Epson R3000

Has anyone here tried the Epson R3000. I am thinking about investing in a printer and wondered what the word is on this one.

Haven't used the R3000 but have the Epson 3880 and really like it. Larger format. Now only about $100 or so more than R3000 I think.

Steve,
I have heard it is a great printer. I would have 2 issues with it. First are the small ink cartridges. The 3880 is MUCH more reasonable on ink as you are buying it 80ml at a time instead of 25. THe professional series printers are known to be MUCH better on ink consumption than the desktop printers, even really good ones like the R3000. Secondly is the 13 inch limit. I print way too many 16x20s and 16x24s to be limited to a 13 inch printer again. I realize this is not everyone's issue but for about $400 more it would be nice to have the option and I am quite sure that the differences in ink savings would make that up in short order.

Please note that I have no personal experience with the R3000 just 9 other Epson printers including the 3880 so I am making conjecture here. Ultimately if it gives you what you want at the right price then I am sure it will make beautiful prints.

I would agree 100% with everything that Les said!

Thanks for the input. I too am tending toward a 3880. I just wanted to see what you thought about this new printer before I make a final decision.

I definitely say go for the 3880:

1: the 3880 comes with 80ml of ink, the 3000 with 25ml. Convert this into refill $$, that 2 extra sets of refills for the3000, 2x9 carts at ~$30 ea=$540--and you are still printing 13" wide.

2: The max print size for the 3880 is 17x37.4, for me as a serious hobbyist that's >90% of what I expect to print. For larger sizes I do not hesitate to outsource.

3: After a decade of the fine Canon 9xxx printers, I could not turn from the sea of praise flooding the 3880, the recent availability of reliable refillable ink systems (reducing my operating costs drastically) was the turning point. This printer is a superb performer for any serious hobbyist or pro, it is built to last--and with pigment inks I know my prints will do so.

The 4880 is OK, especially if it fits in your budget.

irv weiner

I recently got a R3000. I don't print larger than 13" so this was the perfect model for me. So far I have the following to say:

Print quality is absolutely fabulous, to me inkjet always meant grainy and soft photos, the R3000 has proved me wrong I can resolve the finest details. Even some fine museum prints that I had seen before now look like a joke compared to the output of this printer.

Wifi is a BIG plus and the LCD performs basic setup functions.

The front loading mechanism for art papers is ridiculous If you have the "paper skew" feature turned on it rejects the media 50% of the time. the paper pathway has a narrow clearness so if you use 10mil papers that are slightly rolled feeding is a pin in the a**. Overall front loading mechanism is poor and not well designed IMO.

So a big plus and some minuses....

ahazeghi, you have saved my evening. I'm working on some prints to present for review to possibly join a coop gallery, and repeatedly getting the "paper skewed" message. Not only did my Google search for "R3000 skew" turn up your lifesaving suggestion to turn off that danged "paper skew" so-called "feature" (I didn't even realize such an option existed), but also introduced me to Naturescapes.net.

I would add this suggestion regarding using fine art papers in the R3000. Build a ramp out of a magazine and a book about 3/4-inch thick. This keeps the heavy paper from bending down as it exits, thus lifting up the tail end causing blurring or worse, print head scratches.

Thanks!
Tony

Hey Tony,
Another issue that has recently bugged me with the R3000 is the WiFi connectivity. I have the printer in my living room and despite having a descent wireless router the printer shows 2/3 bars signal. My other equipment all have full reception at the same location so my guess is the wireless receiver in the printer is a cheap one.

Sometimes it just drops the connection in the middle of a print wasting paper and ink. Very frustrating. I emailed Epson support about this a while ago but so far I have not received a reply.
example of incomplete print with R3000

I would never print to any device through WiFi, it's simply too unreliable. Or perhaps another way of stating is, the communications layer between printer and printer driver isn't built to withstand streaming 100's of MB of print data while reliably handling congestion, drop-outs and so on over WiFi. We waste too much ink & paper as it is.

IMO WiFi printing is nothing but marketing-speak packaged with cheap components, intended for consumers wanting to print wallet sized or 4x6 snapshots on cheap paper...

Thanks Royce I need to make some space in the other room and use the good old USB

Or run some Cat-5 if you need greater distance than USB will handle, and stay networked. But wires still rule for printing.

I just wanted to update this thread, so it turned out the issue was with the wireless router. I was using a cheap router and while it was good for streaming video/laptop WiFi connection apparently it wasn't enough for sending 300-500MB TIFF files to the printer in a steady stream.

I purchased a high end Cisco router and since the WiFi has been working well, so probably shouldn't blame Epson for this

3880 does a lot of fantastic prints for me, really suitable for color and neutral Black & White printing, compared to R2000 which is only good for color printing but I think that the unit is actually sold for a higher price if you would look unto its printing capabilities..