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March 22, 2007
[ REVIEW—EPSON STYLUS PHOTO 1410 printer ]
Price: $700
Highly recommended
The low-down: With this printer Epson has brought A3+ (329x483mm) photo prints within reach of a wider group of digital photographers.
The price reduction has been achieved by reducing the number of ink cartridges to six (compared with eight or more in the more expensive printers) and using dye inks rather than the longer life pigment inks.
Print quality is generally very good. Differences in images produced on the 1410 and the more expensive large format Epson printers are hard to spot. Nevertheless, the cruel rule of capitalism that says that you get what you pay for applies to printers as much as to any other device.
Print speed is good. Setup is easy and the printer dialogue can be as simple or as advanced as the user chooses. We made most of our test prints using the simple setup and let the software make the decisions and the prints always matched the on-monitor image. CD label printing is excellent.
Like: With most digital cameras now sporting 6 million pixels or more they are by default producing large images, so why not make the most of them. While paper and ink are expensive big prints can be the occasional self-indulgent luxury for the ripper photos that cry out for the best treatment.
Dislike: Plain paper printing quality is not very good. Black type on plain paper will never be mistaken for laser output. The 1410 is strictly a photo printer. We compared output on premium plain paper with the same file from the more expensive Canon i9950 and the difference was marked.
Verdict: We may quibble about the finest details of output but the bottom line is that the Epson 1410 printer represents amazing value for money. However, like all such devices, the consumables are expensive. Ink cartridges cost $26.50 and they do not have a large capacity. Epson warns against using cheap third party substitutes and our experience confirms their dire predictions of print head destruction if non-genuine inks are used. They are false economy. Which means that the best way to feed the hungry beast is to frequent the computer swap meets advertised in these pages -- genuine inks and papers are sold at these moveable bazaars at a big discount.
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Posted by terry at March 22, 2007 04:02 AM
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Comments
Terry,
I have noticed a few designers/illustrators and photographs have this printer. I don't require photo/professional quality but I wanted to ask you a good reliable printer with ink use efficency. I have pondered on actually buying a HP scanner with a Epson or HP printer instead of just a multi-function for better quality. Some of my options include:
- HP Deskjet F4100
- HP Deskjet D4200 Printer
- Epson Stylus Photo R290
They all seem to have virtually the same specifications. Which is one is which or better?
Posted by: Mike at February 17, 2008 06:52 AM
Mike:
The first decision to be made is output size. Are you happy with A4 or would you occasionally like to go to A3 or A3+[13" by 19"]?
Then do you really need/want pigment or are you content with dye ink prints that last 100 years? Dye printers are usually cheaper than pigment printers and also cheaper to run.
My recommendation is the best Epson Stylus Photo or Canon Pixma printer than fits into your budget. If you look at the www.epson.com.au and www.canon.com.au web sites you will see the specs and prices for all their models. These are RRPs and street prices are always much less.
You are right in thinking that a scanner plus printer is better than an all-in-one unit. However, having said that, the Epson and Canon all-in-ones are generally good, except for the cheapest of both ranges which are not fit to be a door stop!
With printers it is strictly a case of getting what you pay for.
I can't comment on the HP printers because I have only tested a couple. Their professional pigment printer is probably the best I have ever tried, but it costs $1500 and takes up a huge amount of space. Still I would recommend it to anyone wanting perfection.
Epson and Canon really do seem to have the consumer market to themselves, with Epson being preferred by professionals. I like them both.
TL
Posted by: Terry at February 18, 2008 07:20 AM
I did so much research yesterday after I made this post. Thanks alot for your reply by the way. I think buying a $500 to $1000 printer is too much for me and well going overboard I should think unless I was a professional and had a large budget. After looking at different pages, I think I have settle for the Canon PIXMA i4500. I have read it's very good and carries 5 separate tanks (dye-based) and the quality of Canon's imaging is excellent I think.
I have a Canon all-in-one at home but I have not be happy with its ink intake where virtually it sucks all the colour in less than 5 pages of a full colour print. Which is why I wanted an Epson but I didn't want an Epson multifunction for the sake of all sake and the Epson printer you recently reviewed (the lower end one) was good at first but then I decided no.
I think I have made a good choice with the I4500. I just want the ink to last considerably well and be able to home print semi-mockup proofs.
I'll leave A3+ prints to digital web press printers.
Posted by: Mike at February 18, 2008 12:31 PM