Epson Stylus Photo 870 Review

Overall Rating

Ease of use
Photo Quality
Price
Speed
Double Ink Tanks

Occasionally ink heads need cleaning.

As a Novice, I find this printer straight forward and excellent at printing in photo quality.

Wanting to upgrade, I can not find a printer that promises to give better performance than this one.

Members' Comments onLINDA.'s Review

• Judith. on 20th Nov 2002

  Looks like you place an old hardware review: I was more interested in reading a review of the Epson 830. My main concern with printers in general is that no printer I have used can mimick the blue-violet intensity - or the blue violet hues I can see on my computer which is a very standard one (an old Compaq presario 5030) upon which - with word 2000 I compose manuals with photos and reader's errows to facilitate the reader's finding the references on the manuals I make. The lack of true hue shading and gradations - specially so in the Blue to Violet range just bothers me emmensly.

• Judith Spotheim. on 25th Nov 2002

  I would like to add more comments to my previous one: My first choice of cource was the Epson 830. ALAS, when I tried to but one here in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, in all od the there large computer shops that speciallied in Epson printers - there was not one to buy. I was offered the 830, a ducty one out of the showroom. When asking when this printer would be available, the answer was either: we can not guarantee - or, we do not have it right now and maybe at the end of December (December of what year they did not mentioned). So stressed, I turned to my second choice which is the HP5550. Got one and it does what it can do (quite clear and sharp fonts immages (remember I compose manuals and guide intructions...) BUT: Same stumbling block like in previous printers: gradations, neuances, shading and hues of blue - to violet is very cripled...I would therefore advise to anybody that have to "schlep" these feature out of a printer, to experiment - fixing a bit of another hue to the blues - violets scale on the computer colour table. It looks strange at first (and later on too) to have to fals-ify the fonts color you see on your computer - in order to get a better trial and error study of what should (on the printed page) look like it is getting a bit closer to the reality of what you want. This whole lesson is not dependent on the paper quality _ a guide line printer's manufacturers would have you believe. It is a fact that the most famous and trusty printers are actually, far, far behind of what their manufucturers would like us to believe. I hope this might tickle a bit of sense and iniciation into their productivity... Judith.