Epson 3880 with roll printing capability?

I've asked this question before and, to my mind, have not gotten a reasonably satisfactory explanation as to why Epson would not include roll paper capability on their 17" wide series printers.

I'm no longer in a position to upgrade very often (retired with small fixed income) but I'd consider spending some of my savings were Epson to include this capability on the next iteration of their 3800 series printers. I very much want to have the ability to print 13" (or, in the case of the 3800 series - 17") wide by at least 60". I now own an R1900 which is servicable but the ink cartridges are too small - IMHO - and it clogs up too often and wastes ink in the head cleaning process.- albeit far less now that I've moved from southern California to Oregon .

My only guess as to why they don't include this is that there might be a problem supplying roll paper in 17" widths? That just doesn't seem logical to me so I'm really at a loss. What I would hope is NOT the case would be Epson's considering that the professionals just wouldn't want to be bothered with printing large panoramas on their own - another illogical rumination I suppose.

I suppose I'll just keep hoping that Epson will include this feature next time around.

Mike

The 4xxx series of Epson printers are 17" wide and are compatible with rolls.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Nt ... av-Search=

The 4900 has a larger footprint, is heavier and costs more than the 3880; these are all reasons why I opted for the 3880 over the 4xxx series when I bought a new printer 2 1/2 years ago, but a friend of mine who was upgrading at the same time opted for the 4xxx series option (because of the roll paper feed and because the 4xxx can accept 200 ml cartridges (the 3xxx series accepts 80 ml only) and he seems quite happy with it.

Thanks for the reply Kerry.

I really don't have the room or the money for the 4xxx series printers. I've enjoyed printing panoramas on my Espson R1800 and now my R1900 for some years. I just don't understand why Epson doesn't give it's "middle" 38XX series photo printers the roll paper printing capabilities. It's really just a selfish wish that I harbor for the latter series to be able to print long (read 60" to over 100") panoramas.

Mike

I can relate to your R1800/1900 woes. I bought the 3880 because the R1800 wasted too much ink on head maintenance. The 3880 is a dream to use compared to the R1800. However, you are right about roll printing! I think trading off that capability for a cleaner operating printer is acceptable. The 3880 has never clogged up on me! Knock on wood.....

Hi Mike,

I can appreciate your concerns about roll printing.  I had a 2800 that died a couple of years ago and wanted to replace it with a 3880 but was hesitant because of the lack of roll printing.  Right around that time Epson was offering $1000 rebate on the 4880 (I guess to clear shelves for the newly released 4900), which brought its cost to within a few dollars of the 3880.  So I went with the bigger printer and have roll printing capability.  If you can find a similar deal, I would say it is well worth it - both are excellent printers but the 4880 fit my needs better.  

I suggest checking out Atlex (not ALTEX, which ironically is another printer retailer but I have never used them) - I constantly receive emails about Epson (and Canon) rebates from them.  I haven't paid much attention to them as I don't expect to have deal with another printer purchase for quite some time.  However, I have had excellent experiences with them and they are attentive to your needs.  Good luck!

Thanks Martin for the input.

I use Atlantic Exchange every time I buy ink - I feel they have the best prices and, even though they're based in Florida (I think) they usually deliver within a couple of days. (They must have a wharehouse here in Oregon?). I've not checked their prices on printers but I'll look at their site more closely if they begin selling a printer I want to buy.

I really don't want the large footprint of a 4xxx series printer (even though they are marketed at a "desktop" printer) since I'd like the printer to be on a small desk in my small second bedroom I've converted to my office/hobby room. As I mentioned earlier, price is also a major consideration.

Mike

You'll have to make a trade-off, Mike. Keep the roll support and stick to a smaller format 13" printer or jump up to the much larger 17" 4xxx series. Or go to the 17" 3xxx series and give up roll printing. If you really don't want the larger 4900, then how many pano's do you print? Is it something you can job out to a printing provider and keep the 17" and smaller cut sheet work in house? Or conversely, how many prints over 13" wide will you print, and likewise could you job them out and just keep 13" cut sheet & roll printing in house?

The size of a 4900 vs. a 3880 perhaps is a bigger deal breaker for you. But I will note that price is not really a significant difference between the 3xxx and 4xxx series, especially if considered over a reasonable operation time. My 4880 is fairly cheap to run because of the much better economics of ink in its larger 220ml cartridges, and also roll paper that's cheaper (and more flexible in layout with potentially less waste) per square meter compared to cut sheet.

I just ran some numbers on cost of base printer, initial ink load, and the equivalent costs of ink refills based on 80ml carts for the 3880 and 200ml carts for the 4900. I used current prices and current Epson mail-in rebates, as advertised at atlex.com. When you hit ink re-loads at the equivalent of 3 full sets of 200ml carts on the 4900 (7.5 full sets of 80ml on the 3880), both printers will have cost the same amount. That cost is almost exactly $4000. After 3 x 200ml ink loads, the 4900 gets cheaper to run than the 3880. This doesn't include paper costs which as I said might be cheaper with roll media. It also doesn't account for different amounts of ink laydown needed to print the same size print on the different printers. I've seen some anecdotal statements that the 4900 with its newer head and 11-ink design might be a bit more frugal on ink consumption compared to the 3880 with its older head and 9-ink design.

Personally, when I had to make this decision some years back, I went with the 4880 to get the roll support and better ink economics. I haven't regretted it. I don't have a lot of space either and have the big printer set up on a small rolling stand in my workroom. It's the same size stand I'd use for a 3880, the 4880 just spills over the edges of it more on all 4 sides. Because of the layout of my workroom, that extra space taken up wouldn't have been usable for anything else anyway. The issue I find a little tougher to deal with on occasion is the 4880's weight, not so much its size. Fortunately I don't have to move the printer very often, and when I do the roller stand helps make the weight less troublesome.

If I had to make this decision today I'd get the 4900 for general use, no question. My 4880 continues to hum along, but I did also recently pick up a 3880. Not because I second-guessed my original decision. But because I needed another 17" printer that I could turn over to a Jon Cone K7 carbon inkset conversion. A 3880 is ideal for that purpose in terms of Epson's desktop units, so that's what the new printer will be used for...

mstolting wrote: I use Atlantic Exchange every time I buy ink - I feel they have the best prices

Re replacement ink costs, just thought I'd mention...I recently needed to order a number of replacement cartridges for my 3880 and checked the prices at several sources (Atlex, Hunts, Amazon and a few others); B&H was definitely the least expensive outlet, roughly 8-10% cheaper than the others.  Whether this is true across all models and whether it's perpetually the case, I don't know, but as of about a month ago it was definitely the most economical option I could find.

I am still using my old Epson 2200 with great results, but am looking to replace it BEFORE it dies on me. Any suggestions other than what I have seen on this discussion? I used a 1280 for greeting cards, but it died long ago, so I only have the 2200 and a large format 7600. Looking for something for the daily stuff and cards.
As for ink prices, check out Unique Photo. I have found theirs to be by far the cheapest for my printers.
Julie

I've not been to this site for a few days.... Thanks Royce for your comments. Thanks Kerry for the information regarding ink for the Epson 3880. As I mentioned I currently have the Epson R1900 and the ink is $1.50 less expensive at ATLEX than it is at B&H per cartridge. ($11.49 vs. $13.99).

Mike