Epson R200

[Adnan248999]

I had originally intended to get the R300 but when I got to the store they didn't have any so in a hurry I recently bought the Epson R200 photo printer for ?59.99 at Dixons and thought it was so good I'd post a quick review of it here incase anyone else is considering a new printer for family photos etc.

At first glance I was pleased with the stylish, dark and overall sleek look of this printer (beige is basically non-existant now muhaha).

Key Features >

- You can print directly onto inkjet printable CDs or DVDs which can be useful

- BorderFree? printing and individual ink cartridgesInk Type /b>

- Dye based superior Photo Inks

And the important part....the maximum resolution is up to 5760 x 1440 optimized dpi.

This printer uses 6 seperate ink cartridges for the six different colours used which are Cyan, Light Cyan, Magneta, Light Magneta, Yellow and K (Black). This makes for more accurate colours and superb contrasts for perfect photo prints.

I don't want to get too technical so I'll keep it basic by saying that this printer is compatible for those of you running Windows 98, ME, 2000 or XP. It connects via USB. You can see in the picture from above that there is a front USB featured on the printer as well as a rear, so how you choose to connect it is entirely up to you.

If you look closely at the above image you can see the rear USB connection I was talking about and (if any of you have noticed) you'll see a slot to the lower right. This slot is the exit for any prints made onto CDs/DVDs, basically you'll insert your printable CD from the front of the printer and it will emerge at the back. For this to work you'll need extra room at the rear of the printer for the CD tray (refer to image below) to pass through and avoid damaging the printer.

What you are seeing above is the printer hood lifted up and the two trays. The small tray above is the CD tray, this is the tray in which you will insert your desired CD for printing on using the provided placeholder insert which also supports 8cm discs. The tray underneath is no doubt the paper tray for completed prints.

That about covers the cosmetics of the printer. What you also get with the printer is the EPSON STYLUS printer software which includes:

- The R200's and Software's reference guide

- Epson PhotoQuicker which you can use to make quick prints

- Epson PrintCD (the name is self explanitory)

- Epson Scan to Web that allows you to upload your images to a personal album online (registration with Epson of your purchased product is required for this)

Upon installing all the software you'll notice a new icon in your system tray shown in the picture below.

Double clicking on this icon will display the current status of the printer and its ink levels.

The software provided is very useful for printing and I must say that PhotoQuicker certainly makes printing of multiple images very easy. The interface is very similar to CD and memory card readers found in all good photo development stores. You just select the folder where the images are located, highlight each image you want printed, click the arrows next to each image to select quantity and then just click the next button where you will be asked what size paper you're printing on and what type e.g premium photopaper, transparancies, plain A4 etc etc.

The printer operates very quietly too so noise is certainly not an issue with this device. It's fairly fast and best of all the results are just stunning. The photo quality printouts are just amazing to look at. No need to visit your photo store anymore! (unless of course you want like 100 prints which can use a lot of ink so.....you decide)

[+Warwagon MVC]

Great Review!

[saxondale.]

Great review. I was stuck between the R300 and the Canon iP4000. After some print tests, I went with the Canon.

[Hais]

well i got the r300, and if its print-wise pretty much the same as the r200 then its a top printer for that price. plus i got a whole bunch of cartiges off ebay for less than a quid each :D