Epson XP series

[Ink stained Fingers]

Let me start with the WF-2750WF - 4 Durabrite pigment inks, refillable via T16 refill cartridges, you may go through the specs to see whether that's within your requirements and you may compare it to the Canon Maxify models, there are probably differences in the speed, paper bin capacity, cartridge volume, connectivity options, pricing etc which you have not raised yet as your relevant selection criteria.
https://www.epson.co.uk/products/pr...icrobusiness/workforce-wf-2750dwf#accessories

 

[Flying Scotsman]

@Ink stained Fingers thanks again for your help.
I am just looking for a cheap pigment printer that can produce the best quality pictures. A big ask I know but a can't afford a canon pro.
Thanks

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

as explained in other threads you would have to go for refill and use other inks than Durabrite pigment inks for a good result. And be aware that you might have specific visible effects with pigment inks like bronzing and gloss differentials depending very much on the ink/paper combination. And you'll need def. custom icc profiles . And as you specifically ask for a 'cheap' pigment printer you might get some more handling e.g. more refilling of small cartridges , that would be a matter of your patience in relation to the overall print volume. But as I have shown you can get very good prints nevertheless with those points in mind. I hope that we discuss all those points before you spend your money.

 

[Flying Scotsman]

@Ink stained Fingers refilling of small cartridges would not be a problem for me or getting profiles. What i am really looking for is the best quality for the best price. I don't care if it's a Epson or a canon.
All your recommendations would be appreciated.
Thanks again

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

It has been discussed here how good a quality you can acheive when using a simple 4 color Durabrite printer in a off-regular mode https://www.printerknowledge.com/th...nters-be-used-for-photo-printing.10972/page-2 and I hope that some other member can comment as well.

 

[apetitphoto]

I'm using a WF3620 with Precision Colors PCDB durabrite ink and am quite satisfied with it after profiling for the papers I use. Matte paper is excellent and I wouldn't be ashamed with using it on glossy paper - I'm sure that there are better combinations, but "good enough is the enemy of better."

 

[craig carr]

Just a little input on the ink waste on the xp since it was mentioned, I ran through my inkwaste within 3 months of daily borderless printing on the xp-860. Although I loved the prints I got with it, Epsons lifespan of that printer is crazy. Hard to judge how many prints I got. All I know is it was a lot.

 

[te36]

I have not yet given up on an XP series printer even though this may qualify me as a chronic masochist or because i want to oppose epsons ink extortion racket.

The quality of letter/A4 glossy photo prints is great for 4 colors. I can only see color dithering at < 20 cm viewing distance. And those glossy papers are perfectly water resistent. I am not a regular user, that makes these XP printers preferrable to me over the more robust workforce etc. printers with only pigment.

The XP-820 i bought new for $180 died with "paper jam" after one week. Epson authorized repair shop said it could not repair it. Internal mechanics all plastic. Epson wanted to send me an XP-830 but i refused to accept it because i had not found refilling options for those newer T410 cartridge chips. I now have an unused $30 XP-610 from craigslist and use it with PC refill cartridges/ink and it prints fine after scaring clogged nozzles with nasty denatured alcohol.

The ink waste mikling describes has three factors: a) there do not seem to be XL aftermarket chips, the PC refill cartridge chip also seems to be standard size, so it needs to reset after ca. 6 ml of ink. b) epsons ink drain routine after cartridge change seems to waste a lot of ink. c) You need to do 5 cycles (one per cartridge) for a full set of cartridge reset.

IMHO, the whole ARC concept is stupid. You want to explicitly reset all cartridges at once. This is also the common practice on what seems to be refillers favorite printers like Pixma Pro 100 - even though there also seem to be ARC chips for them.

There is a resetter claiming support for original 273XL chips (QE-888), I will get one of those, and a set of original XL chips. That just leaves problem b), so hopefully the ink waste will be ok.

The other problem is that aftermarket with XP is you get banding when the chip tries to pull in more ink than the cartridge delivers. I get this when printing on glossy paper letter/A4. Photo (6x4 inch) is fine, letter plain paper is fine too - all those options do draw less ink. This happens with one-time aftermarket cartridges as well as the refillables from PC and even with one original cartridge (older one). I have solved the problem by running the PC cartridges with the hole over the reservoir unplugged - instead of the hole over the sponge. This seems to work perfect so far.

 

[te36]

Just a little input on the ink waste on the xp since it was mentioned, I ran through my inkwaste within 3 months of daily borderless printing on the xp-860. Although I loved the prints I got with it, Epsons lifespan of that printer is crazy. Hard to judge how many prints I got. All I know is it was a lot.

How many set of cartridges regular / XL was that three months ?

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

The WicReset utility can generate a status report for you which tells you the number of printed pages amongst other information - cleaning cycles - error conditions etc