Epson Stylus Photo R300M Inkjet Printer

When I bought this printer, I only had Windows (XP) computers. It installed easily and worked very well, with excellent print quality. I've since begun using an iMac G5 and hooked the Epson to it instead of my PC. I had to download the latest drivers when I upgraded to OS X 10.4 (Tiger) but that is something I'm used to in the Windows world.

The printer itself is easy to use, it's print quality equals or exceeds what I get from Walgreens and other digital photo printing centers. So far I've had to replace the ink cartridges once, a somewhat expensive affair since you have to buy several small ones. To purchase all at the same time cost me $80 -- but I've had the printer for well over a year and have only had to do so once.

This printer has two really nice features that I appreciate: a multi-card reader and spare USB port on the front. Very convenient.

I purchased the R300M, installed it and spent an entire day trying to figure out why I could not get it to work. Turns out, mine had a defective memory card reader. When I called Epson support they were outstanding at taking care of the problem. I had my new printer within 2 days.

The new one works like a charm. I will say that when you turn the printer on and off its slow and initially I thought something was wrong but customer service assured me this is normal.
I am also glad I anted up the extra bucks so I could view the photo through a view finder at the top of the printer - this feature is worth the $.

My first few photos did not come out to well. I did a printer head alignment and that took care of the problem. Also be sure to click on the correct type of paper you are using ..ie if you are using glossy or regular you click the box in the properties section when you select paper size etc. otherwise you will not get the best results.

After playing with it awhile I printed some photographs and they were stunning! Though the initial cost may seem high, its frustrating to get prints from the store that are of poor quality due to lighting, camera angle etc. You will be able to control your results here and enjoy your photos right away when you print them.

Another nice feature is you can print directly on a CD. My daughter is a singer so we purchased this printer to have that feature available. Though we have not used it yet, I have heard that results are very good.

With the quality photos I am getting and the great customer service I received this Epson Inkjet gets high marks.

Not much to fault here, unless you have dreaded driver problems of some kind. Used with a Nikon 8800 (8MP) and Pentax Optio S5I (5MP), this printer delivers stunning 4x6 or full page borderless prints. Forget the silly little picturemate. This is the printer to buy!
HOWEVER, I used a second printer for text stuff because the 300 is pretty slow overall. The LCD monitor is of limited use since most of us will edit pics on a PC anyway. Ink cartidges seem to last a long time and you can replace them one at a time which makes sense.

Capt RB

This is my first photo/DVD printer and will probably be the only one I will be using for a good while. The photos I've printed out so far, inluding several 8x10 enlargements, are outstanding and undistinguishable from lab prints. In fact, I think they're a lot better since I can edit them and adjust them on the PC. Printing from a PICTBridge-enabled camera isn't too shabby either, but I prefer to edit my photos first. Same thing with printing from memory cards; this is a handy feature, though since I can use the printer as a cardreader.

Two little gripes - the supplied color LCD screen resolution is rather low and the B&W LCD does not illuminate, which may be a problem, as in my case, since I keep the printer in a dark corner of the desk. If you largely print photos from PC, you may want to buy the R300 instead, which doesn't have the color LCD and is 40 to 50 USD cheaper, depending on where you order it.

I was actually debating whether to purchase the Epson R300m or the Canon Pixma IP600D or the HP 7960. The photo quality in the stores was almost the same. What tipped the scales in favor of Epson was the ability to print onto inkjet printable DVDs and the relatively cheaper ink cartridges. I guess now I'll never know the real difference but as long as the Epson does what it's supposed to do, and does it extremely well, who cares?

UPDATE: This little gem is still going strong. No paper jams or streaks as long as you maintain the printheads properly. Photo printing is still topnotch. Text printing will never equal the crispness of a laser printer but that's not the reason I got it. I love printing my own DVDs. As for cartridges, several online stores carry cheaper versions that work just as well as originals, sometimes for 40% less.

I needed a cheap solution for printing directly on DVD and CD media. I found it. This printer coupled with a consumer product like "The Print Shop" produces incredibly professional results. It's been a long time since I used a product that actually did what it was advertised to do.

I use this printer only for this one function, so I don't know how well it produces photos, etc. I do have a friend who told me that Epson photos print well only on Epson paper. Ditto for HP. Don't know why this is, but...