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Category: Office Product
Brand: Epson
Model: CA61201-VM
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Epson CA61201-VM Review
Epson CA61201-VM Review by J. Price "Looking for value" (Ontario, CA)
I am an amatuer photographer and this is my first high-end printer.
I run on Mac's and I installed the 3880 as a networked printer using it's ethernet connection. The installation was as smooth as can be.
When setting up the printer in OS 10.6.3, you get two versions of the 3880. One is Bonjour and the other is TCP/IP. Selecting TCP/IP is important for all of the printer utilities to work.
Make certain your monitor is color calibrated and the software you will use to edit and print has the same color space or you will get color casts on the prints.
After that it is a total breeze to create truely awesome prints. I took some of them and compared them to portraits done by commercial photo shops. The 3880 prints were hands down better with much better definition and saturation. 100% first rate.
I love this thing...
UPDATE:
I had to get a new driver when I went to OS 10.7, Lion.
The new driver loaded smoothly and the printer prints fine.
BUT, they changed the names for the paper types from easy to understand like "Letter - Borderless" to "Letter.L4SideMgnAE", which is the paper style you need for a borderless, letter sized print! Isn't that so obvious??
Or "22"X17" changed to "US-C". Clear as mud.
I contacted their tech support and they couldn't explain why they made this change but they did point me to a web-site that acts as a rosetta stone so you can semi-decipher their new gibberish.
I still had to figure out which name to select to get borderless printing as the web-site doesn't make that clear at all.
Why they would do this simply defines logic or explanation.
Epson CA61201-VM Review by Howard W. (Santa Clarita, CA)
The main reason I used to justify the cost (to myself and my wife) for buying the 3880 was the ink cost. The ink cartriges are 8 times the size for 3 times the cost of the R1900 ink. I really like my Epson R1900 printer and still have it, but it is now religated to back-up and DVD/CD printing. But the cost and low amount of ink in each cartridge was killing me.
The 3880 was a lot bigger and heavier than I expected. I kidded myself reading the specs that it was only a little bigger than the R1900. It's not, it's a lot bigger.
Set up was easy. I love that it is a true network printer, so that the information is bi-direction even from a wireless computer.
The prints are spectacular. I used Eye-One to calibrate my monitor (on my Mac Pro with 2 24" cinema displays) and the prints are as close to my monitor as I have ever had before. The advanced B&W mode is also spectacular. Finally perfect B&W prints.
As of now, I've had the printer about a month. I've printed 40 17x22 full color (non-white background) posters. 70 8x10 B&W. 20 8x10 color and about another 20 smaller prints and just replaced the Vivid Magenta and Yellow. Most of the rest of the ink cartriges still have plenty of ink left. YAY!
After I ordered the printer Amazon started (daily, for a few days) offering me extra ink for the 3880 in my "gold box". As it turns out, Epson has two different K3 inks for Vivid Magenta and Light Magenta for the 3880 vs 3800 (all the other K3 inks are the same for both printers). Amazon offered me the wrong ones and since I didn't know that yet, I ordered them. They gave me a refund. T580A00 and T580B00 are the correct Magenta ones for the 3880. Even the Epson manual for the 3880 has it wrong in one of two places. I guess they just copied the 3800 manual and missed a few things. Amazon said they fixed it in their catalog, I haven't heard back from Epson yet. So be careful ordering extra ink.
A few things have gone wrong. I've had a few paper misfeeds, more than one sheet fed at a time. Thsi happened on my R1900 some times too mainly with Ultra Premium Matte. So watch for that. I've also had a driver problem. When I started printing the 17x22 posters, 10 at a time, 3 different posters. It seems that the driver got confused and half way through printing the first 10, it started using the settings from the second 10. I canceled all the jobs and did one poster at a time (e.g. 10 at a time) and everything was fine.
Another small problem. I have lots of 13x19 paper left over from the R1900. The 13x19 is not a native size for the 3880, so I had to make a "custom size". I tried several things, but still haven't been able to print a 13x19 borderless.
I'm also having problems with some of the function of the remote monitor program. Some of those functions don't find the printer on the network.
But these problems are minor and I'm sure will be fixed in software someday. Don't let that stop you from getting this wonderful printer.
Oh yeah, don't panic when you install the maintenance cartridge at initial setup, as it immediately goes to 73% available. That is normal.
This is one of the best printers I have ever owned. Everyone who has seen the prints from them is convinced that they are professionally done. And I guess that is true, since this is from Epsons professional line.
Epson CA61201-VM Review by Jeffrey Edwards
I have been working with the Epson 3880 now for the last 2 weeks since it arrived. After much research I have eagerly awaited the release of Epson's newest printer. Set up with my PC was a snap - no brainer here. Before my first print, I calibrated my monitor with the Spyder system which I also highly recommend. I've printed with both Photoshop and Lightroom. From the very first print.....my colors have been right on the money. In fact, as good as any professional online service I've used. The images are simply astonishing.
I'm using currently Epson paper only, mostly their Velvet Fine Art paper. I have not yet found a need to run a calibration profile on Epson paper. The download paper profiles from Epson appear to be working well. Although I will probably do a test run to see if there is a significant difference. I'm looking forward to trying Red River Paper as well.
I've never done any high-end printing before. I always used on an online print service, but was frustrated with my lack of control over the process. Using a printer of this caliber can be a little overwhelming with Photoshop/Lightroom. It is critical to get your color management issues squared away before hand. It was very helpful to read: The Art of Printing Photos on Your Epson Printer - by Michael Freeman and John Beardsworth which was published earlier this year. This book was enlightening and it made my software/hardware choices much easier.
If you are tired of letting others have the final control over your very best images, are comfortable in PS or LR, utilize monitor calibration, can justify the expense, use higher end camera gear and enjoy the entire creative process that photography entails.....this is the printer you have been waiting for.
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Epson Stylus Pro 3880 Inkjet Printer (CA61201-VM):: Technical Details
- Precision print head technology
- Professional control
- Optimal black density
- Industry-leading pigment ink technology
- Advanced image quality architecture
- Item Dimensions: 15 x 27 x 10 inches; 43 pounds
- Brand: Epson
- Model: CA61201-VM
- Product Type: Office Product
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