Epson announced today that they were releasing a new professional wide-format printer, the Stylus Pro 3800. It will use an 8-ink to print photos up to 16 x 20. It will be able to print those giant photos in 5 minutes and 32 seconds, which Epson says is fast. Sounds blazing.

The Stylus Pro 3800 will use three different black cartridges in addition to the usual colors. It will have black, light black and light-light black. Having all three of these black cartridges is supposed to improve the quality of black and white prints, which is why all three aren’t typically found on standard photo printers that casual users would buy. Other than that, the 43-pound Stylus Pro 3800 doesn’t have a whole lot of features, since printers like these are not made for people interested in LCDs and memory card slots. It’s really all about the wide-format capabilities and then the results you are going to get.

This printer will retail at $1295 and it will begin shipping in December. It’s probably safe to say that it won’t be available in your local Wal-Mart, so you will probably have to order it online.

New Epson Stylus Pro 3800 Ink Jet Printer Sets New Standards for Excellence in Professional Imaging Quality, Performance and Price [Press Release]

This is a pretty common question because a lot of times people don’t care that much about the printer they are getting, they only care about how much it’s going to cost them in the long run. Some people use their inkjets just for documents and very rarely print pictures, and for people like that it doesn’t matter what the printer resolution is or how big the LCD or any of that jazz.

Well the answer to this is: there is no answer. There is no one printer that stands above all others in terms of its ink costs. Now before you get too angry for that big tease…there are certain things you can look for to find the models with the cheapest ink costs.

1. Look for printers with individual ink cartridges
2. Look for printers with photo specific cartridges
3. Do not buy a Lexmark/Dell
4. Only buy an HP if you plan on refilling

Canon and Epson are the main ones for individual ink cartridges, although HP has introduced a few models in the last year or so that feature individual cartridges. Printers with separate cartridges for photo colors help you save your regular colors for when you are doing color printing you don’t care about. You will never save on ink with a Lexmark or a Dell printer, so don’t even try. Finally, as we have mentioned before, HP cartridges keep getting smaller and smaller, to the point where their ink costs twice as much ($3.60/ml vs. $1.85/ml) as it did just a few years ago. At the same time, you can save a lot of money with HPs by refilling the cartridges, so operating them is either pretty expensive or really cheap.

The short answer to this is probably to just buy a Canon, because they have individual ink cartridges that are usually cheaper than all other manufacturers, and most cost per page test results (like this one, for example) favor Canon printers.

Yesterday Epson announced that they were releasing three new PictureMate personal photo printers: the PictureMate Pal, PictureMate Snap and PictureMate Flash. These PictureMates are all compact photo printers that just print 4 x 6 pictures. They are designed to be used with your digital camera to create your own little magical photo studio.

Epson says that the PictureMate Pal produces a 4 x 6 in about 60 seconds, which really isn’t too fast these days. It has a 2″ LCD (or premium photo viewer as Epson calls it), the usual connectivity options including optional Bluetooth, and auto correction features to fix tones and to sharpen pictures. The PictureMate Snap is an upgrade, as it has a 2.5″ LCD and can print a 4 x 6 in 45 seconds. The Snap also has some additional cropping features not found on the Pal model. It also offers decorative Disney frame photo borders. (?) The PictureMate Flash model has all the features that the Snap model has, only it also has a CD burner built in.

The PictureMate Pal will be $149, the Snap will be $199 and the Flash will be $299. They should be available this month.

Epson Builds on Success of PictureMate(R) Personal Photo Lab Family With New Printers [Press Release]

Update: Based on the number of comments we’ve received below, apparently the CX6000 is not the most popular printer ever. There seems to be a problem with the chips on the cartridges that makes the CX6000 think they are empty after a very short amount of time.

Second Update: For anyone that has not thrown their CX6000 in the trash, we’ve finally added cartridges for it to our site. Stylus CX6000 cartridges.

Epson announced some more new releases today with two inkjets they are calling “more-in-ones”. Get it? They aren’t just all-in-ones, they are MORE-in-ones. I will pause so you can reflect on the hilariousness/cleverness of that.

Now you would think that with something called a more-in-one, that it might be a printer, scanner, copier, fax machine and like a toaster or something. But no, these are pretty much just regular inkjets. Epson’s explanation for calling them more-in-ones is that they supposedly offer “more unique features and benefits for end-users than any other all-in-ones at these prices.” So they are slightly better than other inkjets in their price rage - does that really deserve a whole new nickname?

Both the Stylus CX5000 and CX6000 are rated by Epson at 27 pages per minute for black and color, so like their other recent new printers, they print in color extra fast. The print resolution isn’t given, but they both scan at up to 2400 x 1200 dpi. Both feature PictBridge capability, while the CX6000 features a 2″ LCD.

The Stylus CX5000 will be $100 while the CX6000 will be $150. Both should be available in September.

New Epson ‘More-in-Ones’ Give Home and Small Office Users the Most Value-Packed Set of Features for Printing, Scanning and Copying [Press Release]

Today Epson announced the release of two new photo printers, the Epson Stylus Photo R260 and R380 and one new all-in-one printer, the Epson Stylus Photo RX580. Epson notes that these new models are “ultra hi-definition” and that the new Claria ink and print heads will deliver professional-level results.

Epson says that all three models are rated at 30 pages per minute for black and color and they can produce a 4 x 6 picture in 13 seconds. If those stats are true, both are pretty impressive. Most photo printers today take about 60 seconds to print a 4 x 6, and other than the recently-announced Canon MP810, virtually no models were faster than 45 seconds per print. It is also strange that these printers are equally fast for both black and color prints. Typically, inkjet printers print in black about 20-25% faster than they do in color.

The Stylus Photo R260 and R380 are similar models, the R380 being the more fancy of the two. It features a 3.5″ LCD and the ability to print directly from memory cards. Overall, it is more of a standalone printer than the R260 is. The Stylus Photo RX580 is an all-in-one printer with the ability to scan and copy. It has a 2400 x 1200 scanning resolution and the ability to print directly from media cards or via PictBridge.

The Stylus Photo R260 will be $130 and it will be available in September, and the Stylus Photo R380 and the RX580 will both be $200 and available in October.

There is an interesting note in a story about these printers on abcnews.com:

It’s worth noting too that Epson is introducing its new Claria inks with these models, and it’s touting the new inks as providing “the ultimate combination of photo quality and longevity.” But a company representative couldn’t give any details for what that translates to.

Nice to see that all this stuff sounds great but has no real meaning.

Epson Ushers in the Era of Ultra Hi-Definition Photo Printing [Press Release]

Staples has the Epson Stylus CX4800 on sale for $90 after some savings. There is a $10 instant savings and a $30 coupon code, which is 28920.

The Stylus CX4800 is an all-in-one printer that Epson rates at 20 pages per minute for black and 19 for color. It has a printing resolution of up to 5760 x 1440 and a scanning resolution of 2400 x 1200. It uses a four-ink system and has the usual connections for memory cards and what not.

If you own the CX4800 then you can let us know what your opinion of it is. Also, you can check out our site if you need Epson Stylus CX4800 cartridges.

Recently PC World looked over their ratings and came out with an updated list of what they considered to be the best inkjets on the market. Here they are:

1. HP Deskjet 5940
2. HP Deskjet 5440
3. Canon PIXMA iP4200
4. Epson Stylus C88
5. HP Deskjet 5740
6. Canon PIXMA iP1600
7. HP Deskjet 6840
8. HP Business Inkjet 1200d
9. Lexmark Z735
10. HP Business Inkjet 2300

Before you wonder why this list looks a little strange, we will point out that these are strictly inkjet printers; there are no photo printers or multifunctions machines on this list. Therefore, you get strange models like the HP Business Inkjet 1200d, which probably makes up about 1% of all printers sold. These days, very few models are officially only inkjets. Almost every inkjet model, no matter how crappy, is marketed as a photo printer. Add to that the amount of multifunction printers that manufacturers are making these days and you are left with a small percentage of standard inkjets.

They rate the number one printer, the Deskjet 5940, as “very good”, even though we have heard some feedback that says otherwise. The 5940 and the Deskjet 5440 are definitely popular models, but the 5440 seems to get more positive feedback. Having the PIXMA iP4200 on there makes sense, because that is a very popular and very well-reviewed printer. Other than that, the whole bottom half of the list is pretty suspect.

Circuit City has the Stylus CX3810 for $30 after rebates. The list price is $90 and there are two $30 rebates. One rebate expires on 7/31 and the other doesn’t expire until 9/30.

The CX3810 is an all-in-one printer that is rated at 18 pages per minute for black and 9 for color. It is basically an entry level machine, so the features on it are pretty standard. It does have a resolution of up to 5760 x 1440 dpi, though, which is higher than a lot of other similar models.

If you already own this printer, you can find Epson Stylus CX3810 cartridges on our site.

Epson was able to shut down a local ink manufacturer in Taiwan after a court agreed with them that this company was infringing on their patents. This is another victory for Epson in their never-ending series of worldwide lawsuits. Earlier this year they sued 24 ink companies in the U.S. while they were also suing a company in England that they said infringed on one of their patents. In 2005, they sued a company in France and one in Hong Kong under similar circumstances.

What makes this case interesting is that the company they are suing, U-Bar, makes a product that you won’t really find here in the U.S. They sell continuous ink supply systems, which are popular in countries like the Philippines but are really only used here for commercial machines. They look something like this:

Now you can probably see why Epson would want to shut down someone who makes this and also why you won’t really find anything like this in the U.S. If people could just have their own systems where cartridges were obsolete and they could just use by the bottle, then there really wouldn’t be much money to be made for Epson or any other printer manufacturer out there. Refilling your own cartridge using bottles of ink is a good alternative, but a lot of people here still haven’t accepted that as their own solution to high ink prices.

Epson hits Taiwanese ink system maker [PC Advisor]

A number of people have been asking how to redeem their benefits online at the Epson store. Apparently no one is really having much luck using their code online, and there may be a reason why. Ron, a commenter, left this note in the original post about the settlement:

I got this back from Epson about the e-store code:

Per this website, the settlement benefits are not distributed until AFTER the court considers final approval on the settlement. The settlement benefits will be available no sooner than the late fall of 2006. Thus, any Epson Store codes will not be activated until after the final settlement

Guess we’ll have to wait.

The court will not be making a final decision as to whether or not the settlement is fair until August 15, 2006. On the official site for the settlement, this is one of the frequently asked questions:

When can I expect to receive my benefits?

Benefits will be available after the Court has given final approval and all appeals have expired.

So it does seem like the discount will not work until sometime after August 15th. Another commenter pointed out that on the official settlement site, there is a page where you can sign up to receive notification when your E-Store code is active or the other benefits or ready. You can receive notification via email or a postcard. You can sign up for that reminder at this page.