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Senior Member
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: east sussex
Posts: 3,484
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Epson PX710W Printer Review
Just purchased a new Epson PX710W printer so thought I might share my thoughts about it against my previous HP Photosmart 8150.
First of all the HP photosmart, this printer came out in about 2003 at at the time was amonst the top home printers. It came with a 2 cartridge print system and still produces very good pictures. On drawback is trying to match the colours to the computer screen. Ok I know the computer screen is backlight so there is bound to be a difference in brightness when a photo was printed, but technology has moved on and I admit I was having shall we say " concerns " with quality. Yes I may have not set everything up to be exact but honestly I don't think that is the real problem. I want to be able to print first class photos. One drawback was the 7x5 cards wouldn't pick up from the dedicated printer tray, so had to be done individually from the main
A4 tray instead
So moving onto the Epson PX710W printer..
My first thoughts were comparing one printer with another, and it ended up Canon versus Epson. All the mags I read praised the Canon range, and talking to friends there was a hint that Canon might just have had some influence with the Magazines. Anyway to cut a long story short, one of the reasons going to the Focus on Imaging show recently was to check out the differences. Having looked at the Epson- the cost of printing a photo- and seeing some examples swung it for me.
Now the Epson has 6 ink cartridges so straight away there should be better colour tone over the HP printer, on top of that it is also a scanner etc etc. The spec can be seen on the Epson web sight. Being relatively new(came out in 2009) it has far more gismos to play with. Now at the moment I don't have the Epson photographic paper only HP glossy, but straight away the pictures are comming out far sharper and better colour definition on the same setup (adobe elements).
There is a distinct difference with picture quality, even I can see that now against the old printer. Ok there is still the printed picture against the computer screen image difference, as I said before this is due to backlighting on the screen.
Ebay has found me a seller of genuine cartidges for a huge discount about £40 which is roughly half price. One thing is being able to buy individual colours against the HP printer requiring buying an all in one colour cartridge,even though some of the colours may not have been used up.
What a joy it is to be able to load up multiple 7x5 photo cards and A4 paper at the same time ( in different trays) and have both work perfectly.
The scanner does a very good job of copying even the colours are more or less exact, but I havn't really given this side of the printer a good workout yet. Yes I have done away with my old scanner as well which saves space. The scanner is so easy to use but then again scanners should be.
What really amazes me is the retail price has come down from £199 to £149 in most retail outlets (Tescos give about 300 bonus points on their card as well).
Yes one can get prints done far cheaper in high street stores, but thats not the point, its being able to enjoy setting up and printing your own photos as part of the photographic experience.
Well was the purchase worth it? in my opinion yes!! ( Chuffed to bits
)
even thought it takes up quite a bit of desk room,but I can live with that.
Hope this is helpful for anyone considering printer purchases
Bazza
First of all the HP photosmart, this printer came out in about 2003 at at the time was amonst the top home printers. It came with a 2 cartridge print system and still produces very good pictures. On drawback is trying to match the colours to the computer screen. Ok I know the computer screen is backlight so there is bound to be a difference in brightness when a photo was printed, but technology has moved on and I admit I was having shall we say " concerns " with quality. Yes I may have not set everything up to be exact but honestly I don't think that is the real problem. I want to be able to print first class photos. One drawback was the 7x5 cards wouldn't pick up from the dedicated printer tray, so had to be done individually from the main
A4 tray instead
So moving onto the Epson PX710W printer..
My first thoughts were comparing one printer with another, and it ended up Canon versus Epson. All the mags I read praised the Canon range, and talking to friends there was a hint that Canon might just have had some influence with the Magazines. Anyway to cut a long story short, one of the reasons going to the Focus on Imaging show recently was to check out the differences. Having looked at the Epson- the cost of printing a photo- and seeing some examples swung it for me.
Now the Epson has 6 ink cartridges so straight away there should be better colour tone over the HP printer, on top of that it is also a scanner etc etc. The spec can be seen on the Epson web sight. Being relatively new(came out in 2009) it has far more gismos to play with. Now at the moment I don't have the Epson photographic paper only HP glossy, but straight away the pictures are comming out far sharper and better colour definition on the same setup (adobe elements).
There is a distinct difference with picture quality, even I can see that now against the old printer. Ok there is still the printed picture against the computer screen image difference, as I said before this is due to backlighting on the screen.
Ebay has found me a seller of genuine cartidges for a huge discount about £40 which is roughly half price. One thing is being able to buy individual colours against the HP printer requiring buying an all in one colour cartridge,even though some of the colours may not have been used up.
What a joy it is to be able to load up multiple 7x5 photo cards and A4 paper at the same time ( in different trays) and have both work perfectly.
The scanner does a very good job of copying even the colours are more or less exact, but I havn't really given this side of the printer a good workout yet. Yes I have done away with my old scanner as well which saves space. The scanner is so easy to use but then again scanners should be.
What really amazes me is the retail price has come down from £199 to £149 in most retail outlets (Tescos give about 300 bonus points on their card as well).
Yes one can get prints done far cheaper in high street stores, but thats not the point, its being able to enjoy setting up and printing your own photos as part of the photographic experience.
Well was the purchase worth it? in my opinion yes!! ( Chuffed to bits
)even thought it takes up quite a bit of desk room,but I can live with that.
Hope this is helpful for anyone considering printer purchases
Bazza
 Fondly Remembered
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Perthshire Scotland
Posts: 8,168
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bazza
........and it ended up Canon versus Epson. All the mags I read praised the Canon range, and talking to friends there was a hint that Canon might just have had some influence with the Magazines.
Good write up though - sounds like a nice printer
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