RX500 questions

I just ordered the Epson RX500 since my way outdated (and crappy

Lexmark P-122 Photo) printer sucks for printing photos above 3X5.

 

What I'd like to know, if anyone has personally used one or seen one

in action, is what kind of print quality does this printer provide.

What papers would you recommend for archival purposes (although not a

dye system), and prints for others. Any thoughts\advice on good

quality papers is appreciated. I'm desperately trying to avoid that

horrible green tint (no matter what I try, ink settings, paper, etc.)

I get from what I have now. And the lines....don't get me going on

that one.

 

I'm not expecting miracles. I figure just about any newer printer with

individual cartridges has got to be better than what I had. Thanks in

advance.

Oops! that was supposed to read *not pigment*

I believe the RX500 has the same printer hardware as the R200 and R300. I have an R300 and it is a very capable printer for color with nice saturation and less tendency to color cast from another one I had. I especially like prints on Epson Heavy Matte Paper. The ink can get expensive, but you can buy the full six cartridge set from Costco for about $55 which is a significant savings.

 

From the b&w printing groups on yahoo, it seems the Epson papers are very good; the glossy and semi-gloss papers have been tested and are archival to more than 100 years. That means that unfortunately your image itself is not ever going to be as stable as the Epson paper you're printing on since the inks are dye based. For archival black and white prints from inkjet, the cheapest way at present seems to be an Epson C86 which out of the box uses DuraBrite inks, but substituted for with carbon pigment inksets from MIS, which have comparable stability to the Epson papers. You can get the C86 discounted for less than $80 final cost and the MIS inksets are, I believe, around $50-60. I plan to try the C86-MIS system for b&w and use the R300 only for color shortly.

 

Costco also sells a paper under the Kirkland rebrand for 125 8.5x11" sheets for about $20 which is reputed to be a rebranded Ilford product, but at any rate has had good results for people, altho some boxes have had finish problems.

 

Hope this helps.

Hi Stephen

 

I have a RX500 and it will produce some nice looking prints but I wouldn't expect them to

be archival. It's a great machine - very capable for what I expect of it but if I only use it for

proofs or to print a section of a large image for testing purposes.

For paper, I like Epson's premium glossy, their heavyweight matt, and I also enjoy using

Illford's classic pearl.

To G Thomas,

 

Would you tell me which Costco carries the ink Cartridge ?, I have a RX500 also, but my local Costco carries most cartridges but the T048* series.

 

Sadly , what I end up doing is to buy the RX200 and use the cartridges only, this is still cheaper than to buy the 6 cartridges individually.

 

Thanks...

Stan

Dear Stanley,

 

I believe Costco's product line is pretty much nationwide. I actually put off buying the R300 until I knew Costco was going to support it with the inkset. If they don't stock it at yours, maybe ask them why and if they can get it in. The price makes replacing ink comparable to the old black/tricolor cartridge pairs and economical enough.

 

Man, you must have a load of hardware backing up in your house.

Well, I just checked out Costco online. They have great deals on the three-packs, but no singles. This is a problem for me since there aren't many Costcos' in Florida, and they are all in the large cities. The closest one to me is a three hour drive away, which throws ANY savings out the window. And to order online (the three-packs) would cost me $208 USD plus S&H, again....not a very attractive offer.