Am I defecting to Canon ?

[lemons]

I don't know about the export / import implications, but the printer is available from plot-it.co.uk, where I bought my T2100, for £1872 inc VAT. It might be worth calling them if you've got a long wait on your hands anyway. I've had no issues purchasing from the continent, although not goods of this value.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Thanks for the info, the printer is shipped palletized as per Keith cooper's test report, that will increase the shipping rate, and the forwarder will have to do customs clearance and makes a handling charge for it. I'm told by several dealers that Epson is shipping printers to the dealers around /after the 12. of Dec - a container from Fareast is probably arriving around that time so there is a chance to get a printer before Christmas.
I'm opting for the T3100X Ecotank model now since I recognize that I'm printing more large format stuff than I was expecting some months ago when I got the T2100. It's the high cartridge chip pricing for which there is currently no way around - no resetter etc.

 

[The Hat]

I'm opting for the T3100X Ecotank model

We got a couple here in Ireland, nice but expensive..
https://www.elara.ie/productdetail.aspx?manufacturer=EPSON&mancode=C11CJ15301A1

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I got the T3100X delivered last Friday - on a Europallet on an Epson pallet - the printer with all its styropore is covered by a big box open at the bottom and strapped to a pallet with several strong straps. I got the printer initialized and running with pigment inks - leftovers from my old P7600, Epson is supporting this model with dye inks, but the base model T3100/T2100 with pigment inks as well. You get just small setup ink cartridges (25ml or less) with these cartridge based printers, but you get a full set of ink bottles - 150 ml each color - with the T3100X.
Since I was running a T2100 since just recently I can compare the cartridge and tank based printers - they work the same, the driver is the same with some small adjustments for the ink supply - the ink supply system is the only difference - with tubing up to the carriage instead of cartridges. I didn't do printing very much yet - I just redid 2 profiles and compared them with those I made for the T2100 - they look very much the same.

Is the hefty price increase of the T3100X over the T2100/T3100 worth the difference ? It only would pay off after a while when the cumulative cartridge cost over time will exceed the ink prices for the tank system model - there are no limitations to use any suitable 3d party ink at low cost, refill of the T2100 cartridges is very much restricted by the need for one-time chips from China which are pretty expensive, or you use cartridges with one-time chips via Aliexpress - rather expensive as well.
But there is an alternative with the Canon TC-20 , a direct competitor to the T2100/T3100 models , and the TC-20 is already a Megatank like printer model which I ran with genuine pigment inks. So there are some interesting options available for a potential user. Both the Canon TC-20 and the Epson T3100(X ) are printers with 4 colors and do not reach the performance of other higher priced 10-12 ink printer models. These are entry level printers - they don't do borderless - but print very well within these constraints.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I'm now running the Epson T3100x 24 inch printer since a while - without particular problems or peculiarities, I had to replace the waste ink box once.
The T3100X is a 4 color printer with dye inks - T3100X - or with pigment inks on the T3100. Such configuration uses a black ink which is tuned for a good, sharp print of text and graphics, and is a pigment ink even in printers with CMY dye inks. This leads to some not so good looking prints on glossy paper - black is mixed from the CMY inks - the black ink does not adhere to the glossy surface. I was already looking for some alternative and I was using a black glossy pigment ink instead and used the driver paper setting for matte paper. Such mode delivers good looking prints on glossy paper but you are loosing on the black level on nomal and inkjet paper, the differences in the black level are really visible. Swapping inks in a Ecotank T3100X printer is not possible.

I was using a Canon TC-20 for a whort while before I switched over to the Epson T3100x, the TC-20 is quite similar to the T3100X and runs with CMYK pigment inks. Interesting enough the driver does not surpress the use of the black ink with the glossy paper selections which came as a surprise. It is the PFI-050 black ink which is used for prints on all types of papers which is quite unusual. I did various testprints - this black pigment ink delivers a better black level than a mix of CMY inks and prints quite well on glossy papers as well - the black level is not as dark as a glossy/photo pigment ink but pretty close and better than a CMY mix as well. The pricing of the PFI-050 pigment inks for the TC-20 is exorbitantly high, but you almost have the same effect with a PFI-050 black ink via Aliexpress just for a few € per bottle. I'm currently running this PFI-050 Canon black on the T3100X without any problems. But is it nevertheless a compromise solution.