Epson P800 Video Introduction

[iCanvas]

Thanks Kevin, Jeff and Dano for the Epson P800 video. Saw a lot of things in there that were not included in Mark's review. Videos help a lot. Would love to see something similar on the Epson P9000, P10000 and Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-1000. I am especially interested in the P10000. Don't know if Dano can lend you guys a P10000 for a review, but would love to see a Video review on that printer since it seems to have a lot of new technology. I think that type of video would sell a lot of printers for Epson or Canon.

Gar

[Mark D Segal]

Saw a lot of things in there that were not included in Mark's review.

Gar

Intentionally so. Some things lend themselves better to video and others to text. My primary emphasis is on the technical characteristics and aesthetics of the printing and prints themselves - involving a combination of data and appearance information better laid out in an article. The video focuses more on the operational aspects of setting up and using the machine, which lends itself well to a video presentation. So the approaches are complementary. We hope this way our readers have an in-depth and well-rounded view of both the machine and its capabilities.

[fsveltophoto]

what about talking of the "pizza wheels"?

The web is full of comments from users but you seem to ignore the issue.

Regards

Francesco Svelto

[rdonson]

Francesco this has been covered in the forums with Mark providing guidance on the issue.

[Mark D Segal]

what about talking of the "pizza wheels"?

The web is full of comments from users but you seem to ignore the issue.

Regards

Francesco Svelto

Perhaps you could do an inventory based on a web search and report to us on how many *separate* users have complained about seeing such marks on these printers since they were released. In doing this tally, you would of course not count the same complaint from the same person on more than 1 website. Kevin, Jeff and I have been using our P800s for months and to the best of my knowledge none of us have experienced this; therefore when doing a review based on our own experience, which is the only legitimate approach to a first hand review, it would of course not be mentioned. When you do your inventory, please also be careful to separate out complaints that arise from true printer malfunctions, which can happen, from pilot error, which can also happen. For example on the latter, users are supposed to use the FFA feed for thicker media and if necessary set the paper thickness and platen gap to their appropriate levels in the driver's Advanced Media Control dialog. There could be users failing to do so and perhaps this could be a source of the issue arising.

[fsveltophoto]

A couple of people complaining on B&H and about 15 on dpreview.com. Fair enough the comment about the proper use of the functions of the printer and on dpreview somebody suggested the same but with apparent no benefit.

My point is that there seems to be enough noise about it to address explicitly the issue.

In addition I'm particularly concerned about this issue because of bad experience with another printer in the past.

Regards

Francesco

[Mark D Segal]

I found two complaints on DPReview - specifically about the P800. I did a search on their forum for both roller marks and pizza wheels. Is there another search term that exposes the other 13?

[Jager]

Welcome to the forum, Francesco.

My observation is that the pizza wheel problem certainly occurs, but episodically and infrequently.  The number of printmakers I know personally or online who don't experience it seems to far outnumber those who do.  I've made thousands of prints on a variety of Epson models (R800, 2400, 3800, 3880, and now the P800) over many years and would occasionally see an online reference to pizza wheels.  Never having seen one I had to imagine what they looked like.  Finally, last year, I experienced them myself using Piezography inks in my 3880.  Interestingly, they occurred only with certain specific ink/paper/paper size combinations.  I have yet to experience them with OEM inks.

Which, of course, is not to diminish the issue.  Certainly pizza wheels do happen periodically to people.  And I could not agree more on their unfortunate impact - when they do occur they completely ruin the print.  But my empirical observation is that pizza wheels are an infrequent visitor in the printmaking world.  For those who experience them on a more chronic basis, probably the best course is to work directly with the manufacturer (I don't believe they are a problem unique to Epson).

Back to the P800 video introduction, I thought it was a very well done intro, nicely complementing Mark's more in-depth written appraisal.  And it was nice to see Dan, the Epson rep, confirm what many of us had long suspected - that the head design in the P800 was deliberately taken from the 3880 in order to retain that machines vaunted reliability (particularly for those who print infrequently).

Its somewhat fiddly front feed notwithstanding, I love mine and recommend it wholeheartedly.