Home > Consumer Reviews > Epson Stylus R800 Inkjet Colour Photo Printer

I am very much into digital photography, and wanted to be able to produce prints with the same clarity as those produced in traditional photography. I had been using an Epson Sylus Photo 890 for some time, and whilst that produced very good output, some graininess was still evident, and as with all other printers I've seen, the finish on gloss photos is uneven on certain colours, and there is a tendency for colours to change with time - especially when picutres are on display.

So I recently splashed out on the Epson R800 - and have to say that the output is truly stunning! Crystal clear print with no hint of graininess, fantastic colours, and also a consistent gloss finish due to the inclusion of a 'gloss optimizer' cartridge, which finishes off each gloss print with an even and protective gloss coating. Another plus point is that Epson claims a 75-year colourfastness of the prints - a huge improvement on most prints and photographs! It also has the facility to print directly onto CDs, using a special CD holder.

The only downside I can see is the price of the ink cartridges - although I guess that this is the case for just about all printers. The printer takes 8 seperate cartridges - 5 colour, two different blacks, and the gloss optimizer - and a full set of cartridges currently cost around £90! I haven't been using mine long enough to comment on how long the cartridges last, but the output is so good that I will try to overlook the ink prices - and am delighted with my purchase.

I cannot recommend the R800. Initially the results were very impressive,as many other reviewers have said.I bought mine Mar-07 and the early photos were as you would expect from a pricey, eight-cartridge machine,but soon I was having to clear the print-head at great cost,frequency and inconvience;merrily printing away when stripes started to appear on the pictures;interrupt printing,waste paper in the proccess.It takes a lot of expensive Epson ink to flush through the heads.By December-07 things were so bad that the R800 was not worth using.Their on-line technical help could offer nothing more than to clean the heads up to six times!(And to use only Epson inks and papers, which I had been doing.)You can see the ink tanks emptying before your very eyes as you do this many cleans! Still no improvement in image quality,and nothing like the quality at the begining.I even sent them an A4 pic which seemed that our four-month-old grandson was hiding behind behind a Venitian blind,the stripes were so bad! I tried to let Epson UKs MD (Mr Butler)know how bad things were,but when I phoned their office I was told it's their policy not to give customers his e-mail address,which provides a clue.I wrote to him anyway, and got a reply from the sales office.The upshot is that unless I can produce my receipt,which I couldn't find,their 'terms and conditions' and 'warranty' applied, even though I had provided the serial number, registered it with them when I bought it and said where and when I had bought it,all to no avail,nothing would be done to rectify the problem. I thought there might be some sympathy forthcoming from them as when the poor quality printing appeared the R800 was about six months' old. As I informed Epson,it would have been nice if they'd used phrases like 'as a gesture of good faith' and 'without prejudice'in these circumstances,but No. Anyway,I've since bought another printer,an HP D7160 which is about a third the R800s price and twice as good. I have no affiliation with either Epson or HP. I'm just a disappointed, disillusioned and disgruntled ex-Epson-printer-owner. Personally, based upon their indifference and poor attitude,and the R800s overall less-than-satisfactory performance and high running costs,I will never again touch any Epson product or service with a barge pole...........Caveat emptor!

Following extensive research and review hunting to make sure I was making the right choice, I have had my R800 for a few days now.

The review in PC Pro magazine swung it for me though (Feb 2005). The printer was tested against 14 other superior inkjets and won by a country mile. Things like the Epson Durabrite ink and paper which offer 80 years fastness were very important factors. The Canon offerings were shoddy in comparison at 25 years fastness.

You only get a few sheets of 4 x 6 photo paper, so make sure you order some with the printer. I have tried varying print outs 4 x 6, 5 x 7 and A4 and compared these directly with prints produced by www.ofoto.co.uk and I am hard pushed to see the difference. The results are nothing short of stunning, it truly is better and cheaper to now print at home.

I cannot recommend this printer enough...

This is a very competant printer, especially for the photographer. It prints to an high level of detail and handles black and white printing with subtlety. It is quiet and well built. installed easily on my usb1 port allthough would be better on usb2. 8 cartridges give amazing range to the pallette. Provided you feed it with decent quality photo paper you will not be dissapointed with it.It has the option to put a gloss finish onto your printed output..Good build quality too. Epson have come a long way with ink jet technology it seems to me i am delighted with my r800.

I got this after my Canon i850 was KIA. I really liked the Canon and considered a direct replacement (i865) but was lured in by the Epson reviews. I was not disappointed. The photo quality on the supplied Epson paper is nothing short of astounding. I would challenge anyone to be able to spot the difference between these and traditional photographs.

I always found the Canon suffered from a slight blue cast and was poor at handling very dark areas. Comparing the same photos, side-by-side leaves the Canon way behind. No more grainy dark colours, no more banding in the darker areas, no more overly blue blues.

The printer also prints great quality text also and at decent speed. I would definitely recommend it. Go on, you know you want one.