A new and improved A3+ printer
A major revamp of the older Epson R1900 A3+
printer, the R2000 sports an array of crafty features including Wi-Fi plus
wired Ethernet and USB 2.0 connectivity. There’s also a roll feeder attachment
for printing large-format panoramic prints. To make the latter more usable, as
well as to reduce the frequency with which you need to change cartridges, Epson
has increased capacity by 50%. The new ‘Kingfisher’ cartridges contain 17ml of
ink. Running costs take a step in the right direction as a result.
Epson
Stylus Photo R2000 $630
The line-up of eight UltraChrome HiCloss2
cartridges includes pigment-based photo black and matte black inks. Unlike in
the Epson R3000, the print head has separate channels for both photo black and
matte black, speeding up the transition between glossy and matte media, and
avoiding and expense each time you switch over. A gloss, optimizer gives prints
a pleasant, uniform sheen.
Overall build quality feels a little flimsy
compared with the Epson R3000 and both Canon A3+ printers.
“Eight UltraChrome HiGloss2 cartridges
include pigment-based photo black and matte black inks”
UltraChrome
HiGloss2 inks come in 17ml cartridges for photo black, matte black, cyan, vivid
magenta, yellow, red and orange, plus a gloss optimiser
Performance
Fairly fast for a pigment-based printer,
the R2000 outputs borderless A3+ prints in top quality mode in a little under
seven minutes. That’s significantly faster minutes. That’s significantly faster
than both the Canon Pro-1 and Epson R3000 models, which both take around ten
minutes. Colour rendition isn’t quite as convincing as that from any of the
other A3+ printers on test here. Darker colours and tones tend to look a bit
muddy and lifeless.
You can only use either the matte or photo
black cartridge depending on media type, and there are no grey cartridges. This
makes the R2000 a poor choice for black-and-white printing. Mono photo prints
have a habit of taking on a green colour cast.
When it comes to running costs, combined
ink and photo paper works out to around $2.2 per A4 print.
In
detail… Epson Stylus Photo R2000
It’s well connected for an A3+ printer
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Roll adaptor
Panoramic printing is on the menu thanks to
a roll adaptor that fits to the back of the printer
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Connection options
Unlike many A3+ printers, there’s a full
compliment of USB, Ethernet and Wi-Fi connectivity
·
Resolution
Epson’s typical 5760dpi print resolution is
maintained, as featured on the company’s A4 printers
·
Front feeder
The manual front feeder support media with
a thickness of up to 1.3mm
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Ratings
·
Digital camera
·
Features: 4 stars
·
Image quality: 3 stars
·
Build quality: 3 stars
·
Value: 3 stars
·
Overall: 3 stars
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Canon PIXMA Pro-1, $1042.5
Puts the ‘pro’ into home printing
With a colossal range of 11 pigment – based
inks plus a ‘chroma optimiser’, which works in essentially the same way as a
gloss optimizer, Canon’s Pro-1 has a class-leading 12 cartridges under the
bonnet.
Canon
PIXMA Pro-1
Going one better than the Epson R300, this
printer features three grey cartridges plus both a photo black and matte black.
Better still, both black inks have their own separate channels within the print
head, so there’s no wasteful purging required when you want to swap between
glossy and matte media.
The other available ink colours are cyan,
photo cyan, magenta, photo magenta, yellow and red. In short, the Pro-1 aims to
give you the very best of both worlds, black and white and colour. And with the
combination of pigment-based inks and a chroma optimizer, this printer seeks to
prove itself equally well when printing on both matte and glossy media.
Build quality is equally impressive. At a
rather hefty 27.7kg in weight, it feels like something of a battleship of a
printer. Connection options include both USB and wired Ethernet, although
there’s no Wi-Fi connectivity available on this model.
“Both black inks have separate channels
within the print head, so there’s no wasteful pruging”
The
12-cartridge Lucia pigment-based system runs on 36ml tanks for cyan, photo
cyan, magenta, photo magenta, yellow, red, photo black, matte black, dark grey,
grey, light grey and a chrome optimiser
Performance
In a nutshell, the Pro-1 delivers the best
colour and the best black-and-white print quality in the whole group. Glossy
prints are silky-smooth, and matte prints are exceptional.
The only real sticking point is the price.
This printer is expensive to buy (around $1042.5) and a full set of ink cartridges
will set you black about $412.5. Even so, running costs are a bit cheaper than
with either of the Epson A3+ printers in this group.
Unlike the other Canon printers reviewed
here, the Canon Pro-1 isn’t exactly a speed demon. Top quality borderless A3+ prints
take a rather pedestrian nine-and-a-half minutes to output, and the printer is
also surprisingly slow at creating small-format prints, even when using its
medium quality settings.
However, it’s certainly well worth the
wait, because the final prints are of fabulous quality.
In
detail… Canon Pixma Pro-1
Ticks all the right boxes for a big printer
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Back to black
There are no less than five black and grey
cartridges, to assure supreme mono fidelity
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Dual input
Dual paper feed paths enable media sizes from
6x4 inches to A3+ and 14x17 inches
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High-capacity
High-volume cartridges give the printer
stamina and help to reduce the running costs
·
Connectivity
Options include USB, wired Ethernet and
PictBridge, but no Wi-Fi
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Ratings
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Camera digital
·
Features: 5 stars
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Build quality: 5 stars
·
Image quality: 5 stars
·
Value: 5 stars
·
Overall: 5 stars
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