Epson Color Inkjets for 2001

The Market

Epson has fallen to number three position in the inkjet market in Canada, with a 14% share, beating out Canon's 12% share, but far behind market leader HP and Lexmark, which hold 45% and 24%, respectively. To address this decline in its marketshare since last year, the company in May announced several new products, including a reformulated line of ink-jet paper, and new printer models.

Paper and Inks

Slated for an August release, Epson's ColorLife Photo Paper is a new semigloss photo-quality inkjet paper for its dye-based Stylus Photo printers. The paper, says the company, will be similar in texture to the excellent Premium Luster paper Epson sells for its pigment-based archival printers: the Stylus Photo 2000P and Stylus Pro 5500, 7500 and 9500.

For those who demand the ultimate in ink permanence, the US$899 EPSON Stylus Photo 2000P is the optimal choice. According to the company,  Wilhelm Research Labs (Wilhelm-Research.com), has designated the inks as lightfast for approximately 200 years before noticeable fading occurs in normal indoor display conditions in a glass frame, when using Genuine EPSON ink cartridges and EPSON Matte Paper- Heavyweight. The company estimates approximately 140 years before fading occurs under the same conditions when using EPSON Photo Paper. For comparison, other photo-printer models in the lineup tout "lightfast" inks, but manage only 6-7 years when printing on Epson Photo Paper. Results will vary, the company admits, depending on lighting conditions, humidity, framing under glass, color intensity, color range and print media. Water-resistant prints can be produced using Genuine EPSON ink cartridges and EPSON Premium Glossy Photo Paper and EPSON Photo Paper. See the Epson 1280 reader report at MacinTouch.com for additional commentary on papers and ink permanence.

Print Speeds

Don't put too much credence in print speed ratings, when comparing printers from different companies. Lexmark inkjet printers, for example, are rated when in 600x600-dpi mode; Epson inkjet printers are rated in Economy Mode (as low as 180x180 dpi for the Stylus Color 580) for Black text and color speeds (or, in the case of the 200P, in Fine Mode). In any case, print speeds will vary depending on system configuration, software application, page complexity, amount of page covered and print setting.

The Lineup

One thing's for certain: there's no shortage of models to choose from in Epson's lineup. By our count, there are currently 19 different models offered, ranging from the low-end C$99 (US$69) EPSON Stylus Color 580 to the C$1299 (US$899) EPSON Stylus Photo 2000P and C$1449 (US$995), 17" x 22" format EPSON Stylus Color 3000. Our picks for Best Bet include the C$129 (US$89) EPSON Stylus Color 777 or, if you have a digital camera, the PC Card slot-equipped EPSON Stylus Photo 785EPX. This latter model uses 6-colour inks to deliver better photo-quality images than those achievable with 4-colour inks. Despite the comments of some of the number two printer vendor, we think 6-color printers produce tangibly better photo output, especially when combined with Epson's ultra-expensive ($1 per sheet) glossy photo paper.

Here's a chart of the under-US$150 printer models.

*Specialized 777 "Internet Appliances" for Compaq iPAQ and WebTV are also available for US$99.

Epson also offers several wide-format inkjet models.

*Archival inks.

For Further Reading:

• Read the Epson 1280 reader report at MacinTouch.com
• Epson's Ink Jet Printers Web site has a comparison feature allowing you to compare up to three models side-by-side.
• HP inkjet printer report 2001
• Lexmark inkjet printer report 2001