Epson Stylus Photo R2880

Author's product rating:   

Picture quality	Excellent
Printing speed	Very fast
Colour sensitivity	Excellent
Ease of use	Easy
Value For Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Well built, superb quality prints
Disadvantages:	You have to switch black inks for glossy and matte finishes

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I ordered myself an Epson R2880 from Amazon, they had almost the best price £499.99 delivered. At the time, they also had Epson 3 year extended warranty packs for £35, so I grabbed one of these too. The printer was delivered free in three days.

Upon receipt and opening the massive box, it was instantly apparent that the R2880 is built really well. It has some real weight to it, and the panels all line up superbly. The opening top lid opens smoothly too and has some resistance to it, so does not just bag shut again. Around the back it is very simple, power cord socket, plus two USB connections, so you can easily connect to two different computers at the same time. It also comes supplied with a fine media input tray, for things like canvas paper, plus a roll mechanism for using papers from a roll (as yet I have not tested this). There is also a tray for holding printable CD and DVD's.

Setting up is really easy. You turn the unit on, install the eight ink cartridges and let it prime and ready the printer. One extra step though, before you install the inks. You have to decide what sort of paper you are going to print on first, matte or glossy. This choice determines whether you should install the matte black or photo black ink cartridge (both supplied). If you choose one and later decide to swap to an opposing paper type, you have to swap inks. This is not a big problem, but it does use (and waste) a little ink in the process.

Once the printer is ready, you need to install at the very minimum, the printer driver. I would suggest downloading the latest version from the Epson website, so you are right up-to-date. You can also install extra software too, like a photo manager, easy print application and CD print application. I just went for the printer driver (Mac version for me) and it installed very quickly.

I was able to do my first test print within about ten minutes of unpacking the printer. It showed no clogged nozzles or problems. Onto a photo and I printed a duotone onto fine art matte paper. The resulting print is awesome. Very good detail, nice smooth gradations and the tone and detail in the shadow areas is fantastic. Speed of printing for this first A4 was good too, at under two minutes. To say I was impressed is an understatement. Since this first print I have completed four full colour glossy photos and they are equally as good. Very detailed and accurate colours, with a nice punchy quality that lifts them slightly (visually) from the paper.

The Epson R2880 is an expensive printer, but is does enable you to produce fine art prints up to A3+ in size (which is 329mm by 483mm). Add to this that you could print a panorama up to 44-inches in length and you have a really useful, pro-level printer.

NB. I am the original author of this review. It may appear on www.geekanoids.co.uk and/or dooyoo (username davomrmac).