I'm a new digicam owner (Olympus D-340) and have just come back from a trip where I took over 500 pictures. The time to buy a printer is at hand and I'm torn between the Epson Stylus 800 and the Photo 700.

I already have a BW laser printer, so printing text is not a requirement. The use will be *primarily* photos but may be used for an occasional color drawing. Having an Ethernet interface would be a big plus but not required.

Anyone have some sage advice for me?

TIA - Frank

-- Frank Terhaar-Yonkers (fty@cisco.com), July 22, 1998

Answers

I don't have direct experience with either device, but the "photo" printers with 6 or 7 ink colors will always give you a better print of an image than will the non-photo models. If you truly don't care about text, go for the photo model in a heartbeat. (BTW, I doubt we'll have anything up in time to guide your purchase decision, but we just got an HP PhotoSmart printer in for evaluation & review. The HP units boast better print longevity/UV stability, a topic some other mfrs have gotten a little touchy about.) FWIW, I own an old Epson Stylus Color II, and print fading on that unit has never been an issue, in normal usage (eg, not direct sun).

-- Dave Etchells (detchells@imaging-resource.com), July 22, 1998.

I have a epson photo EX and a photo 700 printer. I do a lot of photo printing. My neighbor has a Epson 800. The EX & 700 smoke the 800. Very Smooth.

-- paul corbin (corbin@oro.net), July 24, 1998.

I've got the Epson Photo Stylus 700 and have been very pleased. Like you plan to do, I use it almost exclusively to print digi-photos. I've got a separate printer for text.

Be prepared to spend a lot on consumables. This printer eats ink and depending on which paper you choose (4x6, 8x10, photo paper, photo film, etc.), you'll probably become fairly judicious in which photos you print.

When you do, however, I think you'll be pleased. You will definitely fool people, especially if you're printing from a mega-pixel camera.

-Tom

-- Tom Keramidas (krmidas@ix.netcom.com), September 15, 1998.