Epson combines brilliant color with 2,880 x 720 dpi resolution in the Stylus Photo S820. Epson's PRINT Image Matching technology oversees six fast-drying color photo inks that are formed into superfine 4-picoliter droplets, resulting in bright, accurate, true-to-life color. The S820's prints are frequently indistinguishable from standard photographs, making this an ideal printer for professional applications as well as the home office.
Print speed is a respectable 12 ppm for black-and-white prints, while a 4-by-6-inch photo takes roughly 48 seconds. The S820 supports a wide variety of media types, including standard letter-size paper; greeting cards; banners up to 44 inches; and 4-by-6-inch, 5-by-7-inch, and 8-by-10-inch borderless papers. The input tray holds 100 sheets or 10 envelopes, and the output tray holds 30 sheets.
The software bundle includes Epson Software Film Factory with Print Image Matching support, Arcsoft PhotoImpression 3.0, and QBeo PhotoGenetics 2.0 TE. Installation and connectivity are easy, with USB and parallel ports provided. Compatible with both Windows and Macintosh, the Photo S820 comes with a one-year warranty and is backed by the Epson Exchange program.
Stylus Photo 820 Ink Jet Printer produces frame-ready photos at a picture perfect price. The best buy in 6-color image quality, the Epson Stylus Photo 820 offers fast photos and text, plus BorderFree printing, which creates edge-to-edge photos, ready to frame or place in albums, quickly and easily, without awkward perforations at up to 2880 x 720 dpi resolution, and superior Photo Inks for true-to-life "dotless" photos.
1 SAVE YOUR MONEY
Buy something else, if there were a zero star option I would have given it.
Now on the plus side when it works the prints are excellent.
But the trouble is with the "when it works" !
Every time I try and print anything seems the heads are always clogged, it then takes numerous cleaning cycles and LOADS of VERY expensive ink to clean.
Oh and then your cleaning the black head (using color ink as well) after the fifth cycle, its almost cleared the clog.... you get the "color ink low - change color ink cartridge" guess what you just used up all your color ink cleaning the black head
Sometimes cloggs midway through printing a 10 x 8 print..... very anoying.
I just bought a Canon ip 4000 so this ones in the trash!
2 What do you expect?
I have had this printer for almost 2 years. I use the cheapest ink I can find and YES I use it with XP.
I think it is JUST FINE. If you want upscale prints buy an upscale printer. I have another Epson printer that I tried to use tech support and EPSON TECH SUPPORT is equivilant to DRUNK MONKEYS....at best. I find OEM Epson ink is horrible. CLogs worse than anything and is stupidly expensive. BUY GENERIC.
Try Voltexx.com for cheap ink.
I have let this printer sit for weeks (6-8) and used it. YES I have to run headcleaning several times. But I buy CHEAP INK !!!!
NUFF SAID.
3 Cinderella printer
This printer worked great... for about a year, and then turned back into a pumpkin. Printouts started getting ugly stripes and splotches of random ink. Repeated printhead cleanings didn't help much either. If you're looking for a good printer that lasts, stay away Epson and check out Canon or HP.
4 Paper feeder will drive you nuts!
I didn't buy this on Amazon but wish I had come to see the negative reviews first!
Print quality is fair, but does seem to go through the printer cartridges awfully fast.
But the most annoying thing is how it loads paper - or doesn't! It grabs several sheets simultaneously, so that you have to stand there and feed it one sheet at a time.
If you don't, it will take so many it clogs the machine, chews up the paper, leaves a black smear on everything and sounds like it's going to die.
If you put in only a few sheets to prevent this problem, it will still grab them all and then start making a loud "protesting" noise when it's out.
I always talk back to it and tell it that it's the printer's own damn fault for being a paper hog. See - that's how annying it is - you end up cursing it out every time you print more than one page!!
So I would not recommend it!
5 Stay away
At first I thought this was a great buy. This printer eats ink like crazy. When my printer quit on me after only 6 months of use, epson was kind enough to send me a "refurbished" printer that did not last long at all, but was only under warranty for 90 days. I don't understand why they would send me a refurbished printer, when I bought a new printer. I thin I would rather have my printer fixed. Anyway, I replaced with Canon i860 and I am very happy with it.
6 Terrible Printer...Don't go this route...
I agree with the folks who discuss clogged print heads. This is a miserable printer and when I approached Epson about it...they were quite flippant and not too helpful. Told me how wonderful it was...not very professional customer service. Yes...It did not cost much...so I am only out all those ink cartridges where I had to do the "clean head" function about 15 times. The final straw was running the "clean head" function 17 times, and still not getting them cleaned. Do I send it back? Nope...I don't want another one and they would not upgrade. It goes in the trash can. I would recommend the Canon i960. Amazon carries it too. I really have a bad taste in my mouth for Epson at this point.
7 Clogged Print heads
Replacing this printer. The print heads clog all the time if you do not shut the printer off each time after using. Cannot leave on a network. Ink is expesnive because when you run out of one color the whole cartridge has to be replaced. Reading the reviews here confirmed what i had feared that there was a design flaw here and that i was wasting my money on ink cartridges. It is cheaper to just buy a new printer than to keep on buying cartridges for this lemon.
8 Worst Printer Ever Owned
I was looking to upgrade from an old HP 672. I had heard some good things about Epson printers and the research I did seemed to indicate that this would be a good buy. I guess sometimes no matter how much you do your research you can still get a lemon.
I have had nothing but issues with this printer from day one. For one it seems to have to go through some kind of obscure primitive ritual when you hit the print button. It does this crazy back an forth dance for about 15 secs before finally sucumbing to your will and print what you requested. The biggest issue I have with this printer is that if it sits without printing for more than a day the inkjets clog and you have to sit through at least two head cleaning sessions to get the thing to print clearly. Unless of course you don't mind blank lines through your text.
9 Great value
I have had an Epson Photo printer before (785 EPX). I liked it very much but it finally died on me. The 820 is a real nice machine - great quality photos. Its very easy to use the software - real hassle free.
10 Clogged printer head
Spent most of the time trying to clear the printer head from clogging, unsuccessfully I might add. I gave up on it and looking to purchase another printer. This is definitely the worst printer I have ever come across.
11 Constantly clogged print heads
Epson thought their unique print head design would set their products apart, allowing superior quality prints. Instead, it's their printers' Achilles heel: because the print heads are not part of the ink cartridge, you can't just switch cartridges to fix a messed-up print head, and there's no way to get at the heads to clean them manually. With Epson printers, when your heads are badly clogged, there's not much you can do except bring it to a repair shop. Maybe not even that.
This printer has had chronic problems with clogging, constantly showing stripes of missing color. The heads have needed to be cleaned almost every time I've printed anything, and I've spent at least 1/3 of each (expensive) ink cartridge just cleaning the heads, that process uses amazing amounts of ink. This week, the heads seem to be permanently gunked shut. I hadn't printed anything in color in about 5 weeks, and each of the five colors is now either stripey or completely blocked, no matter how many times I run the "clean" routine.
Another stupid design choice: when just one of the 5 colors of ink runs out, you have to replace ALL FIVE. That's ridiculous. Unless you're Epson and want to make a killing on ink sales, that is.
Save yourself a lot of trouble, and avoid poorly designed printers -- like this one.
12 You get what you pay for
For $50 you can't really complain too much. The print quality is really good but the print heads tend to fail. When I called to return my second one the operator said she had the same problem with hers, either the color or the black cartridge will just stop working. I can't imagine you'll find a better quality print for the money but don't expect longevity.
13 Worst Printer
I have had this printer for a year now. It's one of the worst printers I have ever had. Ink is EXPENSIVE, and if you don't use it often, the ink dries up. My XP system finally will not recognize it.
14 Not even worth the trouble...Don't buy!!!
I got this printer free with a new computer purchase and I have nothing but frustration from the beginning. The print quality is bad. Color are either too pink or too green.
The catridge lasted only 2 months.
I dont print much at home, but it is ridiculous when after only 2 months the ink dried up.
Replacement catridges are very very expensive.
They give you the printer free but then they rob you when you need replacement catridges.
I replaced the catridge once and again after only 2 months the black ink ran out!!!
And at the worst time too, when I need to print my eTicket the night before my flight...GRRRRRR!
Buy at your own risk. Be aware that you WILL DEFINITELY be disappointed.
Avoid this printer!!
15 Ink cost will make you broke! No refills/generics allowed!
This is the worst printer I've ever owned. Three main reasons why I don't recommend this printer. 1) It gobbles up ink. 2) It is slow. 3) The ink is proprietary, non refillable, and expensive. I usually only print black and white documents and the printer uses up all my color ink too, even when I have "black ink only" in the print options. The color ink runs out the same time as the black ink does and I don't even print in color! This is because the printer has a wasteful nozzle cleaning session each time the printer is turned on. (The color cartridge must be installed even when just printing B&W or it won't operate) This is a long nozzle cleaning session which brings me to my next complaint. Let's say you want to print one or two pages of something. It takes the printer a long time to warm up and clean the nozzle (even if you didn't print anything the day before). 45-60 seconds for your first page. My prints jobs even get blotchy even when the ink tank is 1/4 full. The ink tank has a smart chip which prevents the printer from operating when the ink registers empty. This means you can not refill the ink tanks. (Unless you have some aftermarket electronic gizmo to reset/reprogram the ink tank.) The ink is expensive, so I bought a generic ink tank and the printer does not recognize it and won't print. Only uses expensive proprietary ink. Don't play the Epson game! To give Epson the benefit of the doubt; since this is called a photo printer, it might be possible for this printer to be a good printer for someone who mostly prints photos and has a large budget for ink.
16 Avoid an any cost!!!
I remember writing review 3-4 months back. It just disappeared!!! Is this financed from Epson? Or Amazon trying to make people buy this sh#$?
I had nothing but bad experience with these printers. First one finally clogged after 5 months and I could not do anything with it. Epson sent replacement. Same story but in addition it smears - magenta became gray. I am going to ask for replacement once again.
This is not cheap primer to run. And this is not the printer to print charts. For charts and text there is Cxx series printer. Be prepared to have terrible text and graphics on anything but special coated or photo paper with this printer. And be prepared to spend $1-$1.5 dollar worth of ink per letter size print when printing photographs - if you are lucky and it does not clog.
Salespeople from Epson in stores don't know what they sell and they tell you anything to make you buy just Epson - more expensive is better. In some cases they blame HP/Canon and others for their far better product by simply hiding the truth and lie. Now each time I see this guy is store I always help him to be honest and always helping people choose the best product: Canon or HP
17 BE CAUTIOUS ABOUT BUYING THIS PRODUCT!!
The printer is dirt cheap but you end up making up for it if you use alot of ink. I'm writing this review out of fustration. I bought this printer at the beginning of September. It is now the end of October and this is my second time having to purchase ink. this is not acceptable at $50 dollars a pop for the black and color cartridges combined. It definately does not suit my needs. I don't necessary blame Epson I blame the salesperson who sold it to me. I told him I was a student and I would be using the printer for printing out reports, articles, etc. and he said this would be perfect. BE CAREFUL BEFORE BUYING THIS PRODUCT! THE LOW COST MAY NOT BE WORTH IT!!!
18 A sad excuse for a printer
Once you get past all the caveats, this prints great pictures, but BEFORE you get there you get pretty mad at the printer. The initial set up isn't as easy as for any other printer I've ever set up. Inserting a cartridge isn't intuitive -- there are little fragile plastic stabilizers that you will break if you try it the way you think it should be. Once you've got everything set up right, the printer STILL keeps needing its heads cleaned everytime you let it sit for a couple days without being used. The cartriges get used up extremely fast to begin with for this printer, and head cleaning uses up even more ink.
Don't let the price of this printer fool you. You will be paying through the nose for tons of ink cartriges, and taking it on the chin with the constant cleaning and recalibrating.
19 Prints are great.
For this $ you can't complain too much. I read many who say the machine clogs and uses up the ink. I have this printer for 2 days and have printed 5- 8x10's at "Best Qualilty setting". The ink level indicator is only an estimate. It may clog someday, and probably use too much ink. This is why one should not spend too much on inkjets. In addition, images fade. The 27 years or whatever is only if you place them behind glass. The digital cameras and inkjet printers will be what the claims are in 5-10 years or so. NOT NOW.
The Epson 820 is nice, sharp, and accurate full color at first try. A print of a black sweater showed texture. (image taken in daylight with 4m megapix. Olympus c4000 at SHQ -jpeg 2 meg-, - )
I would bet the image quality on machines 3x the $ would have the same result in terms of print quality. No frills on this machine. I have not tried text printing. Best to buy a text printer for the same $ that is good for that purpose.
20 This is a winner
This is a good buy for your money. It is a dirt cheap price for a quality photo printer. I can hook it into my lap top with little effort and it takes up little space on my desk.
21 DO NOT BUY!!!
I must admit this printer gives very good quality. And there it ends. If you don't want to make the same mistake as I did don't do the following:
1. Do not think that you will take care of printer and it will not clog - I've been manually parking the head after each printing, I've been using only brand ink, I've been printing head check pattern every time after I turn it on. After one or two cleaning cycles first photo comes out Ok, second or third - without black (like it clogs while printing). It eats expensive ink + photo paper. About 1/3 of all prints need to be reprinted.
2. Do not think ink is less expensive than HP because of permanent print head - with all of those reprints and head cleaning cycles.
3. Do not think the quality such great - if you printing with 1200 dpi prints will have linear pattern, you have to go for 2700 dpi. It is Ok but this is about 10-12 borderless letter size prints per $20 cartridge. When I asked Epson representative in local store about it he answered: "Digital photo prints had never supposed to be cheap". Well, with this attitude I'd rather look somewhere else. With 1200 dpi, i you can live with banding it will go for 20-25 borderless.
4. Again - If you don't want to throw away printer right after starter cartridge ends, don't buy it.
BTW. before this one I tested 825 - the same ... Better go for HP or Canon - both are more reliable and cheaper at the end.
22 Ink finish very fast
The only disavantage is the ink finish very fast.
I have an experience that after I transport the
printer (in car) to another place (with ink cartridge inside)
The printout quality become very poor.
So I have do ink-recharging again, and after this
the printout quality return to normal.
23 Excellent basic printer for home use
Excellent print quality and easy to use (especially on a Mac). The real cost of this printer (as with most inkjets) is the ink, not the machine and this one sucks the stuff down. Not the fastest printer on the block, but pretty good for low production work. 8x10s printed on Epson Premium Semi-Gloss are truly stunning, and have so far held up with no visible signs of fading or color shift (framed, and under glass). In the sub-$100 category, this is pretty much as good as it gets, and it rivals the quality from many at double the price.
If you can afford a couple hundred dollars more, you will get a lot more machine, and a lot better quality, but this may be all that you need.
24 Makes good photos, but is a little noisey
The first time I used the printer I was surprised at how good the picture came out. While it also depends on the camera you have. I gave this printer a 4 out of 5 only because the printer itself was too noisey and if you have it off balanced it will shake and if it is near the edge of a desk and it shakes then there is a chance that it could fall off the desk. So as long as you have a good spot to put this printer and you don't mind a little noise then I would highly recommend getting this printer.
25 It's OK
Prints are good. Average Noise. Plug and Play with Mac OS X. Note: Does not support custom paper sizes yet. Epson is supposed to update driver soon(?). I print a color page once a week to keep the nozzles clear (Nothing fancy - Yahoo front page). Ink refills are hard to find in my local stores. Ink seems to last longer than my Epson C62, your mileage may vary.
26 Best ever
I would go for a Epson over a HP any day. I had a hp, then i got a epson. The epson was 100% better.
27 Will not work with windows XP!
I worked with 5 different Tech support people at Epson. This printer will not work with windows XP!
28 Looks great--if you use your whole cartridge in one day.
Like another reviewer, I have spent more time running back to the store to have them replace "defective" ink cartridges (and the whole printer initially!) than actually printing anything. I had the retailer replace the ink cartridges FIVE times before I realized there is simply something WRONG with this printer. The black is the worst--after the first day of printing, it clogs (or whatever) and any black comes out as only a few lines. I have a photographer friend with the next printer down in this line and he has had the exact same problem. An unfortunate waste of time and money.
29 Incredible value--no problem at all
First of all, if you want a general printer that you can use to print documents and spreadsheets, don't get this printer. This is a PHOTO printer (hint from its name) it's designed to print PHOTOS. So don't be surprised if it is an ink hog (which it is). It's like buying a muscle car or a SUV and complain about it's gas mileage. Another thing to keep in mind is that even though you can't change the individual colors in the 5 colors (not 3 colors!) cartridge, it is very unlikely to run out of ink in one color while there is plenty of other colors' ink, unless you keep on printing similar color photos (like you only print sunset or ocean photos). If you print all kind of photos, it won't be a problem. Ink cartridges are about average priced, there are other cheap ones but I have not tried those yet. I have been using this printer for a few months already, yet I have not seen any clogging problem as mentioned by others and now Epson has released a new driver and this printer is supposed to be able to print 5760x720 dpi. The prints are absolutely amazing (especially for a printer at this price), the 6 color cartridge really made the difference. I am currently taking a photography class, and have to make prints all the time, even my instructor was surprised by how good the quality of the prints are from a printer in this price range. I have tried a bunch of photo papers, from the cheap CompUSA to Kodak paper, but Epson's own photo paper seems to work best with this printer. I haven't noticed the noise problem as well, it is just as noisy as other printers that I have used before. But it is kind of slow, I only have USB 1.1, but I think even with 2.0, the speed won't improve much.
UPDATE: I had purposely left it untouched for more than a month (all I did was kept the cover up), and just printed a few photos, there was absolutly no clogging whatsever, the prints look as good as ever.
30 Terrible, terrible Epson.
I have always known Epson products to be below par, but when the offer for a free printer came with my new Mac, it was hard to turn down. The printer worked pretty good for the first month, although as another reviewer pointed out, it does require an awful lot of cleaning cycles.
Thing is, there wasn't much ink in those cartridges, and I've owned several inkjets before. Then the nightmare began. I bought cartridges by other companies because they were cheaper, and because I've never had problems with them before, with other printers. The color one worked fine, but the black one was always rejected by the printer. So I had to throw out that money. Then I bought an inkjet refill kit. But after refilling Epson's black cartridge, that would no longer work either. The printer wouldn't even try.
So now I've wasted more than enough money on this "free" printer, which is now likely going right into a landfill. What a waste! This is truely what is "wrong" in this country / world / lifetime. I will never buy one of their products again. Come to think of it, I realized that five years ago. I guess I'll just never accept anything free, either, from now on.
31 They should call it ClogMaster 820
This is a high maintenance printer. I spent more time running head-cleaning cycles and printing test pages than printing pictures. The 1 in 10 prints that actually came out looked great, but it's not worth the hassle. Maybe if you print every day, the ink will remain free-flowing, but printing a dozen pictures every weekend won't do it. The prints from my new Canon look as good, and it never clogs. The epson may save you some money up front, but think about the wasted hours of frustration.
32 FRICKIN INK HOGGGGGGGG!!!
4 months later... This printer is a mother sucker!!! hee hee
I found great ink cartriges at printpal.com, just make sure you specify 820 PHOTO stylus!!!! and if you want to REALLY save money you can check out alotofthings.com for REFILLABLES!!! at alotofthings, the lady Tesha who works there is a genius and she's very nice and accomodating. They have tons of info on the new INK HOG you just bought called the EPSON 820 photo stylus. Epson customer service is COMPLETELY uncaring they won't even tell you WHY these ink hogs have a CHIP in the cartridge that tells the printer that you're quote out of ink unquote. This is a total sham to clean your pockets out! that's why the printer is so cheap!! (think airfilters) There's ink in that cartridge as the day is long I'll guarantee it. Go to alotofthings.com and read about epson printers and chip based cartridges. you'll learn! If there were 0 stars I'd give it one.
The one good thing is that the photos are UNBELIEVABLE! I'll happily contribute ink to them! You gotta use epson paper because they also have the printer set up to screw up if you use anyone else's photo paper. bastards :) I will never purchase another epson chip cartridge printer again. Pain in my neck!
33 Great value
I purchased this epson a few weeks ago. I have printed over 75 pages of photos. All have turned out beautifully. This printed does use alot of ink but I imagine that high priced machines would use the same amount if not more.
34 Works great with Red Hat Linux 7.3!
I was looking for a printer that meets following requirements for quite some time and I finally found one!
1) Photo Printer
2) [Affordable]
3) Compatible with Red Hat Linux 7.3
This printer met all my requirements and exceeded my expectation!
35 Don't Buy It!
I have had my Epson for about three months. At the beginning it worked okay and the print quality was decent. I have not used it to print a photo, so I cannot comment on that. The printer is very noisy and, as stated by another, uses tons of ink. The inkjets are divided into black and then the three colors, so if use up all of your magenta or cyan, for example, you have to replace all three colors. This is very wasteful and costly. Additionally, the inkjets are constantly clogging up and they run out of ink very quickly. The inkjet replacement price is pretty average, but you cannot refill them, which is also wasteful. Let me reiterate that this printer is VERY NOISY! I am very disappointed and surprised that Apple computers would be linked to such a shabby product. I'll steer clear of Epson from now on.
36 FRICKIN INK HOGGGGGGGG!!!
4 months later... This printer is a mother!!! hee hee
I found great ink cartriges at printpal.com, just make sure you specify 820 PHOTO stylus!!!! and if you want to REALLY save money you can check out alotofthings.com for REFILLABLES!!! at alotofthings, the lady Tesha who works there is a genius and she's very nice and accomodating. They have tons of info on the new INK HOG you just bought called the EPSON 820 photo stylus. Epson customer service is COMPLETELY uncaring they won't even tell you WHY these ink hogs have a CHIP in the cartridge that tells the printer that you're quote out of ink unquote. This is a total sham to clean your pockets out! that's why the printer is so cheap!! (think airfilters) There's ink in that cartridge as the day is long I'll guarantee it. Go to alotofthings.com and read about epson printers and chip based cartridges. you'll learn! If there were 0 stars I'd give it one.
The one good thing is that the photos are UNBELIEVABLE! I'll happily contribute ink to them! You gotta use epson paper because they also have the printer set up to screw up if you use anyone else's photo paper. bastards :) I will never purchase another epson chip cartridge printer again. Pain in my neck!
37 Are you kidding?
How can anyone doubt that at [$], this is perhaps the absolute best printer value we have ever seen. I haven't yet used it for it's photo capabilities, but if it flunks that test big time, it is still an incredible deal !!
38 Clogged
If you go on vaccation make sure you have someone to water your plants, take in your mail and print some pages on your printer. The printhead dries and clogs if you don't use it regulary. Cleaning it doesn't help once it's dry. Replacing it costs more than the printer it self. Go for a printer with printhead integrated in the cartridge.
39 It's a piece of pooh!
I don't understand why every says the quality is so good. It's mediocre, at best. If you use photo paper only, it's passable. But if you would like to print a picture on your newsletter or report (even on top quality printer paper) it looks nasty. I get better results with the old HP clunker at school.
It clogs. It uses massive amounts of ink cartridges. I hate it...
40 Only problem I have with this is print times...
This printer is good but slow. Good things come to those who wait though. You can hardly see the dots compared to HP, I won't even dare compare lexmark's ... output. HPs I've used also has banding which is very noticeable. I always get a "WOW" from people on glossy paper from non Epson photo users. 6 color inks do make a difference because even Epson users with 4 color printers notice the difference. ... The epson 820 prints only last for 1 year at best if displayed and not laminated. If I hang them on a door that is exposed to florescent light 24x7 it fades fast. When I keep them in one of those folders for pictures in good tempurature and conditions they look just as good, even 3 years from now.
41 This product does not work!
The side of the box for this printer lists the "system requirements" and includes Macintosh System 10.1 or higher as a compatible system. Great, because that is the platform and I needed a printer that prints true borderless printing. After HOURS of working with the printer, we called Epson. "We don't support borderless printing with system X." Wonderful. So the box lies, the printer doesn't do what I purchased it to do, and Epson now has had the printer returned.
42 It is slow!
Having a Epson Stylus Color, Photo 780 and now the Photo 820, I can tell you that this is the slowest of them all. (using the same G4 Titanium Powerbook. Printing out photo quality may make you wonder if it is even on...don't cancel the job thinking it crashed the first time you use it like I did. That said, the print quality is respectable and the price is great (free if you buy a system). See Consumer Reports latest issue...up to 12 minutes for a photo quality sheet!
43 It is slow!
Having a Epson Stylus Color, Photo 780 and now the Photo 820, I can tell you that this is the slowest of them all. (using the same G4 Titanium Powerbook. Printing out photo quality may make you wonder if it is even on...don't cancel the job thinking it crashed the first time you use it like I did. That said, the print quality is respectable and the price is great (free if you buy a system). See Consumer Reports latest issue...up to 12 minutes for a photo quality sheet!
44 Really amazing for the price
The photo quality of this printer is simply awesome. I bought the Epson820S with the Olympus 3020 Digital camera, I've been printing out 8x10s with this setup with no problems whatsoever. Picture quality is as good, if not better (some say the colors are brighter) than old fashioned film pictures. If I have any complaints it's that this printer is pretty loud. Don't buy it planning to do any late night 'developing' while the wife's asleep. But other than that this was a great buy, especially for the price.
45 Rivals film prints
I haven't done alot of printing even tho I bought this back at the beginning of the year. Recently bought an Olympus 3020 and printed some "1st day of school" pictures. I use Epson photo quality inkjet paper to do a first print test (720 dpi), then print final on Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper (1440 dpi). If I put the "test" pics in a frame, no one would know that they were not printed at a lab. The glossy's (8x10s and 5x7s) fool everyone I show - if I didn't tell them it was on my printer, they'd never know (of course the camera helps too). Haven't seen a need to use the 2880 dpt yet.
Mine came with software Film Factory which is semi-easy to learn but easy to use after that. Even tho a full sheet of paper could hold 2 - 5x7s or 4 - 4x6s, the s/w won't let me lay the print out that way. I get 2 5x7s by printing one at very top, then turn paper upside down and print again (after 1st print is dry).
If it's not used often, the heads can become clogged. Does go through ink, so I always have replacement ready (color mostly - have yet to replace the BW). I only use for photo printing. Have another for text so cannot say how it does there.
Using the USB port and can't really say I've ever timed a print. I usually go and do something else while I wait - I had a print freeze after 2/3 done when I went to do something else on the PC at the same time, so now I just leave it alone (system is W2k, AMD XP 1800, 512 DDR memory so the system is not anemic).
Had a few problems trying to get the USB driver set up and recognizing the printer, but after a few attempts at loading the drivers it all came together. Even w/these few problems, it deserves a 5.
46 This is the greatest printer ever !!
I have always been partial to Canon and Lexmark printers, but the Epson Stylus 820s blew my mind away. Never had i had the ease of setting up a printer in seconds (i am not kidding...i really mean less than a minute). It has both parallel and USB connectivity, fantastic color print even on normal paper. And get this, the contents of the package include some photo glossy paper. Aside from the fact that it looks cool, it is not noisy like other printers i have used. It also spits out text documents in little or no time. The printer boasts of a feature called Print Imaging Matching (P.I.M), which greatly enhances printouts of digital pictures in outstanding quality..up tp 2800 x 720 dpi. But enough said, i could go on and on and bore people....if you are scouting around for an affordable color ink jet printer but desire just as much quality, look no further than the Epson Stylus 820s. For [the price] it is definitely the deal of the millenium.
47 Color Sharpness = Epson Stylus 820S
Our school district has this printer and I just witnessed its sharpness at our Tech Boot Camp this July, 2002. I was amazed at it's speed and the features are outstanding . I will be ordering a new home computer and this is the printer I will also own. Thank you Epson for continuing to be a leader in the printing field.
