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

I've been searching for a printer specifically to print pictures from my digital camera of my wedding which is taking place in April 2006. I have previously tried a Canon IP4200 and was very disappointed. Having researched lots of different reviews, I decided to try the Epson R800. I have to say that I am very impressed with this printer. It's not the quickest in the world, but the quality is very, very good. Prints from this are almost indistinguishable from Kodak Kiosk prints, colour reproduction is accurate and nicely saturated, quality is excellent, and the results are exceptionally glossy when used with Epson high gloss paper. I'm looking forward to printing some fantastic A4 sized prints in the near future.

Inks and paper for this printer are anything but cheap, but I think if you are really looking for a high-quality home photo printer, then this is currently the one to go for.

Epson Stylus R800 Inkjet Colour Photo Printer

Oh yes, the quality's great - until you don't do any printing for a week or come to change cartridges that is. The ink-wastage is unbelievable. I can't even begin to describe the amount of time and money wasted vainly trying to unblock the printheads. Nothing works - not even Isopropanol. My guess would be that a lot of the positive reviews are written fairly shortly after purchase or by very heavy users who print regularly. For normal use, this thing has been an unmitigated disaster.

Frankly, my personal opinion is that this printer is so fundamentally flawed that I don't believe Epson should even be selling it - it's about time they realised that there are a lot of people who will never go near one of their products again. If you are still considering purchasing one of these money-pits, check the internet - my experiences are commonplace.

Bottom-line an expensive waste of money that's gone in the bin after 1-year.

FYI, this is an independent review and I've no connection to any printer manufacturer, distributor etc.

Rant over.

As part of a major migration from a home PC to Mac, I decide also to change the printer (in fact the scanning part of my all-in-one HP was sticking more and more frequently). I also wanted a printer that would make good quality photos (and I did not need a scanner and fax integrated into the new printer - what a revolutionary idea - just buy a printer without all the extras!). Naturally I also wanted a printer that would work with the Mac and AirPort. And this is certainly not guaranteed and it is difficult to find much information from printer manufacturers. The Epson Stylus R800 was warmly recommended on a number of Web sites and blogs. My local Apple dealer recommended the same printer and could demonstrate it working in their shop. The eight-cartridge system looks like a good idea and the print quality is really very good even if I have not really mastered all the configuration details (I found some valuable help on the Web). I have used the Epson Gloss Optimizer and I must say that it is essential in obtaining a really good gloss finish. Also, the fact that the printer has two different blacks looks like a good idea. And, as the manufacture says, the ability to replace each individual cartridge also maximises cost efficiency - and given the prices we need all the help we can get. The printer was very simple to install and use with the Mac, and it is true that it is very quite. This is an expensive option and I would certainly suggest that people think carefully about what they want from a printer, and if possible test different options in the shop. However I recommend this printer to anyone who wants good quality colour prints.

I've had this printer for 6 months now and its excellent. The prints are really detailed and even with the cheap inks the quality is still great. For anyone thinking of buy this, it is great for home and proffesional use. Dont buy the Espon inks as a new set costs roughly £90, but the Inkrite inks and you can get a set for about £15. The printer will print directly on to cd's which works really well, but takes a while if you have lots of cd's to print on to. To get a panoramic picture I cut an a2 sheet to the right width, set the size on the printer settings and it printed on it fine. The ink lasts a very long time aswell. The printer does not come though with a USB cable so remember to order 1. To see the quality of this printer you can order prints from this website Onutz Photo

When seeking to update my printer, which gave me an opportunity to pass my existing one on to my son, I chose exactly the same make and model again. I did some research but still felt this offered the best value. I have used it to produce thousands of colour and black and white photos and diagrams and it has never let me down. It produces great prints and is easy to use. There are some extras in the software that are also useful. I would have happily given it 5 stars if it wasn't for the cost of the inks! It's great that you can replace them individually, but you still need to shop around for good deals.