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by pdschu on Thu Apr 12, 2012 3:18 pm
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There is an offer to purchase an Epson 4800 and stand for $400 here in Orlando. I currently have a 2880 but have considered buying a 3880 to get the larger size capability. Assuming the printer works and has no obvious issues, is there anything 'wrong' with this printer or should I just put the $400 toward a new 3880? Any advice appreciated especially from Epson owners. Thanks.
Paul Schumacher
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by E.J. Peiker on Thu Apr 12, 2012 3:20 pm
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Unless you need roll paper I would go with the new 3880 as it is a newer generation printer, unused, and much lighter in weight and easier to deal with. just my personal opinion :)
 

by Porsche917 on Thu Apr 12, 2012 3:38 pm
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Dear Paul:

Like E.J., I suggest that you go with the newer, unused and lighter printer. The 4800 is two generations old at this point, having been replaced by both the 4880 (which I have) and the 4900. There is, of course, a cost differential going with the 3880; but I think you would be much better served by the 3880.

Best Regards,

Roman :-)
 

by bartley123 on Thu Apr 12, 2012 4:57 pm
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Another thing to consider Paul, a new 3880 comes with about $400 worth of ink.
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by pdschu on Thu Apr 12, 2012 7:22 pm
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There seems to be a definite consensus. Thanks for the feedback. I think I will wait.
Paul Schumacher
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by FredAzinger on Thu Apr 12, 2012 9:42 pm
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I have one -- sweet printer -- this is cheap.
If it has ink and you don't print much why spend more?
You get roll printing....great looking output.
You don't say how much or how often you print -- do you need to spend 2X-3X for the incremental improvement?
 

by purdee on Fri Apr 13, 2012 8:52 am
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I'm a person who usually falls victim to and buys the next best thing that comes to market each year...cameras, lenses, etc. The 4800 has served me so well and I am so pleased with the results that I have not been tempted to buy a 4880 or a 4900. I've owned mine for 4 years. Excellent, excellent printer. The output from it is fantastic and its very reliable. The only thing I've replaced on it was the cutting blade. I especially love having the ability to print on rolls.
I plan on getting a 9890 soon, only because I need larger prints but will keep my 4800 for proofs. $400, I think, is an excellent price for the printer.
 

by Royce Howland on Fri Apr 13, 2012 9:50 am
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To the original poster -- Paul, you didn't really say what kinds of prints you want to make, on what kinds of media, in what volume, etc. The 48xx and 38xx printers are both desktop 17" models and so can be considered for equivalent work in a lot of ways. But they also have some key differences that would drive you more to one or the other as a better fit for certain types of work.

For example if you need the option to print on roll stock, then you need to go for the 48xx since the 38xx is cut-sheet only. I'd say the 48xx also is more robust in paper handling; it has a vacuum system to help ensure paper stays flat under the print head while feeding through. The 48xx can take larger ink cartridges; ink is the most expensive on-going operational cost of running your own larger printer (paper is the second highest cost). Depending on your printing volume the economics of larger cartridges can easily outweigh the purchase price of the printer itself.

A key design plus of the 3880 is that it mounts both the matte and glossy black inks simultaneously. It can automatically switch between them with far less ink wastage than would be the case with the 4800's manual exchange process for its black inks. So if you switch between glossy and matte media often, the 3880 would have appeal. And yes, the 38xx series is smaller and lighter so if you need to shuffle it around then that could be an advantage; but I've never moved my printer since installing it, I don't consider that a big factor for most people.

The 38xx series is a very fine design. But I print almost entirely on glossy media and trade-offs mentioned above (particularly roll support) steered me to the 48xx instead. Yes, the 3880 is a newer inkset and print head design but the 4800 is also very good. I'm not sure you'd be able to see a quality difference between the two in common usage up to the 17" size.

So $400 for a sound 4800 + stand could be a very good deal, especially if any of its particular strengths line up with the type of printing you plan to do...
Royce Howland
 

by signgrap on Fri Apr 13, 2012 10:01 am
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As a 4800 owner I agree with everything said Royce said. The only thing I would add is that the 4800 needs to be used regularly, otherwise you may encounter nozzle clogging. This is probably true of most older Epsom printers and is most likely true also for the newer designs to some extent but I've heard that Epsom has worked on the problem and it shouldn't be as much of a problem. However if you print 2-3 times a week clogging shouldn't be a problem.
Dick Ludwig
 

by E.J. Peiker on Fri Apr 13, 2012 10:11 am
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3800/3880 almost never clogs even here in the desert and sometimes with more than a month between usage. Also, while the $400 might seem like a good price, you need to know the age and condition of the print heads and whether or not the printer comes with ink. If it has been heavily used and comes with no ink, by the time you get it up and running you could be spending more than a 3880. The only reason I would even consider an old 4800 over a new 3880 would be if it was in excellent condition with a light usage history and if I absolutely needed roll stock.
 

by Mark Picard on Sat Apr 14, 2012 7:50 am
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I use the 4880 and just love the roll paper option. It allows printing of many different sizes within each size roll, plus the ability to print panos at any width/length. Changing between rolls is fast and efficient. The 48xx series can be installed with the 220 ml ink cartridges, and I find that this size seems to last forever, even though I print almost every day. I've only had to auto clean the nozzles once in 3 years. Never had to do a head clean. Just do a small print every few days if you don't use it much to keep the nozzles clean.

Oh yeah, and just that Epson cabinet for the printer is $375.00 !! (I have one for my printer and it's designed perfectly to keep all your print media inside).I agree with E.J. though - maker sure it's had a good life and light usage history. This printer will print out a usage history within itself, giving you a total print count too. I too agree with Royce that you'd be hard pressed to tell the quality difference between the two printers.
Mark Picard
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by nash30 on Sat Nov 17, 2012 8:22 am
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Epson (CX4800) is quite a good printer, it has a reasonable price of ink and really gives me good print results. However, i have not made any good black and white prints with it... cannot get my desired black and white prints, no success with it on this Epson printer model.
someday you will find me,caught beneath the landslide......
[url=http://www.inkjetsuperstore.com/][size=50]http://www.inkjetsuperstore.com/[/size][/url]
 

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