Epson Stylus Photo R800

Review Date: 22nd July 2004

Image Quality

I said much the same thing about the Epson Stylus Photo 950 that I reviewed last year - the image quality of prints made by the Epson Stylus Photo R800 is quite simply stunning, even straight out of the box using the standard printer drivers. Show a print made on glossy paper to your friends and I bet that they will think it is a high-street lab print. The crucial difference between the two printers is that the R800 produces archival prints, due to the UltraChrome Hi-Gloss pigment inks, whereas the Stylus Photo 950 uses dye-based inks, which are more prone to fading. Despite this, the Epson Stylus Photo R800 doesn't suffer from any of the problems with bronzing on glossy papers that afflict its older big brother, the Stylus Photo 2100 (which also uses UltraChrome Hi-Gloss pigment ink). The addition of the gloss optimiser ink by Epson really has solved this problem.

Here are some sample 6 x 4 inch prints made on different paper types, all at the highest-quality Photo RPM resolution (except for Archival Matte, which can only print at the Photo or Best Photo settings). They were scanned on my Black Widow 4830 Pro flatbed scanner at 72dpi:

Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper
Epson Archival Matte Paper
Epson Semigloss Photo Paper
Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl Paper

The prints on Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper haven't scanned too well; they were the most vibrant and colourful prints and very similar to traditional glossy prints from your local photo lab, especially with the addition of the gloss optimiser ink, although they are prone to fingermarks if you don't handle the paper carefully. Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl Paper and Epson Semigloss Photo Paper were virtually identical, giving a more subdued pearl finish. Epson Archival Matte obviously gave the least glossy finish of all four papers, but it was actually too subdued for my taste. All of the prints were touch-dry straight out of the printer.

The Epson Stylus Photo R800 is predominantly a photo printer, but it also produces more than acceptable prints of text. This is important because most people will only buy one printer to do a variety of different tasks, including printing text documents as well as photos. The Epson Stylus Photo R800 printed a Word document very quickly and to a high standard, even when using plain office paper and the lowest quality setting.

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