Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/01/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Simon - The only reason to go with the 3000 (I have two of them) is if you need the larger size prints or want the large capacity ink cartridges. The quality is about the same for all of the printers with Piezography but the newer ones seem to have fewer problems with banding (which I've never had but others have.) The 1270 is on sale now at The Stock Solution web site. Here is what Royce Bair says about it: EPSON DROPS PRICE ON 1270 TO $399.00 EPSON INTRODUCING 1290 INTO THE U.S.A. ON FEBRUARY 11th 1290 or 1270? - OUR RECOMMENDATIONS Epson has introduced the new 1290 in some parts of Europe. We can probably expect Epson to announce it at the PMA convention in Orlando, Florida (Feb. 11-14). Last year at the PMA (in Las Vegas), Epson announced the 1270 and 870, but it was over a month before it hit the dealers shelves. Expect the same thing to happen this year: The 1290 will probably not be regularly available at dealers until mid March 2001. You can always tell that Epson is about to phase out a product and introduce a replacement, when they drop the price on that product (the only time that hasn't occurred is with the 3000 and 1520 - they dropped the prices dramatically, and these old "work horses" still remain in production). The 1160 had been at $449 for over a year. They dropped the price to $299, and announced discontinued production about three to four months later. Epson has just announced a price reduction for the 1270 to a suggested price of $399.00, so expect it to be discontinued within about 4 months or less. The specifications for the new 1290 (from the European web sites) show that it, along with all the other new printers Epson is introducing, will be capable of a new printing resolution of 720 x 2880 dpi. Going to this higher resolution will increase the printing time by about 2X, and for a very little increase in quality -- the 1270 is already has the highest visual quality of any printer Epson makes (higher than that of a real photographic print). This increase in resolution comes only through an increase in the stepping motor increments -- it is just advancing the paper a shorter distance (1/2 that of the 720 x 1440 dpi mode) between each print head pass. We also estimate that using the 720 x 2880 dpi mode will probably use about 50% more ink (as it currently does when going from 720 x 720 dpi to 720 x 1440 dpi). The 720 x 2880 dpi print mode will show some improvement for 4-ink printers that is worth the increased wait and ink usage, but for the already ultra-smooth 6-ink 1270, going to the 2880 mode that will be available in the 1290 is not really worth it. Oh, here's another improvement: The 1290 will also print 3% faster in color than the 1270. Whoopee! ;-) The 1270 has already been out for almost a year now, and has a proven record of great performance and reliability (remember, that the "cyan dye fading", or "orange" print problem with the ozone gas is a PGPP or paper/ink problem, not a "printer" problem). Did you know that on the Epson UK site (they often give much more info than Epson America) they rate the 1270's reliability at over 25,000 letter size pages?! Who knows if the 1290's new "2880" stepping motor will alter that reliability? Our advice to our customers: Don't wait for the 1290 -- save $100, and buy the 1270 now, while they're still available! Remember, that at Inkjet Art Solutions, you get FREE shipping on a 1270: Hope this helps. Tina At 05:37 PM 1/19/01 +0000, you wrote: >I have searched through the archives and saw many messages about inkjet >printers and Quad inks and Cone systems etc. I wish to print some black and >white scanned images at the higest quality I can, whether that is as good as >or nearly as good as darkroom produced prints. Can anyone who has started >down this road, and therefore has real world views on using such technology, >provide me with some guidance as to the state-of-the art as it currently >exists. I presume we would definitely be talking about using the Cone (or >equivalent system) but which printer would provide the highest quality >prints. I have seen mention of the 1270 (or 1290 as it now is), the 2000p >(although I believe the Cone system cannot be used with this printer), the >3000 and the 1160. I know that size of print is a question that will affect >the choice. I will mainly be printing 10x8, but am happy to pay more for an >A3+ printer if the quality is better than others. > >If you wish to save bandwidth or avoid repetition then please feel free to >reply privately. > >Thanks. > >Simon > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Dan Cardish" <dcardish@sympatico.ca> >To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us> >Sent: Friday, January 19, 2001 11:31 AM >Subject: RE: FOM2 (was: RE: [Leica] More PAWs) > > > > or you could simply go to > > > > http://www.familyofman2.com > > > > dan c. > > > > > > > > At 09:31 AM 19-01-01 -0000, Brian McCarthy wrote: > > > > > >> > > >> The LUG's Family of Man 2 project, a brainstorm of Alistair > > >> Firkin's. The URL escapes me at this computer ... LUGgers, help >please! > > > > > > > > >This is the URL: > > > > > >http://users.netconnect.com.au/~firkin/FOM2%20Folder/fom2.htm > > > > > >Brian McCarthy > > >straightline design brian@straightline.co.uk > > >www.straightline.co.uk > > > > > Tina Manley, ASMP http://www.tinamanley.com