Epson Stylus Photo 785EPX Inkjet Printer

I have had mine now for a month and I love it. All prints are great but it is ink hungry. I think the prints are better then anything I have ever gotten from a photo lab. If ink lasted longer I would give it 5 stars

First I am not a photography wizard...I was looking for a printer that was easy to set up and printed pictures as my digital camera seen them and the 785exp did just that. This is as easy to set up as any printer or easier (maybe took 30 minutes)...within 10 minutes of set up it was printing pictures from my compacflash card and the prints were fantastic. The instructions were very easy to read and follow.

I had been using an Epson stylus color 900 for my prints but had to keep messing with the color trying to get it right which never seemed to happen.

I went through my files and used different photos just to see what would happen...all printed out in true color....I didn't notice any distorted coloring.

I checked some of the discount ink supply sites before buying this machine and they all carry the ink cartridges for the 785epx at prices 50% or less than retail making this machine very economical to use.

Well, 3 printers later (all different brands)in 5 days, I am going back to square one. I started w/ the 785, which has outstanding photos prints. But, those little 'pizza wheel' marks dotted most of my photos. So, I took the 785 back to [my local store] for the HP 960cse, which was terrible in my opinion when compared to the 785 prints. Also, the HP couldnt' print straight on the paper 90% of the time. SO back to [the store] again, to get a refund, since they where out of the 785. Well, they charged me [extra money]for restocking, even tho the printer was defective. Off to [another store] next, to pick up a Canon s730. I read that they were supposed to be comparable to Epson in photo quality. HAH. Terrible greens (all looked blue green) and, when compared to the Epson, looked like a child colored them in with crayons. Maybe if I spent hours calibrating my monitor to the printer and all that jibberish, but why pay [the money] for a printer and have to reset all my stuff to work w/ it? I'm Frustrated, to say the least. No, Im not an amatuer w/ computers, either. I've tried every setting imaginable on the canon and hp, and nothing comes close to the Epson. Oh well.
So, now I'm on Amazon to get a Epson 785....It prints beatiful photos, but I'll have to live with the 'pizza wheel' tracks for now, until I find out how to remove those darn wheels!!

I bought this printer to replace my several year-old HP 895CSE. First the positives, photos printed on glossy paper look fantastic. With a high quality original, prints look like they came from the photolab. In addition, the printer can print edge to edge, which most can't. That saves time and cutting. And text printing on plain paper is decent.

A second positive is roll paper.... a big timesaver.

A third nice feature is its ability to print from a camera card directly but I haven't tried that feature yet. Why, because when the ads say this printers supports smartmedia, compact flash, etc. they really lie. Actually the printer includes a PCMCIA adapter for compact flash, and if you don't like that, you have to mail it back (and pay postage) to get the one you want. Having to mail away for the adapter is one thing, but expecting me to mail back the one they gave me at my expense is just too much.

Now the negatives. First, its noisy. Very noisy for an inkjet. Its rather big, considering the print size capacity. And speed is on the slow side. O.K. I can live with those things.

Some even more annoying things. First , the Epson layout. Prints go in the back and pop out the front. Problem is dust gets in easy also. The HP layout of taking paper from a paper tray makes more sense. This may not seem like much, but add some dust and see what your prints look like. In the HP design, paper is safely away in a paper try, and there is no slot in the back for dust to enter.

In addition, this printer has a paper holder door that closes in front to save space. Close it while printing and it jams. (No shutoff stops it printing with the output door closed.)

Perhaps worst of all is software. I use Mac X, and Epson does have a driver, which is great, but, like others with an Epson, I get a communications error if I use a USB hub, or if I'm running "Classic." Both are bad annoyances. In Mac 9.2, no problems.

Another negative about the driver is its complexity. Why is there at least three places to select the type of paper, and several more to select color correction, in addition to many selections for various Epson color correction modes? To a photoprapher, these only cause problems as Photoshop handles all color correction itself. This is a case with TOO MANY OPTIONS. I want to chose resolution, paper, and color. To do this with the Epson driver it takes countless "custom" overrides. I'm not surprised so many people have had color correction problems. The printer CAN print perfectly when you select the 1 in a million correct combination of settings. More here is certainly less.

Overall, a good printer if photo print quality is your #1 concern and your willing to fool with all the settings. Otherwise, it could use some refinements and there are probably better choices.

The Epson 785 has amazed and angered me all at once. The photo-quality prints are stunning, however, those little 'track marks' that other reviewers have told about are present on my photos as well. The photo paper brand has alot to do with it, tho. HP paper shows the worst marks (9mil), Epson and Kodak paper (8mil) isn't too bad, but under good light, I can still see faint track marks. They are made by the small metal 'cogs' that guide the pic once it leaves the print head. I can't figure out why epson used this type of mechanism, clearly if the ink is still wet, these cogs will leave marks. I'll have to return this printer- I can't display or sell my photos w/ this type of flaw!!
I DO like the software package, however. Once you get used to the nuances of it (2-3 pics) its flexible enough for most anyone.