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Epson Stylus Pro 3880
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Technical Details
- Industry-leading pigment ink technology- Professional control
- Precision print head technology
- Optimal black density
- Advanced image quality architecture
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By Dave Campbell (Hudson Valley)
I almost felt bad not rating this printer at 5 stars, but it does have a couple small problems that make it less than perfect. First off, it is a remarkable machine that produces superb prints of artwork. All final digital product is, of course, dependent on the filtering and scanning that the intake and digital manipulation software provide, but the quality of printing for line drawings, ink washes, and similar works really impressed me. I have not done a lot with photograph reproduction, but what I have done was also impressive.
It is not, however, a perfect machine. The settings process which has to be done per print, or saved as a custom batch setting is cumbersome. The layout is a bit awkward and makes it difficult to remember to go through every setting and tweak it for your particular batch printing job. You can establish your own profiles, but not every setting is included in the profile which means you might still have to tweak the settings for even the minute differences in a batch. As per tech support, the layout options per print are dependent on the software you are using to order the print job. The manual paper feed at the rear of the machine is EXTREMELY sensitive to paper being cocked a little to one side or the other (so sensitive that I truly believe it is imagining things). I am actually completely unable to determine what the problem is in each instance, and simply wiggle the paper a tad in its position, and try again. The output print is pushed hard against the right side of the machine, which is ridiculous considering the amount of space there is to work with. It tends to catch on the sundry little irregularities and joints in the plastic located there when using thin/flimsy paper. Thicker paper seems to glide over it without issue.
All in all, I can highly recommend it for quality of output and economy of use (relative use of "economy" here - these are very high quality prints and not dirt cheap), but it is not a 'set it and forget it' producer of batch prints. You do need to stay on it from start to finish. The last and final aggravation is that if you miss setting a paper-type change that requires matte black ink when you've been using photo black ink or vice versa, it undergoes a purge of the system, spilling all the 'other' type of ink into a waste tray. This is better than having to change out ink cartridges, but once it begins there is no way to stop it without shutting down the machine mid process which I'm sure is not recommended. However, if you don't, it will finish purging the one type of ink and then reloading with the other, and will do the whole thing in reverse when you correct your settings. A phenomenal waste of ink. There desperately needs to be an "abort" button to halt all processes in mid stride considering how easily you can miss a setting.
By jackson07
Although I have only worked with the 3880 printer for a month I am quite satisfied with its performance. At this point no glitches. It set up reasonably fast and printed great images from the start.
Previously I used an Epson pro 4000 printer and it was getting old including software problems with the Mac snow leopard operating system.
The 3880 so far has done a great job. Is it better than the 4000/4800? Considering the short time that I have used it I cannot tell. However, it seems a more sophisticated unit and the results are terrific.
By jt (Boston, MA)
I'm only a few days into using this printer, but it really is amazing. With a calibrated monitor and the correct paper profile, it prints perfectly right out of the box. 20 minutes total from opening the box to printing great prints.
I always struggled with getting the right paper/driver setup on my r2400 and then it took 5 prints to get things right, but this printer just works.
I have noticed the faint pin-wheel marks on larger, dark prints that others have noticed, but I hope I'll find a way to eliminate them.
By G. Lott (San Antonio)
The Epson 3880 is a replacement for my 3800. Yes, I like it enough to buy the newer version but therein lies the rub. I'm replacing the 3800 after less than 4-years because of a clogged black nozzle. Which means the entire head has to be replaced, which means massive shipping charges plus the cost of the repair. All in all, for the greatest "peace of mind" it was better (and possibly cheaper) to purchase a new machine. If it wasn't for the fact that my previous model (3800) broke, I'd rate it 5-Stars.
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.
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