Picking up an Epson 4880 - which paper?

[Tklimek]

Folks.....I hoping to pick up my printer in the next few days.

Which paper would you choose for the "Epson March Madness" offer?

This is kind of a "re-post" but freshened up.

My sales guy is recommending a roll of the Premium Lustre and a roll of enhanced matte.

So far, the suggestions from this forum are:

$169 SP91221 PremierArt Water Resistant Canvas 17” x 40’ roll
(probably not for me, although to be honest I'm not even familiar with it).

$199 17x22 Exhibition fiber cut sheets (sounds good based on what I've heard)

$125 S041856 UltraSmooth Fine Art Paper 17” x 50’ roll (sounds good)

$99 S042079 Premium Luster Photo Paper (260) 16” x 100’ roll (for some reason, I wasn't thrilled with the samples I saw....not really sure why...maybe I'm more "Matte"); plus I would prefer a 17 inch roll if possible to get the most bang for my buck and trim as needed.

$99 S042149 Premium Semimatte Photo Paper (260) 16” x 100’ roll (I would prefer a 17 inch roll)

$93 S042076 Premium Glossy Photo Paper (170) 16.5” x 100’ roll (could be interesting)

$59 S041725 Enhanced Matte Paper 17” x 100’ roll (someone had indicated this is a good starting point for Matte paper, but also the most inexpensive and might be worth just buying one outright).


Anyone else have any suggestions on how I should play this "hand" out? See my original post for the options that are available. Also willing to hear things like "choose this one and that one and that one, and then buy a roll/box of "this" yourself.


Thanks!!

Todd

[Geoff Wittig]

Ultrasmooth fine art is a lovely paper; very heavy weight, slightly warm natural paper white (i.e. no OBA's), and a very smooth unobtrusive surface. It was my standard paper for color printing on my 7600. If you want some Epson enhanced matte, just buy it; it's pretty cheap.

Epson's premium luster is an acquired taste. Gamut and D-max are great, but it does have a somewhat annoying surface stipple in reflections. It's also relatively cheap. I actually use this for my HP Z3100 because the color gamut is great, and for prints that are going behind glass the surface texture and plasticky feel don't matter. Premium glossy has about the same color gamut, but its super glossy surface shows every imperfection and the reflections get annoying.

Just my 2 cents.

[Barry Butterfield]

Todd,

Did you see my post with the attached approved papers list?

[Tklimek]

Thank you everyone for your comments, suggestions and guidance.

I'm happy to say I picked up my 4880 yesterday from Calumet.  I've got to say the team at Calumet was really great to work with; in particular my salesperson (Zane) in Chicago was really helpful.

For those of you thinking about getting the 4880 and concerned about the size of the box; see below.

I was a bit intimidated by everyones comments about picking up the printer myself, but really was not bad at all.

You do not need to take the pallet with you; I left it at Calumet.  Zane and I carried the box down the back loading ramp and slid it into the back of my Honda CR-V; into which it easily fit.  Once we got it home, my wife and I easily lifted it out of the CR-V and onto the ground.  I then used a handcart to wheel it into the house.  Although, I think my wife and I could just have easily carried it.  There are two really good plastic handles on each side to facilitate carrying the box.

As far as the whole deal went; here's what I did:

Printer was $1799
I purchased an additional 3 year warranty (total of 4 years now) for $89.99
With tax and everything; my total was $2,102.

My choices for the Epson "March Madness" paper deal was:
1 roll of Epson Ultrasmooth Fine Art paper; 17"x50'
2 boxes of Epson Exhibition Fiber 17"x22"
Total value of paper was: $400

I also bought a of the Premium Lustre 16"x100' out-of-pocket for $90 (tax and all).

Using the financing from Calumet through GE; I also have 3 months to pay for the printer with no interest.

So I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out.    

I'm off to IKEA today to pick up the table that someone recommended as I think it will provide a decent place to store some paper and prints.

Now I'll have to re-watch "From Camera to Print" again to figure out exactly what I'll need to do.  LOL

I'm also going to take a look at a simple mat cutter today as well.  Now I need to figure out, based on the size of my available paper, margins (I'm thinking about always leaving a 1 inch all the way around the printed surface), amount of mat I want showing, size of plastic bags to fit these, etc.  Much more work to go before I even do my first print!

Thanks again folks!

Todd

[mmurph]

Epson also has a "Buy 2 rolls, get 1 free" on the Premium Luster and Premium Semi-gloss rolls. Ends March 31st.

Call Calumet on Monday. Have them send you 3 rolls of the 16" x 100', dated 3/31.  Send the rebate in to Epson to get a rebate on 1 roll. That brings your net cost to $180 for 3 rolls, or $60 per roll!

Then return the 1 roll you already have, or swap it out somehow.  Buying that 1 more roll gets you 2.

FWIW, I bought some Premium Semi-gloss as a cheap proofing paper under this deal. I bought 3 rolls of 24"x100' at $86 per roll.  Net cost of $172 for 600 sq ft comes to $.28 per square foot - about the cheapest quality photo paper you will find!  Epson Enhanced Matte usually comes to around $.28 per square foot.

Now buy a set of 220ml carts and you are ready to print!  I fnd that if I stock up in advance I can just print and enjoy, vs. worrying about cost of each print when I run out of materials and have to reorder all of the time.

Have fun!  As you noted, with the $400 in paper, net cost of the 4880 was $1,400 - not much more than the 3800.

Best,
Michael