» Epson Stylus R320 Photo Inkjet Printer

Epson Stylus R320 Photo Inkjet Printer Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: Overpriced at this site
Comment: I like the printer - works fine but I'm wondering who is stupid enough to pay $449.99 listed on the Toyzz site? That's a TOTAL RIPOFF.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!
Comment: This printer has been buggy since day one. Then it seemed the ink ran out ridiculously fast, even when printing in black. Now it will not let me print in black when any other color ink is out, even with a fresh black cartridge! And no work-arounds are possible. A waste of my money, my resources and my time.
This is obviously a case of a company not giving a flip about their customers.
Epson will NEVER receive another dime of my business.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Colors don't match!
Comment: This printer is nearly impossible to calibrate to get true colors. I have used a Spyder to calibrate my monitor. However, after much fussing with the print settings, I still can't get it to produce colors to come anywhere close to the screen colors. The colors tend to come out muted or with a weird tint. I am using high-quality Epson paper (5 star).

I have an Epson C88+ that is not a photo printer, but it produces much more true colors than the R320. Unfortunately, it uses pigment ink, which isn't good for glossy photos. Otherwise, I'd abandon the R320 altogether.

I am VERY disappointed in this printer -- especially since it's by Epson, which has always created outstanding printers and ink.

Don't buy this printer -- look for something else.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: If you want it for desktop publishing, DON'T BUY IT
Comment: I replaced my old Epson Stylus with this and was extremely disappointed in its ability to interface with desktop publishing programs such as Quark and InDesign. I should have researched it more thoroughly, but anyone looking to do anything more creative than print out pictures should NOT get this model. It is also an ink-guzzler (with more cartridges to buy!), and is very finicky about what types of media it will print on. Graphic artists beware.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A great printer and easy to fix errors/clogs
Comment: I have owned the Epson R300 and the R320. I have printed large volumes with both of them over the past few years ranging from basic home office docs to photographs. They are very well made, and worth every penny.

For those who complain about all of the ink usage and clogging: It is a PHOTOGRAPHIC printer. It uses very very tiny micro head technology and lays down a lot of ink to give that beautiful flawless photographic finish. And yes, the heads clog ESPECIALLY if you don't use the printer often. Keep this in mind when changing cartridges...you want to do it quickly so that the heads are exposed to air as briefly as possible.

Clogged Print Heads: (always run a nozzle check before starting a print job, especially if it's been a while since you've printed. It saves a lot of ink/paper and frustration).
Here are my tried and true methods of cleaning the print heads. If it's really bad (even after running the cleaning cycle), then turn it off then on, and pull the plug when the head moves over. Now you can slide it freely. Move it out of the way and lay a double layer of paper towel under the spot where the head sits when you change the ink cartridges. Move the head back over the paper towel into the ink changing station. Open the lid and remove the ink cartridges and look inside. The little prongs are what need careful cleaning. Heat up a little glass cleaner in the micro, and spray it gently and slowly over each head with a syringe.

Each cleaning cycle uses the INK to clean the heads. This does 2 things:
-it uses a lot of expensive ink
-it flows down into the waste ink pads, which will eventually give you an error message.

There are fixes for both of these problems:
I have been using a CIS (Continuous Ink System) from a company called InkJetFly (.com) for over a year. The setup was about $50, and is easy to install. The refill cartridges cost $5 each and hold FIVE times what a normal ink cartridge holds. INCREDIBLE photographic results with no clogging. I love it!

The waste ink pads are also an easy fix. Check out Ebay for a waste ink container for your model. They are a cheap and easy to install. There is a trap door on the back of your printer, and the waste ink pad is right inside (white when new, black when you've done a lot of printing/cleaning). The tube that dumps the ink is right under it. You just hook an extension tube up to the waste ink tube and it dumps it into a bottle. Done.

Last but not least: If you get a General Error, then another ink pad might be full. Look inside your printer lid. See the foam track that runs under the print head? On the FAR LEFT there is a little square of foam that gets soaked with ink when the head moves over it at the end of every printed row. Take it out gently and rinse and dry it thorougly. Put it back in and turn the printer off. Now press the stop, maintenance and Power buttons all at once until a message pops up that the error is cleared. IF THE INK PAD IS STILL WET, the error WON'T clear!

Hope this helps. I have learned all of these 'tricks' from trial and error, and it has saved me a lot of money and frustration.

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