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

This printer is not as fast as the big $10,000 plotters, but
the quality is just as good. For the serious hobby guy like
me, I don't have any regrets. The only complaint is that the
front door does not stay shut very well. Also, a dust cover
should have been provided. I understand there is a new model.

I've just been waiting for my Epson 2400 to give out on me so I could get the Pro 3800. I am not one bit disappointed in it's performance and now I can print on a much greater selection of professional paper and make larger sized prints. The added bonus is that I can still print on 4x6 paper, which is very important to me as I make notecards and postcards. The fine art paper print that I made the second day of ownership knocked my socks off!

I am a semi-professional photographer and all of my printers get very heavy use. I am looking forward to the 3800 giving me the excellent results all of my other Epsons have.

I've had this since March 2008. I like the large capacity ink cartridges which last a long time. I print mainly on Red River Paper using the RR profiles and have no complaints about print quality at all. I've printed hundreds of prints from 4x6 to 17x25 and have only had to clean the print heads (using the printer utility) a couple times. I've replaced the maintenance cartridge once. I print almost exclusively on glossy paper, though. If I switched back and forth from glossy to matt, I think I'd go through more ink and more maintenance cartridges also. One minor point...you've got to use this printer regularly. If it's been a week since you printed something, then at least go print a nozzle check. An acquaintance left his 3800 for almost a month. Getting it working again was expensive.

It does make typical pigment ink prints, so they initially don't look as good as dye prints, especially if your subjects have a lot of white and therefore get no ink in those areas. On occasion, I also see the famous tracks in the ink, but not very often. I can't really figure out the combination of circumstances that causes the tracks, though, and that can be an expensive matter with 17x25 prints!

My only serious complaint is that this big, big printer is really flimsy. Even though it is fairly expensive, I don't see this as a professional or commercial grade printer by any strech of the imagination. I'm sure that in a working shop, this plastic wonder would last about three days! When you move it, that becomes obvious, as it creaks and squeaks from lack of rigidity in the case. So far the latch that holds the output tray in its closed position has broken. Also, the plastic guides that hold the input trays in their extended position partly broke. In both cases, I was able to continue using the printer after judicious use of Velcro(r) and Superglue(r). Anyone who is "rough" with their equipment may have to change their ways when working with this.

All that said, if you treat this printer as though the case is made of eggshells and don't switch back and forth from glossy to mat and back, you should be very happy with the 3800.

What a great investment! I am a designer, and this printer gives me great control over how I print my materials, what I am printing on, including the quality, weight, and size of the paper. I am 100% happy with this purchase!

I'll start by saying that for many people, this has clearly been a great printer. Just not in my case, unfortunately.

Prints come out a good shade darker than they should be.

I've tried all the obvious fixes with Epson tech support:
1) Calibrating my monitor to make sure it's not too bright, and trying other monitors (all at or below L=100)
2) Printing from other machines (one of my PCs is XP-64, the other is XP-32)
3) Letting apps manage colors and using ICC profiles
4) Random/desperate other combos of color management (printer controlled - awful, and other variants)
5) Printing from apps like MSFT paint - Here, my printer prints almost a shade darker than what i see in the file (based on the print color pallete).
6) Reinstalling xp64 drivers (for the xp-64 machine) and using 32-bit drivers for the xp-32 machine

In the end, the Epson tech admitted i have a defective unit and should return it.

Maybe that's the case. Seems likely given the number of happy customers here.

But I can't be sure, and don't want to go through this again. It won't be another Epson for me...

Just thought I'd share my story. Perhaps it will be useful for others who experience this problem. Hopefully there will not be many of you.

Good luck.