Summary: Excellent Quality but Helps to Know What You're Doing
Comment: I have used the 1280 for about a year-and-a-half, mainly to print fine art photographs in large format. I use a quad black ink set from Lyson, rather than Epson inks. The machine absolutely delivers. It is consistent, reliable, and has remarkable paper handling ability.
The head does have a propensity for clogging, since it is permanently attached to the printer and does not get replaced with each cartridge. However, I have found that cleaning the storage cap (right side, parked position) from time to time (with lint-free cloth!) helps. I also print a small full-gamut image once a week, if I am not cranking out the big stuff.
Always check a company's web site for updated drivers when installing! My drivers (XP Pro/Presario) have been well-mannered. Also, if you aren't satisfied with the image, keep testing the profiles that come with the 1280. Be patient. It took me a while to get the right combination, even though Lyson provided profiles for its own ink set. But once I got it, I was off to the races.
I am about to start printing fine art color, and for that I will buy a second 1280. Call me satisfied.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Terrible Experiences with Tech. Support and This Product
Comment: 1 1/2 year ago, I cleared half my desk waiting for this printer to arrive. But when it did, the first set of pictures came out red and fuzzy. I called their Tech Support right away and was told I should be using professional software to print. After I installed Photoshop 5.0, bought original premium paper and had someone caliberated the printer for that type of paper, the print quality didn't improve much at all. So I called again. This time, they whined I should have had Photoshop 6.0 and up. The dispute went all the way to their Customer Relations, who did help to arrange a replacement. But the replacement was no better: the pictures were light and pale. I called yet again. The Tech Support told me that my original warranty expired and they wouldn't extend it to the replacement. I digged up my old receipts to find out the original warranty did NOT expire! Still calling them now.
Customer Rating:
Summary: How does it work with OSX?
Comment: I am a graphic/interface designer and am considering to get a 1280. I have a PC (Win XP) and am getting a Mac soon. There are couple reasons why I am not sure about 1280 yet, and I would like to hear how you feel about these points after using this product:
- No Firewire: I see this product has been in the market for a while and doesn't have firewire. Is USB too slow?
- Mac OSX: I went to Epson site and it says "Note: OS X does not support certain features." But I also saw Apple website lists 1280 as one of the "Built for OSX" printers. How is your experience?
I am pretty loyal to Epson and want larger format than 8.5x11, so my alternative would be Epson 2200, which I am not too fond of. But since my main design machine will be G5 I would appreciate your opinions. Thank you!
Customer Rating:
Summary: it will kill your PC
Comment: it will disable your OS!
the product drivers that come with the printer managed to completely disable my system (Windows xp home). my computer would just shut itself off without warning, restart, and turn off, on, off, on, repeatedly. all by itself! after lugging the machine to CompUSA a couple of times and getting pissed off at them for no reason (in hindsight...) i FINALLY confirmed it was the printer after i tried (like a fool to install it for the 3rd time). The Epson tech support fessed up to the problem, and suggested i get the latest drivers from their website. 'sorry the software we sold you completely f**cked you over!'
please, do not buy anything from Epson unless you enjoying executing a complete SYSTEM RECOVERY on your computer, which is what I am now doing... by-the-way, that means loosing all the files, programs, peripherals, etc. that you have ever installed on your computer. i hope you have it all backed up! enjoy!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good & Bad
Comment: No reliability issues yet. I've had this printer about a year. I wanted prints that last a awhile longer, prints that look great, and
PLUS
+++ Produces the best looking prints when its working properly & all the set up is in order.
Bad
--- Gulps ink.
--- It is not unusual for me to go 30 days without needing to print photos. As a result I have to clean prints heads, align, etc. (uses ink and paper for the tweaking, ie more waste) before using. I guess the ink clogs in the nozzles. On one occasion I used half the ink ($$) in the color cartridges before the printer was ready to produce decent quality prints. I can't recommend this printer for anyone unless they do a lot photo printing on a regular basis.
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