within the machine not in the carts.

Try using the head clean option. If that fail I'd consider returning it as faulty. If you do try and get a Photo quality replacement machine
 
I would return it if I were you and get a proper photo printer. Chappers is also right that if its tracking then there is something wrong with the heads.
 
I decided to give it back, so I've packed everything and took it to the place I bought it yesterday with some photo samples to justify my decision.

Right now I’m just ****ed off. Maybe I'm just bad used to a good customer service. After explaining everything the depute manager of the store said he could not refund me immediately. They had to run some Epson diagnosis tool (?) and then if the tool proves that the printer is faulty they will refund me. I said fine, test it, I’ll wait. Well, this tool was not in the store and they have to take the printer to the main store to test it. Only by Monday I will have their decision. It may even happen that this tool says nothing is wrong (although the pictures proof the opposite) and then if I want to return the printer I have to pay a fee!!! The justification was that they cannot sell a used item. A faulty item, he meant! Then I asked to see the report of that diagnosis tool on monday, and the guy said he was not sure that would be possible because maybe the tool doesn’t print any report, just shows the results on a screen!! I asked him to take a picture of the screen then!!
I’m really frustrated with all this situation.
 
You bought it yesterday and they won't refund? That is just bad customer services. Where did you buy it from?
 
Novatech. They say because the printer is a consumable they cannot resell it, and they have to be sure Epson takes it back. That’s just ridiculous. What is funny is that if I pay a fee, they will refund me. Meaning, they don’t refund the full amount.
It’s not the first time I buy with them and I never had a problem before. But this time it’s really bad. Anyway… I’m going to forget about it until Monday. I will let you guys know how it goes.
 
If you do get a refund, I'd nip down to PC world. Over the years I've had a couple of problems, with a few items, and never had any problem, usually exchanged or credit on the spot.
 
Just as an update, I got a phone call from a person in Novatech saying he was testing the printer and he couldn't find anything wrong with it. Honestely I was expecting that. After explaining that on photo printing, using premium glossy paper, the printer was leaving track marks on the photo, he said he was printing photos on regular paper and he could not see anything wrong. As I was not going anywhere with this guy, I went to the store again, and asked to speak with the manager. He knew my story already, and I've showed him the photos I had printed at home. Although I could see he was not happy by doing it, he gave me my money back. End of the story. Next time I will think twice before I buy from them.

But this means I'm back to the market. What A3+ photo printer do you guys suggest? I read good reviews on the Canon IX4000.

Thanks for your time reading this.

JS
 
The hard truth? Forget about printing them yourself. More grief and trouble than it's worth. Find yourself a good online printer at the right price and use them. Aldi do outstanding 12x8 prints for 34p each. You can't get anywhere near that price printing at home. And that's without all the testing, all the failures and disappointments. Photobox do excellent big prints (maybe Aldi do too - haven't tried their big ones). 6x4 for 5p each if you have a minimum quantity, at lots of places like Tesco, Photobox etc. Again, you can't get that sort of price at home.

My two inkjets - A3 and A4 - have both been unused and retired for a couple of years at last now. I have a great colour laser for standard document printing with no inkjet blockage problems which cost me £130 with an extra set of toners that will last me forever. For quick occasional photos I have a Canon 6x4 dye sub which gives great prints. Not cheap for a large number - about 30p each, but good for the odd one now and again.
 
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