Nice A3 colour inkjet printer... (Epson Stylus Photo 1290)

Member Name: lunyeung

Product:	Epson Stylus Photo 1290
Date:	14/06/02 (5333 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Reasonable price, Good quality output, Prints on A3 size paper

Disadvantages: Inkjet cartridges are always pricey, A3+ paper is hard to find, Epson paper is expensive

I brought this printer for just over £300 and it was pretty simple to set up and install the drivers.

I have previously brought 2 A4 HP inkjet printers but I needed one that could print A3. With a few niggles in the last HP printer I purchased, I decided to try an Epson and so far I'm not disappointed.

The printer may seem quite expensive but it is actually quite reasonable considering that it is an A3 printer. This puts it in the category of serious personal use or light business use rather than for casual home use where an A4 printer will normally suffice.

One of the features of the printer is borderless printing. However, in reality this can only be achieved under very specific settings and is not possible for the brochures I usually print.

Print quality is very good and the print speed is reasonable, although the text output isn't as sharp as my HP. Prices of ink cartridges are in the same range as HP (£15-25 or so).

The best results are achieved when printing on Epson inkjet papers. I have to admit that I am a little overwhelmed by the wide range of print options avaiable and I am a bit hesitant to try adjusting the various colour settings to optimise the colour reproduction.

The main disadvantage is the high price of Epson paper, especially the A3+ size paper which is slightly larger than normal A3 and allows you to trim the edges thus achieving output to the edge of the A3 area.

Epson are one of the few companies that offer A3+ paper and they take advantage of this in the prices they charge. Not many retailers sell A3+ paper and as a light volume user it is not worth the effort to search for wholesalers that sell cheaper alternative brands. I managed to get hold of some Xerox Colotech A3+ paper and although it isn't specifically designed for inkjet printers the output is good enough for my requirements and is much cheaper than Epson paper.

In summary, the Epson 1290 is a very
good inkjet printer for serious home users and light volume business users that require A3 output. £300 is very reasonable for an A3 printer and the ink cartridges are in the same price range as other manufacturers. The only downside is the high price of Epson A3+ paper, so if anyone knows where I can buy alternative brands I'd love to know!

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