Image Keepers Photography of Mount Pleasant SC

My Review of Epson Stylus Photo R2880, 8 Color 13" Wide Inkjet Color Printer, 5760 x 1440 Optimized dpi with USB 2.0 Interface, PictBridge

2011-07-08T17:54:00.001-04:00

Epson Stylus Photo R2880, 8 Color 13" Wide Inkjet Color Printer, 5760 x 1440 Optimized dpi with USB 2.0 Interface, PictBridge

I should listen Bokeh Ben review 1-9-11

By Frank from Mount Pleasant, SC on 7/8/2011

Pros: Beautiful Prints - BUT

Cons: Constant Cartridge Changi, Too much ink used, Pricey Ink Replacement

Best Uses: No Opinion

Describe Yourself: Professional

Primary use: Business

The R2880 provides great prints, but this is not your father's R1800. I had to replace the R1800, I worked it hard for maybe five years or so. I could not get the nozzles clean enough anymore. Like any other machine you need to replace them, they wear out. I have a lot of Epsons, still do. The R2880 is an operational disapointment and I wish that Epson had just kept the R1800. This reminds me of buying a new car in the '70's. They never could match those of the prior 15 years. Like the R2880 those '70's cars were a transitional experiment looking toward a new era. I don't like being the guinea pig during the transition, it becomes expensive for me.

I've had the R2880 for 60 days. I didn't get it set up for about 2 weeks, I have other printers and several computers. Today I'm ordering my third set of ink cartridges already. I hope the $100 rebate arrives soon. For a casual user this printer may be alright, but if you are concerned with productivity and getting a client's custom job done on time you may become frustrated.

First BIG problem: When the ink light began flashing on the R1800 you knew you still had plenty of ink left, even for A3's and some roll paper going out 20 to 30 inches. The R1800 software also gave a much more accurate ink measurement. When the ink light begins to flash on the R2880, don't attempt anything but a few 4 X 6 snapshots for the kids to play around with. Grab a beer and relax, because something bad is about to happen. Not only will the ink disappear in mid picture but I had 2 fantastic A3 B&W prints end up with several red dribble dots all over the prints mid section. Why red!? I'm printing in B&W ! Now, we not only waste money on ink but paper isn't free either. Consumers beware, this cost gets passed on to you. With a fresh Vivid Magenta cartridge, I could then print 2 great B&W A3's. But then I had to stop again. You got it - flashing ink light. Change that light black now! Oh I forget to mention, I had to change the light light black about four A3 prints ago. Looking at the sofware ink indicater I see that this 20 minute old cartride is getting close to 50% gone.

When the light begins to flash CHANGE the INK quick, don't try to get a little more out of the gas tank for that extra mile!

The ink goes FAST! I never used this much ink in the R1800. The ink system was fine. I've compared prints from both printers. You would have to be a robot with a digital brain to see the difference. That robot then sat down and wrote the marketing description and features at the top of this page. This change of the ink setup doesn't seem to be very cost effective, and a cartridge change out for matte black just doesn't seem like a good trade off to attempt an upgrade in perceived print quality.

EPSON, if you have any still unsold, new, out of the box R1800's, can we trade? I'll even buy another one to put away for the future. Remember, the Corvette became great again in the '90's. I'll look forward to your new R5880's next decade.

Looking at the cons of other reviews, I see that most are in agreement with the ink usage problem. Some seem to accept this beating up on us as most still give 4 to 5 stars. It's not just the cost and ink usage that is concerning. The problem of contantly stopping production to change another cartride is annoying. My complaint is mostly directed to the operational concerns. Even if you're an occasional user, you will want to run off a half a dozen small prints one day to hand to a visiting friend and end up eyeballing that flashing light when you least expect it. Grab another beer and one for your friend while you hope that you ordered new ink last week.

I can not recommend this R2880 to a friend. I wouldn't even sell my R2880 to an acquaintance, I have a good reputation to keep.

(legalese)

Sweetgrass Cultural Arts Festival on June 4th, 2011 at Waterfront Park, Mount Pleasant

2011-05-08T16:50:00.006-04:00

Time to remind everyone that we will be displaying at Waterfront Park on Saturday June 4th.

It was only a short while back that we met a lot of new customers at the annual Blessing of the Fleet and Seafood Festival at this same venue.

That show was very successful and we introduced several new products.

Please follow this link for detailed information http://imagekeepersmtp.com/news.html We will be at booth location #3, see you there, Frank & Bernadette

Need for a New Car

2009-07-31T13:21:00.001-04:00

It took more than a few days to revisit the economy conversation. We were actually able to sell a few pictures and frames during July. This fortunately kept us busy enough to not vent any further regarding our nation's lenders. I hope that they all enjoyed cutting every one's ability to fund their small businesses. Incidentally, anyone need a new car. Unfortunately my six year old vehicle is operating at tip top shape so I won't be able to enjoy the $4,500.00 stimulus.

Pictures of locomotives seemed to peek the interest of a couple of our customers during July. We thank the gentleman from Ohio and the other from North Dakota. I hope that you get years of pleasure from the framed picture. I captured that view in September of 1990. We can still supply a real nice photograph of the Norfolk & Western articulated steam engine # 1218 running near Roanoke, Virginia to any railroad enthusiast in such a need. You won't need a stimulus package for this, it's just not that expensive. Please check out http://imagekeepersmtp.com/subpage14.html

If you have a positive balance in your Pay Pal account many of our items are quite affordable without going further into debt, but I cannot ask fellow tax payers to help you out.

Observations of the Government vs. the Banks

2009-06-27T17:24:00.000-04:00

What's a photographer and custom picture framer's blog got to do with this topic? I could not think of too much to discuss on the blog about pictures and images other than "please come look at our website". Having been too busy to add to my original blog post 6 months ago is perhaps a good sign, BUT, in my opinion I'm beginning to see a lack of news that encourages me that the small business person is going to see vast improvements too quickly. It has been economically difficult for everyone since last September's financial blowup.

In fact we the public have got to be cautious against missing some of the small signs of continuing fiscal problems. I was generally pleased to see that those in governmental authority positions were actually going to address the problem of credit card abuses by the issuing lenders. Yes, me the laissez-faire, let the market find its course entrepreneurial person. Ha, even a moderate right side of the aisle sort like myself has been disgusted by watching these credit card companies for the past four decades. Seem a little odd that a retailer such as myself would want to "bad mouth" an important revenue resource for customers to spend at my store?

The upcoming problem is in my opinion going to go deeper than curtailing moderate retail purchases. Think about it, and really check the "fine print of what the issuers are placing in the mail right now. It's not junk mail fliers. Read it, I am going to talk more about this over the next few days.

Oh, and remember to visit our website imagekeepersmtp.com

Frank

Image Keepers Company Profile

2008-12-14T21:49:00.000-05:00

At Image Keepers Photography of Mount Pleasant, while preparing to enter into another new year we are celebrating our company's third anniversary. Like eveyone else in the small business community we've entered into an economic window that tests the stamina of all business owners. It will be America's small business community that will dig in and move forward. My wife and I share an entrepreneurial spirit that influences any business plan whenever we've entered into a commercial venture. Our small businesses are designed with the concept that we would want to be comfortable to be a patron of our own shop. Please visit our company website at imagekeepersmtp.com/gpage2.html .

As we collect and refine the display of our own photographs, we experience feelings of admiration and accomplishment when a customer purchases one of our framed images. However, we find that our customers also like to have their mindsets admired. We prefer to present ourselves as image display consultants as opposed to someone who may just toss your dog's picture into any pretty mat and frame. Our frame shop is not so busy that anyone will intimidate you into jumping to a quick incorrect decision.

Please see imagekeepersmtp.com/subpage11.html .

To all of you who visited us during 2008 ...... Thank you! Frank