Home > Consumer Reviews > Epson Stylus Pro 3800 Printer Standard Model Photo Printer

I now own both the R1800 and the R3800 printers. I bought the R1800 a few years ago, shortly after it came out. This fall I attended a photo trade show in NYC. There were prints on display that were stunning and I got excited about upgrading my printer. There were two or three things I wanted. I wanted larger ink cartridges, so I wouldn't have to order replacements after printing just a few large prints and I wanted a reduction in the cost of the ink. I wanted better quality in the grey scale. I wanted to not have to perform maintenance on the printer (cleaning etc) so often because this wastes ink. I wanted the best quality ink I could get. The thing that really tipped me over to buying this printer was the discovery that the R1800 does not use the same ink set as the professional printers and that the R1800 cannot produce good quality when printing black and white images because it lacks the additions black cartridges. The reason I didn't go with the R2400 was that I did not like the idea of having to switch black cartridges and the waste of ink involved. The 3800 produces great prints and the quality of the greyscale is a noticable improvement over the R1800. But I have to say that it is not as easy a printer to use. While the R1800 came with profiles that were right on target out of the box, I have had to make sure that my monitor is calibrated correctly for the prints to match and I even calibrated the printer. This was somewhat expensive, but I believe that these are necessary steps if you really want to have control over color and the quality of your prints. So, I would recommend this printer for people who want to take their work to the next level, or certainly, for professional photographers. But it is more work to really make use of the extra quality by fine tuning the profiles. I think in the end it will be worth it. The printer has a much larger footprint than the R1800 and it is quite heavy. It does not take a roll which is one downside. but it is able to take many types of paper and can be adjusted in ways the are impossible on the R1800. So, if you are a serious photographer or would be photographer and you want to print your own work to get the quality you want, then I recommend this printer. The R1800 is also capable of beautiful stunning output, but it feels more like a toy next to this printer. Also, one other thing. It comes with Epson support and the support is very very good. The first time I called I talked to them for almost an hour while they taught me about the various aspects of using the printer. You dont get that kind of support when you buy a printer targeted at the consumer market.

Received the SP3800 on Dec6; it replaces an SP2200 which I have enjoyed. (I also use an SP R800 and SP960.) I have tried both Matte and glossy, 4X6 to (finally!) 17X22, and everything works as advertised. A very notable difference may be seen when comparing printouts side-by-side with those from the other printers--a subtle improvement in shading and coloring from the SP3800. I had not even noticed a deficiency in the earlier outputs. It seems trite to say it, but the 3800 output just seems "more realistic." I have one photo of a rainbow over Niagara Falls, with the walk below in deep shadow. The SP3800 shadow has enough shading subtleties that the objects on this walk may be discerned. In my case, the SP3800 gives me more than I expected.

I've had this printer for over 9 months now with very very heavy usage and it works flawlessly. If you only use epson ink and paper designed for inkjet printers (not just epson media, but also things like Illford, Hahnemuhle, Moab) with the downloaded ICC profiles off of their respective web sites you'll get stunning results. I've printed maybe 5k pages out of this thing (some full bleed solid browns on 17x22) and have only replaced the light light black cartridge so far. The money you save on ink versus other printers is a selling point by itself. I upgraded from a 1280 and have used the 1800 and 2400 but this is by far the best and easiest printer to use. No more wrestling with paper settings or paper sizes... it just works.

I had to exchange the first 3800 I bought because the tiny plastic clasp that holds the front cover closed was broken. My previous 2200 had a much better closing mechanism. However, the replacement printer's door stays closed (knock on wood) and the print quality is superb. The Epson inks, despite costing an arm/leg, are the best out there. Plus, the supplied ICC profiles supplied for Epson papers are also excellent. So, overall, I give the 3800 a five rating. I just wish the build quality was better.

We purchased the Professional version of the Stylus Pro 3800 which costs several hundred dollars more than the standard model.

Unfortunately, we are on our third printer. Presumably this was sheer bad luck that we got a couple of lemons. The first printer failed shortly after purchase. The second one suffered a serious paper jam and had to be taken into an Epson service center (across the state I might add). They repaired it while my wife waited. However, it failed almost immediately upon being put back in service.

On a positive note, Epson customer service has been excellent and when the printer works it produces excellent quality prints. However, it seems to have a paper feeding system prone to catastrophic jams and it does not do well with thick papers. Since this is supposed to be a professional model the inability to handle thick specialty papers and to use the full range of feeding options has been a major disappointment.

We just put the third printer into service and it has worked with a few simple test prints. Maybe this one will be OK.

We have owned a number of Epson printers over the years and this has been the only model that has been unreliable.