Review: Epson Artisan 800 pt. 1

When I got my last printer I did a little review on my blog and got lots of feedback, so I thought I'd do the same with the latest printer we got, which would be good considering Holidays are almost here! 2 weeks ago we got the Epson Artisan 800 printer.

The Epson Artisan printers are the very latest in the Epson line, and features the 700 and 800 models. There are few differences between these models but for me the major difference was the scanner on the 800 was far superior 4800 dpi compared to 2400, which for scanning items for digital kits is AWESOME! This along with the fax capabilities of the 800 makes for a great all in one model! The Artisan 800 is packed with great features! It has a 7.8” touch panel and 3.5” LCD, photo and document printing, copying, scanning, and faxing, Ultra Hi-Definition prints with Epson Claria™ ink, a range of exclusive creative capabilities, and built-in Wi-Fi and wired networking. The big difference for me for this compared to our last printer, is it is much sleeker and streemlined. I'd estimate it around 4" lower and a couple of inches smaller all round. It fits on my desk now with some room around it rather than hanging out on the desk and spreading around the edges.

Before I get into full on technical review and get into geek mode, I have to say hands down Epson have come up with the most awesome feature ever: you can print ruled and graph printer straight from the printer! GENIUS! Seriously, genius! Those following my pathtogreendom blog will know I've been planning my veggie beds and there has been numerous times I've needed graph paper and had boot up the pc, go online, download it, then print it. Now it's a quick print option! Freakin Genius!

After having we set up the printer naturally first thing we had to try was the photo printing (after the graph paper option mentioned above) and make sure the unit was working. We shoved a memory card into the slot and just printed, straight off the card no photo editing (not something I usually do) and were both amazed at the photo quality! STUNNING! Naturally as technology geeks we love the wi-fi, networking and touch screen. Bob likes being able to print from the network, so he can print from his laptop in the living room onto the printer in my office.

Printer

Printing is super easy with the two paper trays! Room for regular paper and photo paper without having to change trays or paper, awesome news for lazy printers like me! You can do lots of photo editing directly on the touch screen, like cropping and rotating, no need for computer required. Personally I don't do that often (being a photoshop junkie) but nice to have the option. The printer also prints on printable CDs just like the RX680 but the feature is a lot simpler on this model. It features six-color Ultra Hi-Definition Claria ink for vivid, true-to-life images to create smudge, scratch and water resistant photos. According to Epson it delivers fade resistant photos that last up to four times longer than photo lab prints. and prints resist fading up to 200 years in album storage. All these are important for us scrapbookers! For those looking for print examples, look for a layout coming Monday :)

Scanner
The Epson Artisan 800 has a 4800 dpi resolution and 48-bit color scanning for high quality scans of images and documents with brilliant clarity and accuracy. It offers standalone (one-touch) color and black and white copying and can reduce and enlarge copies (25 to 400 percent). It can scan to a computer, memory card or USB flash drive, and can scan and save directly into PDF format without any extra steps

Copier

A year ago I could have done without a copier, but having had the option of one touch copying for a year, I would not be without it again! The Artisan 800 offers standalone (one-touch) color and black and white copying, copies up to 99 pages – no computer required, and reduces and enlarges copies (25 to 400 percent). Copying is one of those things you never need until you NEED it. It's a feature of an all in one that I use a lot more than I initially thought I would.

Summary

I am still putting the printer through it's paces, but initial reaction is the print quality is superb! I've printed on paper, gloss photo, matt photo, and sticker paper. I have plans for the CD printing at the weekend so hopefully will report on that next week :) Pretty much this thing does everything but make the tea and mow the lawn! As I mentioned I've printed on a few different papers for testing, and created a layout that I'll share Monday :)

I plan on doing more little reviews throughout the next few weeks as we use more of the features, so more soon!