Epson 2400 or r2880

[Dwayneb9584]

Hello all. So I'm still in the market for a printer and narrowed it down to these two for B&W printing mainly. I was opting for the 2400 because I saw it used on amazon for a good price. But then I can just save and get a solid 2880. I'm also concerned about ink and it's cost over time. I wanted to know what you guy thought about these printers as far as B&W and even color. I'll be scanning from my negative on my plustiek 7600i. All help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[xvvvz]

The 2880 has been recently replaced by the 3000 or some-such. You might want to look at that too. The 2400 is still a decent printer if can find one in good shape. You should be able to get one for a good price since it will be used.

If you print much, a used 3800 or a 3880 quickly pays for itself via ink cost savings. If you only print rarely, then the 2400/2880 might be better.

Doug

 

[Dwayneb9584]

Thanks Doug.

So I have a few options here. I found a great deal on a brand new r2880 unopened sealed in its box for a friend for $450. Also found one that is used but the seller said he can't run a nozzle check on the thing because he can't do it at his place. This I am a little weary about but its for sale for $350.00 and he said he only used it once and that it's in great condition. I also have the option of buying a epson 3800 for $450 that is 2 years old. I don't know to much about these but 17x22 could be nice. However, I have no problem at all with 13x19 prints. What do you guys think. I was thinking about checking out the one for $350 because I can buy extra ink and paper. But can't go wrong with a sealed box for $450. What do you all think.

 

[xvvvz]

Definitely skip the one with the lame story about no ability to do the nozzle check. That is just a no-go.

If you aren't getting a warranty with the 2880 AND the 3800 is in good shape AND has ink tanks that are at least half full, I would seriously think about that. It all depends on whether the printer is in good shape, if you are going to print enough to take advantage of the lower ink costs (if you don't print much and you end up having to switch out half full ink carts that went bad, that doesn't save any money) and what value you place on the ability to print larger.

My $.02,
Doug

 

[Dwayneb9584]

Well with the 3800 is awesome in that it prints 17x22 however, the initial investment for me is sort of high in regards to the ink. It's $59.00 for a cartridge. I think I'm going to go with the r2880. The guy hasn't responded to my email yet about the warranty but he said he bought it in October and literally used it once.

 

[Jim-st]

The carts for the 3800/3880 are more expensive than those for the smaller format printers, for sure. But in terms of cost per ml, I think you'll find in general that the more expensive the printer, the cheaper the ink.
Don't forget that each time you swap out an empty cart, your printer will flush out some of that highly-priced liquid as it goes through the process.
Also, bear in mind that a new printer comes loaded with ink - in the case of a 3800 that's 9 x your $59 (= $531) included in the purchase price of the printer!
Personally I'd never buy a printer without full warranty, though. My suspicion would be that like with used cars, you're buying someone else's problem. And here in the UK, I've always found Epson CS surprisingly helpful, even giving me support when warranty time has expired

Good luck!!

 

[Dwayneb9584]

Thanks Jim, I spoke with a seller who is local and has one in the box unopened that she bought a 1 1/2 months ago. She said it's still under warranty and everything sealed in the box. She mentioned it doesn't come with the USB cable though. I checked out the B&H site just to make sure and it looks like it's not included. She's willing to let this one go for $450.00. What do you think about that? I haven't received a response about the warranty for the used r2880 for $350 yet. But if he gets back to me saying that it's still under warranty I might go with that one since I'll be able to buy paper.

 

[kully]

Check the size vs where you want to keep them before anything else. This was the main reason for me getting a R2880 over the R3880. The R2880 is a big old printer in itself.

 

[Dwayneb9584]

Oh yea totally considered that as well. I don't really have much space here in my studio (room) for the 3800. The R2800 will be just fine.

 

[kully]

Cool.

Also consider where it will sit. As the heads move to make the print it will make whatever it sits on move slightly too. If it is a light table you will see it sway (the printer itself does not move).

I have mine on a heavy floor standing shelving unit which is cool, I had to move it off the smaller little 'thing' it was on before.

As for costs. I print B&W only and get perhaps 50-60 A4 prints from a set of cartridges (some will deplete before others, but this number is over a couple hundred prints).

 

[Dwayneb9584]

Yea will do, I definitely going to go with the R2880 since it's at a great deal for me and comes with a warranty still. Plus it's still in it's original box. I'm really excited. Just need to figure out the ripping software and a calibration of my screen thing.

 

[kully]

I use a Spider 3 Elite for calibration and Hahnemuhle profiles + Adobe Photoshop (now Lightroom). I've never seen a on-screen image which matched the print, but as with darkroom work, you get a feel for what you are going to get after a few prints.

People say be careful about the heads clogging, you should. But I've not had any clogs even after the printer [R2880] has not been used for six months.

 

[Dwayneb9584]

Great! I'll look into that. I realized that the only downside to the R2880 is the switching of the Matte and Photo black cartridges. I wonder how much ink this will burn if I switch it out frequently.

 

[Guest]

New printers do not come full of printing ink, they just give us enough for a taste.
The ink is where they make the money, the cost of the printer is very low when you look at what is inside these machines, a friend who works for Canon told me that even small printers have a four figure value in them.