Epson Stylus Photo 2000P Inkjet Printer
See it at Amazon.com for $899.99Average Customer Rating
(4.0 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
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(5 out of 5)Best Photo Printer on the Market
After receiving this printer and making numerous prints, I have decided to dismantle my traditional darkroom! For years I held back from going completely digital because photo quality printers were not up to the standards I had come to expect from my Cibachrome prints. All that has changed with the Epson Stylus 2000P. Image quality is superb, indistinguishable with the naked eye from silver halide-based prints. While I have not personally tested longevity, if the reported 200-year lifetime is anywhere near correct these prints are better than Cibachromes. And going digital has other advantages. I have already made outstanding prints from transparencies I would never have thought about printing in the past because of the complicated masks I would have had to create. A good photo software program (I use Corel PhotoPaint) makes it easy to do difficult contrast and color corrections. The 2000P was easy to set up. An excellent quick-start sheet had me making my first print less than 20 minutes after taking the printer out of the box. The Windows installation program was straightforward. The only thing I didn't like is that it made the 2000P my default printer without asking me. This was easy to fix. I was also surprised to discover it came with three boxes of papers: 50 sheets of premium luster, 50 sheets of archival matte, and 20 sheets of 13x19 watercolor paper. Plus a sample pack of various media. Nice job Epson. Don't plan to use this as your everyday printer. It is optimized for printing photos and should be used for such. A 13 meg photo took about 10 minutes to print using the parallel interface (I will convert to USB as soon as I get a cable), which might seem slow but is still faster than chemical-based prints. As a 25-year Hewlett-Packard employee (now with Agilent Technologies as a result of the company split) it was very difficult for me to decide to buy Epson. But in the area of photo quality archival output there is just no alternative. All in all, I am extremely satisfied.
(5 out of 5)Expensive, but worth it.
I bought this printer based on reviews at ZDnet and News.com. They both claimed that this printer is the best thing since sliced bread, and I have to agree. I am a professional graphic designer. I use this printer to assist in making proofs for 11x17 posters and phone card designs. I have never seen photo quality this good on an inkjet. Photos on the 2000P look better than the output on my ALPS thermal wax printer, better than the hippopotamus-sized Tektronix at Kinkos, and better than the proofs I typically get when I send my QuarkXPress and Photoshop files to the print shop. One of the best features of this printer is its ability to print bleeds. I can print 11x17 right to the edge of the paper. The drawbacks... This printer is not for the amateur user. To get high quality output you really need to know what you are doing. You need to use the right kind of paper with the right print job. You need to understand the differences between the different print modes. You need to high quality source material (like 600dpi 32bit TIFF images). You need to read the manual. If you are taking pictures with a digital camera and you are expecting to plug in and get photo quality output right away, you are only going to be disappointed. Also, the printer is expensive to maintain (expect about $1.50/page when you factor in paper and inks), and very slow. I've found that it usually exceeds 5 minutes per page when printing photos. Of course, this printer is not designed for speed or ease of use, its designed to be an alternative to using a print shop for photo-quality proofs. Use it only as it was intended to be used, and you will cherish this printer.
(2 out of 5)Not a printer for professionals
The 2000P has far too noticeable a dot pattern on all the medias available. Watercolor paper prints the best, because it isn't as noticeable. But, for professional photographers and artists, the prints are too dotty and digital to make it into a quality exhibition, display, or any collection as Epson would have it. Phoning customer service and requesting a return only returned their boasts about archival quality. If it ain't broken, no returns, and how 'bout that archival quality. So what? If a print is sub-standard, who cares if it lasts for 160 years? This is not a true photographic quality printer. For that, stick to traditional photographic techniques. Additionally, the greenish cast is no joke, and ICC profiles don't work well at all. Stylus RIP software for Postscript printing only allows for EPS files to print. And it prints the file at one-half the resolution, so now the RIP files look like 360 dpi output. No good again for signage, etc. from Quark or Pagemaker. Inquiring with Epson about the RIP issues got back comments about perceived color vs. real color, and no comments about the resolution problems. Is a 1280 better? At least it would be cheaper. The 2000P burns through color cartridges.
(5 out of 5)"Unacceptable Color Shifts" is using the wrong paper!
Everyone who complains about this printer invariably doesn't know how to use it. Herein lies the problem. This printer yeilds better results for professionals than it does for people like the "color shifts" guy (who obviously doesn't know that a revision in Epson's semi-gloss papers had taken care of the problem long before he wrote his "review").
So, be careful to learn your craft, and this printer will give you absolutely outstanding results!
(5 out of 5)Great printer for artists!
I bought this printer to make prints of my original watercolor paintings at home. The quality is incredible. When the prints are printed on Epson's watercolor paper, I can barely tell the difference between the original painting and the Epson print! The printer is expensive, but is paying for itself very quickly. You need to read the manual and use the right paper for each job, and you'll be very happy with the results.