New & Interesting Hardware

Epson 890/1280/1290

Epson has announced the replacements for the current 870 and 1270 printers: In Europe, they're the 890 and 1290 and are currently available. In the U.S., they're the 890 and 1280, and should be available sometime in March 2001. The 890/1280/1290 are essentially minor upgrades to the 870/1270. I think the primary difference between the 1280 and 1290 printers has to do with what size borderless prints are supported. The European models support Euro standard paper sizes, like A3 and A4.

They use the same T007, T008 and T009 carts as the 870/1270, and the same inks, so they offer no solution to the orange shift problem. They do offer 2880x720 dpi printing instead of 1440x720. But most experts seem to feel this is of negligible value, especially since the minimum ink droplet size remains the same. In the U.S. the new printers do offer edge to edge printing on 4x6, 5x7, 8x10, 8.5x11 and, on the 1280/90, 11x14 and 13x19 sizes.

And I believe there are some software enhancements, but I'm not certain of this yet. Based on information at the Japanese web site, I think the printers include "Epson Natural Photo Color" which appears to be software to do monitor profiling, to get the screen image to more closely match the print, and to replace the sRGB color space that Microsoft has saddled us with. The "Photoquicker" software supplied with the U.K. printers sounds interesting. There's mention of two sided printing (but no mention of a duplexer--I think it prints every other page, then you re-insert the paper). There's mention of an Epson double sided paper. There's also discussion of "automatic picture revision function." My impression is that this displays multiple copies of the image with different settings, and let's you click on the one that looks best. It also does booklet layouts, offset for binding, watermarks, and poster printing on up to 16 A4 pages.

The Epson America web site doesn't mention "Natural Photo Color" or "Photo Quicker." It does mention PhotoImpression, QBeo and PhotoGenetics. Are these the same thing? Your guess is as good as mine, at this point.

Here's a .pdf file of the technical specs of the European 1290, if you want to know more.

Some other sites with information include Ian Lyons' Computer Darkroom site, Epson's UK web site

Epson 900C

This is, currently, a Japanese market printer only. It appears to be a cross between a 900, an upgraded 890, and more. The software seems to be the same PhotoQuicker and Epson Natural Color described above. But the hardware is truly interesting. Like the 900, it offers more nozzles for faster printing (96 for black and each color, Vs. only 48 each for the x70 printers). It's still a 1440x720 printer, not 2880x720, and only A4, (letter) size.

But unlike either of the current printers, it will print on media up to 2.5 mm think, including CD-R disks! It drops the minimum drop size to 2 picoliters, from the current 4pl (x70) and 3pl (980) printers. And it adds a 7th ink color (dark yellow) for "improved smoothness". Unfortunately, the Japanese web site offers the same warnings about exposure to air, so the new inkset doesn't appear to be a solution to the orange shift issue. Nonetheless, if Epson introduces a wide carriage version of this (and sells it in the U.S., I'll buy one tomorrow. How can you go wrong with improved image quality and faster printing?

If you wish, take a look at the original Japanese web site for the PM900C.

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