Any new Epson 17" Printers coming??

[jerrygrasso96]

I need to replace my Epson 2400. I want to move up to a 17" printer like the 3880, but this printer has been around a few years already and I don't want to get stuck with a discontinued printer shortly after I buy one. Are there any rumors from Epson for the near future? Anyone have any thoughts on this?

[Sal Baker]

How would you be stuck if a replacement for the 3880 was announced?  People are still making great prints with their 3800s years after the 3880 was released.  The only impact of a replacement on me would be grabbing up another 3880 at clearance prices.  There's no guarantee that the new model will be clog-free like the 3880.

Sal

[Dale_Cotton2]

Since the 3880, 4880, etc. the new x900 line-up uses the HDR inkset with two its new inks. Epson has said that they cannot make a 3900 because the printhead would be too big. So what are the possibilities?

1. They could do a 3885 minor upgrade using the 3880's K3 Vivid inkset, but that would be a hard sell. (20% faster? 15% smaller? I'll pass.)

2. They could be developing a specialized minor tweak on the Vivid inkset, still with only 9 channels, but with increased gamut. Call it UltraChrome K3 Extra-Vivid. Given that no one can see any significant advantage to the 11 channel HDR inskset, I don't see this possibility as a concern to 3880 owners.

3. It's always possible that Epson is working on an entirely new inkset -- not even in the UltraChrome family -- that goes back to fewer cartridges or in some other way makes a significant 3880 replacement possible. Such a development could happen at any time, but to release it now would piss off all the people who have sunk big bucks in the x900 series not so long ago.

I and lots of other people have upgraded from 3800 to 3880 recently after fretting over this issue, so if a major 3880 replacement does in fact appear any time soon, you'll have a lot of company in your buyer's remorse. But Sal makes a great point. Even if the hypothetical replacement were announced tomorrow, it could still be two-three years before we'd have a realistic appraisal of its issues.  Some problems simply take that long to manifest.

(Interesting to speculate on what Epson does next to make a really meaningful upgrade to it's UltraChrome K3 inkset. As user Enduser mused in a recent thread, wouldn't an archival dye inkset be wonderful? No clogs and really deep blacks. (But of course there were other problems with dye inks besides longevity.) Mere increases in gamut seem not to be that compelling for people who don't routinely photograph neon tetras. Greater Dmax on existing papers would be an easy sell. But the real El Dorado for me would be a major boost in longevity. Can't recall his name, but the guy who does alternate longevity testing to Wilhelm institute makes a compelling case that Epson's yellow pigment is UltraChrome's Achille's heel. Trouble is, it already takes years to do accelerated aging tests, so presumably they'd have to have hit on the right formula four or five years ago in order to have meaningful evidence of success for a product launch today.)

[Eric Brody]

Actually, with an item like a printer, it might be better to get a 3880 now, regardless of something new. Printers have become asymptotic in their improvements, minimal change with each iteration. A real revolution is unlikely. Most of the strengths and weaknesses of the 38xx series are now very well known and with a huge installed base, problem solving and repairs are quite available. My 3800 is six and a half years old and still cranks out excellent prints whenever I ask it to with minimal maintenance. I am not anxious to replace it unless it dies.

[hugowolf]

1. They could do a 3885 minor upgrade ...

There is already a 3885, that is what the 3880 is called in the East Asian market. It would have to be called something else.

Brian A

[Scott Martin]

As Epson shifts their focus to the needs of high volume customers I doubt we'll see an update to the highly successful 3880 while there's little competition for it. There's rumors to that competition coming but it sure is taking a while. Enthusiasts with low volume ink and paper sales just aren't perceived as the target audience in this ever-changing market.

[Rhossydd]

Mere increases in gamut seem not to be that compelling for people ....

There's also the disadvantage that if the printer gamut is significantly better than the user's monitor they have issues with prints appearing to be 'too saturated'. An issue some people are already facing.

[jerrygrasso96]

I appreciate all of the valuable comments you guys left me. I'm just curious, though, how does the 4900 compare to the 3880?? Is the 4900 worth investigating?? Thanks for your help!

[NeroMetalliko]

Since the 3880, 4880, etc. the new x900 line-up uses the HDR inkset with two its new inks. Epson has said that they cannot make a 3900 because the printhead would be too big. So what are the possibilities?

1. They could do a 3885 minor upgrade using the 3880's K3 Vivid inkset, but that would be a hard sell. (20% faster? 15% smaller? I'll pass.)

2. They could be developing a specialized minor tweak on the Vivid inkset, still with only 9 channels, but with increased gamut. Call it UltraChrome K3 Extra-Vivid. Given that no one can see any significant advantage to the 11 channel HDR inskset, I don't see this possibility as a concern to 3880 owners.

3. It's always possible that Epson is working on an entirely new inkset -- not even in the UltraChrome family -- that goes back to fewer cartridges or in some other way makes a significant 3880 replacement possible. Such a development could happen at any time, but to release it now would piss off all the people who have sunk big bucks in the x900 series not so long ago.

4. Even if I have to admit I will like to have the HDR inkset in a imaginary new 3900, it could be still desirable for me to see a 3890, with some minor updates like display, connectivity etc, still using K3 VM inkset, but with a full 9 channels printheads in order to avoid the PK/MK ink switch.

5. Another interesting further evolution could be a K3 VM + GO, in this case the 3890 could include a 10 channel printheads,  but of the same technology current in use (not the x900 series printheads)

I think these kind of evolutions could be feasible for Epson, not requiring a lot of R&D investments, reliable (nothing really new and most of the same proven current technology) and with a reasonable price point.
 
In my opinion the PK/MK switch fix alone will be enough to justify a new 3890 model (not to mention if you further add a Gloss Optimizer cart to the venerable K3 VM inkset).

Let's hope for the best.
Ciao

[Rhossydd]

Is the 4900 worth investigating??

Its' undoubtedly a fine printer, but it's VERY much bigger and heavier than the 3880.
Unless you absolutely need the ability to print on roll paper or you're planning on very high print volumes, it's probably not a much better proposition than the 3880.

You won't see much difference in actual prints between the two.

[JeffW]

Be careful with the x900 series. If you print a lot, like every other day and can keep the humidity above 40% in the room then the x900 are worth looking into. If neither of these then you will probably struggle with nozzle drop outs.

[NigelC]

To me a 3900 would make no sense. A big part of the attraction of the 3800/3880 is a printer that can go up to 17"x 34" (may be more but can't make bigger matt than that) in an A3 printer footprint. Add more inks for the HDR inkset and you have........a 4900!

Like others I'm waiting for a new model so that I can replace my 3800 with an 3880 at an end of line price.

Generally, it seems to me that the rate of innovation/introduction of new models in printers has slowed right down for whatever reason, e.g. the technology is mature.

[ihv]

In my opinion the PK/MK switch fix alone will be enough to justify a new 3890 model (not to mention if you further add a Gloss Optimizer cart to the venerable K3 VM inkset).

Absolutely agree.

[Oldfox]

Absolutely agree.

So do I. (Not to mention that 38xx dont warn you about the ink change.)

[StuNY]

Absolutely agree.

So do I! I really don't like having to plan my matte vs. gloss runs of prints. I end up not printing things I would like to due to the "wrong" black being in place. Not a huge deal, but I would upgrade to eliminate it.

[AFairley]

So do I. (Not to mention that 38xx dont warn you about the ink change.)

Sure would like a driver fix that alerts you and gives you a chance to abort before going ahead with the ink change.

[hugowolf]

Sure would like a driver fix that alerts you and gives you a chance to abort before going ahead with the ink change.

Even though I'm sure that wouldn't be difficult, the 24 and 44 inch printers do it, I can't see it happening after this length of time.

The 9890 driver allows you to choose a custom sheet size of 3.5 x 5 inches, even though the printer can't handle such small sizes.

Brian A

[digitaldog]

Be careful with the x900 series. If you print a lot, like every other day and can keep the humidity above 40% in the room then the x900 are worth looking into. If neither of these then you will probably struggle with nozzle drop outs.

So true. I have both the 3880 and 4900 and the 3880 never clogs, the 4900 every few days without use. I hate it! The 3880 is pure love. Best Epson I've ever owned (and if memory serves, that goes back to the 1200).

[Oldfox]

the 3880 never clogs, the 4900 every few days without use.

Do you keep the power always on?

[digitaldog]

Do you keep the power always on?

The 4900? I try, but with the energy saving 'feature' it turns off after awhile.