The Epson Stylus Photo R2880 offers a terrific blend of great features, solid performance and, most importantly, spot-on results.The Epson Stylus Photo R2880 uses Epson’s UltraChrome K3+ ink system and features an 8-colour pigment ink system, with a separate cartridge for each individual colour. The Epson Stylus Photo R2880 has more than one black ink, with a Photo Black, Matte Black, Light Black and Light Light Black on offer. The Photo Black and Matte Black inks on the R2880 are interchangeable depending on the print media, so it offers an extra mono ink for the Black & White enthusiast. The Epson Stylus Photo R2880 uses Epson’s Micro Piezo print heads, with electricity passed through the piezo elements to help fire the ink, compared to normal pressure produced by bursting bubbles of heated ink.
The Epson Stylus Photo R2880 has a sleek design (if the word sleek can be used in conjunction with an A3+ printer) with a largely silver finish. Construction is solid and an improvement on preceding models, while also having a reasonably small footprint. There is a Front Thick media path, accepting card media up to 1.3mm thick, but for Fine Art media (such as coarse watercolour paper), there is a manual rear feed.
The Epson Stylus Photo R2880 supports PictBridge for direct printing from a digital camera without the need to print via a PC, though this seems a little redundant for printers focused at the photo-enthusiast and professional. It can also print directly onto compatible CD/DVDs, with supplied software to help you do this.
The printer driver software for was easy to install and to get familiar with, offering a wealth of features. The R2880 also has a specific Advanced BW Printing mode, to really optimise your mono shots.
When printing, the Epson Stylus R2880 was surprisingly quiet in operation – apart from the odd whirr and buzz when the paper is grabbed or spat out at the end, it was almost silent in operation.
Time-wise, the R2800 churned out an A3+ borderless print in 8mins 46secs using SuperPhoto mode, with the High Speed setting selected. With High Speed off, prints took just over 20mins, but with no noticeable improvement in image quality. A print with a border took 8mins 11secs.
The Epson Stylus Photo R2880 offers a terrific blend of great features, solid performance and, most importantly, spot-on results. Colour images look natural, while mono results are perfectly neutral. If you’re really serious about your photography, this is the printer to go for!
Digital Photo Gold AwardSpecifications:Refill: £90
Cartridges: Photo Black (or Matte Black), Light Black, Light Light Black, Cyan, Vivid Magenta, Yellow, Light Cyan, Vivid Light Magenta.
Price per cartridge: £9
Interface: SB 2.0
Additional features: PictBridge
Max print size: A3+
Borderless printing: Yes
Special features: DVD/CD printing
Print resolution: 5760x1440 optimised dpi
A3+ print time: A SuperPhoto setting: 8mins 46secs (borderless), 8mins 11secs (with border)
System requirements: Windows 2000, XP, XP x64 or Vista. Mac OS X 10.3.9 or higher.
Dimensions: 616x322x214mm
Weight: 12Kg
Visit: www.epson.co.uk