Epson Stylus Pro 3800

by John - Expert Reviewer
(Michigan)

Epson Stylus Pro 3800 is perfect for those who are in the business of providing fine art printing. Having a wide tonal range allows it produce prints that are longer plating, whether in vivid black and white, or precise color prints.

A business can go well using this Epson printer as it provides for a wide selection of paper types. At a cost of less than $1,300 you can have quality print outputs that can print as large as 17 x 22 inches, which is pretty large enough to offer as an option for
special orders. Here are other important features that might interest you:

Size - Large-format inkjet printer
Color- Max media size
Connectivity- Wired

To make this review more useful, I have detailed its advantages as against its disadvantages below so you can check out if they are the important things you are looking for in your intended purchase:

Advantages of the Epson 3800

1. Two options in which to place your paper feed. You can use the one at the back that can hold as much as 120 sheets of plain paper or other paper types like the Epson photo paper that can load up to 60 sheets. If you are to use thicker stock paper or need to feed only one sheet at a time, you can use the feeder tray in front located just above the output tray.

The paper loading process for front and back is simple and easy to use since there are guides for paper alignment.

Just below the front feeder tray is a panel that flips to serve as the output tray. You can easily slide it to its maximum extension to meet the largest print output possible, without hitting any snags once the output prints emerge.

2. A small LCD screen will display the remaining ink in each of all the nine cartridges and denotes the type of black ink in use. You can also find here a direct menu and instructions for paper handling, as well as an update of the multiple work process the printer machine is currently doing.

The nine ink cartridges hold Epson's Ultra Chrome K3 inks namely: Photo Black, Light Cyan, Light Magenta, Light Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Matte Black, and Light Light Black.

3. A section for color management indicating all options available whether its Epson Vivid or Epson Standard; while the available Charts and Graphs and Adobe RGB are plus points since most printers let you decide on the settings for color management through trial and error options. Each cartridge costs about $60 and contains 80 ml. per cartridge.

However, as far as this feature is concerned I was at a loss for a second because this Epson Stylus Pro 3800 has no tab marked as Advanced like in the in Epson Stylus Photo printer. I had to figure out how I can navigate the settings for color management. However, the further I went into navigating its controls the more I was able to establish that this piece of machine faulted for being too big, is actually as solid printer through and through.

4. Has a remarkable resolution of about 2880x1440dpi and its ink droplets size is 3.5 picoliters, where some printers only go as low as 1 picoliter. Although Epson's MicroPiezo print head allows only 180 nozzles per color.

5. It has the Active Meniscus Control technology which seems to uphold its claim of managing the ink placement as evidenced by its superb outputs.

The outputs of this machine hardly contain the unsightly bronzing effect common in the Stylus Photo R2200. The striking sharpness of its black and white prints was as impressive as the color prints that stayed true to its colors regardless of the type of paper used.

6. It has excellent customer support via its toll-free number from Monday up to Friday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT. and a manual that can guide you through any issues you might have.

7. There is the regular one year warranty along with the availability of online contacts for interactive troubleshooting, FAQs, documentation and placing orders for Epson supplies.

Disadvantages of the Stylus Pro 3800

Printing speed is good but there are faster options if you are in a hurry. A single 6x10 photo took 5 minutes, 18 seconds to print if you’re coming from a switch from photo-black inks. The photo print alone took 2 minutes, 8 seconds plus you have to wait if you’re going to make a switch. In fact, a 13x19 print borderless printing job takes 10 minutes, 9 seconds.

There now, you can see the contrast of its usefulness against its low point, you can have a little basis on what to expect from this printer. By most standards, Epson’s Stylus Pro 3800 gets my vote and thumbs up.