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Author Topic: Feedback on epson 7900?  (Read 11627 times)

Ryan Grayley

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Feedback on epson 7900?
« Reply #20 on: February 01, 2010, 04:09:57 am »

Quote from: cdicarlo
Over the past year you, along with Wayne, have reported some of the most problematic issues with the 7900, and it's the reason I've delayed my purchase and posted my original question.  Do you believe that you got a lemon?

Yes I believe the 7900 is a lemon and I also think Epson is a lemon.

I reported my ANC problems to Epson within a few days of the printer arriving back in 2008.
Epson didn't respond for three months. Yes thats three months.
I have never known worse customer service.
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Ryan Grayley BA IEng MIET ARPS
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dgberg

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Feedback on epson 7900?
« Reply #21 on: February 01, 2010, 06:32:18 am »

Ryan,
I called Epson about my problem (Jan 09) on a Mon and received a full box of parts from Epson on Wed. of that same week. The Tech called Thus. to see if the parts had arrived and was here Fri. morning to repair the printer. From call to full repair in less then a week.
Just goes to show how service can vary from state to state or country to country.
Yes you can surly have a lemon and topped off with a bad service experience I share your frustrations.
 My experience has been the exact opposite and I consider Epson the premier printers in the market.
« Last Edit: February 01, 2010, 07:14:29 am by Dan Berg »
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cdicarlo

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Feedback on epson 7900?
« Reply #22 on: February 01, 2010, 07:34:58 pm »

I'd like to thank all of you who kindly responded to my original post and shared info and tips.  I just wanted to hear from a few happy campers-- and I did.  I placed an order for the 7900 (but not without some reservations, as there have been quite a few negative experiences)  and requested the Issue -Free Edition (smile).  To be continued...  many thanks for guidance.

Candace
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vgogolak

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Feedback on epson 7900?
« Reply #23 on: February 01, 2010, 07:43:28 pm »

Well, if your experience is like mine you will be VERY happy. I just have not had the issue with clogging and I really like the fact that I get some pretty damn good prints on a variety of mpapers without RIPs or fiddling around.

I am an old dye sub bigot (kodak 8660, prints that were like REAL photos) and the 7900 gets me stuff that looks like a photo, not 'prints' of old.

Cross your fingers, but there are I suspect a lot of happy campers.

regards

Victor
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Wayne Fox

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Feedback on epson 7900?
« Reply #24 on: February 02, 2010, 05:51:49 pm »

Quote from: Ionaca
Yes I believe the 7900 is a lemon and I also think Epson is a lemon.

I reported my ANC problems to Epson within a few days of the printer arriving back in 2008.
Epson didn't respond for three months. Yes thats three months.
I have never known worse customer service.

Please note that unfortunately for Ryan, this seems to be an Epson UK problem.  As an Epson USA customer, I have received outstanding service, immediate attention, prompt visits from a technician, and a replacement of my original printer which indeed was a "lemon"

While I still believe there may be some design issues that I would like to see Epson address regarding nozzle failures, my 7900 is performing quite well at this point without many clogs and quite manageable by using manual nozzle checks.
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cdicarlo

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Feedback on epson 7900?
« Reply #25 on: February 07, 2010, 02:57:58 pm »


While I still believe there may be some design issues that I would like to see Epson address regarding nozzle failures, my 7900 is performing quite well at this point without many clogs and quite manageable by using manual nozzle checks.
[/quote]


Thank you for posting this, Wayne.  As you were one of the persons with one of the most problematic experiences, this says a lot to me, appreciate your feedback.
Candace
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JohnHeerema

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Feedback on epson 7900?
« Reply #26 on: February 09, 2010, 12:00:43 am »

Thanks for asking about people's experiences with the Epson 7900!

I was particularly curious, because I too was on the verge of purchasing an Epson 7900. After reading an awful lot of postings, both here and elsewhere, on people's experiences with various 24" printers, I came to some conclusions:

It seems that a certain percentage of Epson 7900s don't come out of the factory quite right. My impression is that the design is a bit fragile, in the sense that the manufacturing process has to go just right, or else the printer will have problems with clogs, air leaks in the ink tubes, or excessive head cleaning. Probably most 7900s are fine, but a significant percentage are not. Almost everyone who is happy with their Epson 7900 has turned automatic head cleaning off.

It also seems that Epson's service varies in both responsiveness and competence, depending on where you are located, and on which technician you happen to get.  

So, I tried an experiment.

I called up my friendly sales rep, and ask him to order an Epson 7900, but only if I could have a guarantee that I could have the entire machine swapped out if it turned out that I happened to get one of the ones that wasn't put together quite right, and which also couldn't be satisfactorily repaired by Epson within about three months. I explained that I didn't care if the guarantee came from Epson, or from them.

I heard back today.

Epson Canada assures me that their normal guarantee covers all of my concerns. Nevertheless, they are unwilling to guarantee a machine replacement in the event that it turns out that they are unable to make my new printer work properly.

My local dealer (The Camera Store in Calgary) also assured me that they will work hard to ensure that I don't end up with a lemon. However, they can't afford to guarantee a machine replacement if it turns out that Epson can't make the printer work right.

So the Epson 7900 is a no-go.

I looked at some other printers too. The Canon IPF6100 is a fine printer, and is about $2,200, vs $3,400 for the Epson. I might get one of them. People seem to report fewer problems with ink clogs with the Canon, than with the Epson, particularly those living in a dry climate, or who print only occasionally. The major problem with the Canon seems to be that the heads may need replacement in a year or two, at a cost of about $1,000. The print quality is not quite up to the Epson 7900, and the design is now three years old. Canon's web site is a disaster, and it is sometimes tough to find a Canon profile for any given paper.

At this point though, I'm thinking that the Epson 7900 was announced almost two years ago, and that Epson seems to have about a three year cycle between large format printer designs. Although I'm a fussy printer, and like to print everything myself, I might just wait a while, and see what comes down the pike in the next year.

Canon is due for a new printer announcement.
HP might decide to become a serious player again in the large format printer market.
Epson might fix the 7900 design.
Until then, I might just keep sending my large format stuff out for printing.

I'm curious whether my conclusions resonate with others.





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ghaynes754

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Feedback on epson 7900?
« Reply #27 on: February 09, 2010, 12:08:09 am »

Ask the dealer to do the same warranty on an HP or a Canon and I would wager that the answer would be exactly the same.  This sounds more like an issue of service and while I haven't had any problems with my 9900 the one fellow I know that had a service call on his 7900 for a clogged nozzle got prompt service here in the US.
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JohnHeerema

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Feedback on epson 7900?
« Reply #28 on: February 09, 2010, 01:43:25 pm »

Quote from: ghaynes754
Ask the dealer to do the same warranty on an HP or a Canon and I would wager that the answer would be exactly the same.  This sounds more like an issue of service and while I haven't had any problems with my 9900 the one fellow I know that had a service call on his 7900 for a clogged nozzle got prompt service here in the US.

I agree that no manufacturer likes to make special concessions. If they felt that they could sell their products with no warranty at all, they would (this is how many software manufacturers sell their products).

Printer manufacturers warranty their products for two reasons: to limit their statutory liability exposure, and to attract potential buyers. They change their products, or improve warranty coverage, if they see the change as helping their bottom line.

That's where groups of people, like the members of this forum, can help. If enough people make it clear that they would purchase a product if it came with a replacement guarantee, but not otherwise, it's sometimes possible for even a big and hidebound organization to change. This is why I believe it's important to let manufacturers know why you are not purchasing their products.

Another change factor, which can be influenced by a forum like this, is corporate pride, or corporate shame. If a Seiko Epson executive sees that a large number of people are criticizing a product in his portfolio for good reason (and in Japan, it's always "his"), he is likely to direct his product group to fix the problem.

That's my $.02 at least.
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k_p98

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Feedback on epson 7900?
« Reply #29 on: February 09, 2010, 06:02:30 pm »

Quote from: JohnHeerema
I looked at some other printers too. The Canon IPF6100 is a fine printer, and is about $2,200, vs $3,400 for the Epson. I might get one of them. People seem to report fewer problems with ink clogs with the Canon, than with the Epson, particularly those living in a dry climate, or who print only occasionally. The major problem with the Canon seems to be that the heads may need replacement in a year or two, at a cost of about $1,000. The print quality is not quite up to the Epson 7900, and the design is now three years old. Canon's web site is a disaster, and it is sometimes tough to find a Canon profile for any given paper.

Canon is due for a new printer announcement.
HP might decide to become a serious player again in the large format printer market.
Epson might fix the 7900 design.
Until then, I might just keep sending my large format stuff out for printing.

I'm curious whether my conclusions resonate with others.

I've just stumbled upon this thread and it took me way back to the days when I owned an Epson 4800.  When it printed it was gorgeous, but honestly, half of the time it was a lemon.  What was even worse was that when a cleaning cycle was run to clear up a few clogged nozzles, entire color channels would be missing in other colors AFTER the cleaning.  It got to the point where I would dread turning it on because I would think that in order to do one 8x10 print which would use up 2ml of ink, I'd have to spend 20 or 30ml just to get the thing going.  A power clean, which dumps 100ml down into the maintenance tank I think helped quite a bit, but alas, when the printer was sold I didn't cry.

Now I have a brand new iPF6100.  Yes it is getting old, but dam the price was good.  They even announced the iPF6350 now with new inks which sound great, but that is about all that's a major innovation.  So far, I have had no problems at all, and clogging seems to now be an issue.  I think with the Epson 7900 you still waste a bit of ink when the print head needs to switch the color channel between the blacks, and with the Canon none of this is true.  The Canon even has a nice power roll holder.

I'm not saying the Canon is perfect, but the price is amazing right now.  With Epson you've got this constant clogging issue to worry about.  The HP seems to have solved their issue with printing reds over the 3100 model, but it apparently has quite a loud fan that seems to make people go crazy since it is always on, even when it isn't printing.

So it seems to me that buying the Canon is the lesser of 3 evils.  Yes the printheads will be expensive if you need to replace them, but all the bad stories are mostly from the iPF5000 which had the PF-01 printhead, not the newer PF-03 one.  Plus by then the Canons will be even cheaper, so picking up a new one just to get the free starter inks and new printheads might be quite an economical route.  Plus, since its already a good $1500 possibly cheaper than the Epson, just set aside the cash you save incase you need new print heads.  The huge price difference cannot be over looked and if you aren't exactly sure what to get, going with the cheapest option is perhaps the way to go.
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JohnHeerema

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Feedback on epson 7900?
« Reply #30 on: February 09, 2010, 09:15:56 pm »

Thanks for your posting!

The IPF6350 looks very interesting. At least on paper, it seems to bring the Canon gamut up to the level of the Epson 7900. If it also offers the same level of reliability as the IPF6100, and solves the Canon media profiling issues, I expect to become a Canon customer.

My first Epson photo printer was their very first ever photo printer. $750 for a dye-based letter-size printer.
There have been quite a few Epson printers since then, so the switch to Canon should be "interesting".

I'm glad Epson decided that they didn't want me as a repeat customer!

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ghaynes754

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Feedback on epson 7900?
« Reply #31 on: February 10, 2010, 01:37:08 am »

John, great humming bird photo on your page.  Canon, HP, Epson all have strengths and weaknesses.  I looked at all 3 but came back to Epson.  Had a 3800 for about 2 years, never had a problem with it, didn't like switching black inks, yep that eats it up and never had a problem with clogged heads even if I didn't print for a month.

Bought a 9900, good deal, $1000 rebate.  The ink switch is minimal but since I print mainly canvas I haven't used much photo black.

Any of the three are good machines.  Each one makes improvements and at any given time one seems to be slightly ahead of the others.

 Look at size and space.  One thing I like about the Epson is that everything is easily accessible from the front and it isn't as deep as the Canon or HP.

Like all electronics it seems they are out of date, new model the minute you take the plunge.  Me, I'm holding out for the 64 cartridge model that gives incredible color fidelity that can print the range of the human eye.  Uh-oh just saw an email about the Fuji-Epson-Canon-Murota-EFI 264 color model.  Guess I need to upgrade again.

Good luck.
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JohnHeerema

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Feedback on epson 7900?
« Reply #32 on: February 11, 2010, 01:24:09 pm »

Quote from: ghaynes754
John, great humming bird photo on your page.  Canon, HP, Epson all have strengths and weaknesses.  I looked at all 3 but came back to Epson.  Had a 3800 for about 2 years, never had a problem with it, didn't like switching black inks, yep that eats it up and never had a problem with clogged heads even if I didn't print for a month.

Bought a 9900, good deal, $1000 rebate.  The ink switch is minimal but since I print mainly canvas I haven't used much photo black.

Any of the three are good machines.  Each one makes improvements and at any given time one seems to be slightly ahead of the others.

 Look at size and space.  One thing I like about the Epson is that everything is easily accessible from the front and it isn't as deep as the Canon or HP.

Like all electronics it seems they are out of date, new model the minute you take the plunge.  Me, I'm holding out for the 64 cartridge model that gives incredible color fidelity that can print the range of the human eye.  Uh-oh just saw an email about the Fuji-Epson-Canon-Murota-EFI 264 color model.  Guess I need to upgrade again.

Good luck.

Thanks for your kind comment!

Ain't it the way of all flesh?
Should it be the brash young product, or the experienced one?
Hmmm... was I talking about printers, or about people?

Generally when it comes to products in the technology fast stream, I'm an early adopter, but try not to be the first in line to get burned. Like you said, you can put off a decision forever, waiting for the next great thing, and end up never doing the things you want to be doing.

With people on the other hand, I lean toward the people who I already know are smart. But that's a whole other discussion!

I like the Epson 7900 a lot, but I'm troubled that the company has refused to acknowledge a widespread problem with their product. To me, the corporate attitude makes a big difference. That's why I wanted to see if there was a human being at Epson Canada who was willing to acknowledge that their product has a known problem which affects a minority of the 7900s, and who was willing to stand behind their product.

It seems that it almost always comes down to individual people. Do the execs at Epson stick to the corporate line that all is fine, or is there an executive willing to stick their neck out, and stand behind a slightly troubled product? I got an answer that made a difference to my personal purchasing decision.
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ghaynes754

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Feedback on epson 7900?
« Reply #33 on: February 11, 2010, 02:39:07 pm »

Worst case would be something like the Toyota executive that supposedly committed seppuku as he was responsible for the throttle design or in someway implicated.  That is an extreme case of contrition.
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