The sprinter of the printers (Epson Stylus Color 880c)

Member Name: wishywalshy

Product:	Epson Stylus Color 880c
Date:	01/04/01 (342 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Speed quality, price

Disadvantages: None that I am aware of

Epson Stylus Color 880

An quality inkjet printer manufactured by the renown Epson compamy.
Photo capabilities printing up to 2880 dpi(Dots per inch)
Three colour cartridge and separate black.
Connects to USB or Parallel port.
High speed and effective.
Costs £129 and available in Curry’s, PC world, and other outlets.

Required computer specifications for Windows 95/98,
CD Rom drive
Pentium processor
32MB ram
50mb hard drive space
Parallel port

For Windows2000
CD Rom drive
Pentium 133 or higher
64 MB ram
100mb hard drive space
Parallel/USB port

Our elderly Epson 850 colour stylus inkjet printer had reproduced its last photograph several months ago, and we were actively seeking a replacement.
Having researched what we could, we were torn between the LexmarkZ52 and another Epson.
The criteria were that it was of photographic standard, it was 3 colour, and that it was affordable.
Having paid over £300 for our last printer we expected to pay at least that for such a model.
To my surprise I discovered that in the computer age everything was drastically reduced.

Having always owned Epsons, I was keen to continue the trend.

I visited the dreaded PC World, and selected the Epson 880 model, not only was the resolution high at an amazing maximum 2880 dpi, it was fast and used the three colour cartridges.
It looks much like Epsons earlier Stylus range, but it has a transparent cover to enable easy viewing of the print heads in operation.
It cost £129.90 and I was keen to try it out.

Setting it up.
This was really easy to do.
The software that was included was quick to install and extremely easy to operate.(Photo deluxe v.1.1 business edition, and relevant drivers)
The machine was well packed and wrapped, with no parts or software missing.
I chose to utilise my serial port, as my USB ports are currently in use. <
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Please note, neither USB or parallel leads are supplied with the printer.

The cartridges are supplied and are easily fitted into the machine with the minimal amount of effort and fuss.

Installed and in situ, I was ready to print.

After the first print, we realised that something was not quite right, having some knowledge of the procedures and maintenance of this brand of machine; I selected the Utilities section inside the printer program and proceeded to clean the heads.
This did not solve the problem.
For several hours I persevered, still with no success, producing lines banding over the page in any resolution, and using nearly a whole cartridge in the meantime.

I contacted PC World first thing the next morning, and informed them that I was not satisfied and that I would be returning the faulty printer immediately.

The technicians diagnosed faulty heads on the printer, and quickly and painlessly returned my money as there were no replacements available.

Printer number 2.
Bought from Curry’s, installed and set up.
As I loaded my printer tray I was filled with some trepidation, I really needed this printer to work….
And it does.

What can it do?
It can print all on popular medias such as photo paper, transparencies, matt, glossy, transfer, card, gash paper, in fact most anything.
It also has the capability to print envelopes and A5

What dpi can it print in?
Choices of resolutions are, 360 dpi, 720 dpi, 1440 dpi and 2880 dpi.

What is the quality like?
The quality on all resolutions is of an incredibly high standard with sharp crisp lines and print.
This is down to the quality print head, which has obviously been thoroughly researched, and tested, and now includes an option to vary the size of the ink droplets.
The photographic reproductions are crystal clear and not in the least grainy in appearance.
In fact it is diffi
cult to tell the difference between the original and the copy.

In use it is extremely quiet and incredibly fast

Any other interesting features?

A new high-speed mode, which is fast!!!.

How fast?
It is capable of printing Print speeds of 12ppm black and 11.7ppm colour at approximately 5%coverage at economy speed and print.
For quality fine prints it will take considerably longer approximately 2 minutes per sheet of A4.(1440dpi, even finer prints take longer still 2880dpi

The paper tray can accommodate up to 30 sheet of paper at a time depending on the type of paper used, and loading the paper is child’s play.

The software has extra features that allow you to enhance digital camera shots, and other images inside the printer program.
This printer can be networked and offers double sided printing, however in order to print both sides you have to physically remove the paper from the tray and place it back into the feeder.

I have no qualms with this printer at all, the refill cartridges are around £20 for colour and slightly cheaper for black.

The full specs can be found at the following address(Very technical info)

http://www.epson.co.uk/product/printers/inkjet /stycol880/spec.htm

I fully recommend this printer, the price is right, the quality is outstanding and it looks good too.
It is easy to use, and can be used to it’s full potential by a complete novice.
Positively a thumbs up.

Summary: