Epson Stylus Photo R200 Ink Jet Printer (C11C546011)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer
The Epson Stylus Photo R200 is the perfect solution to photo printing at home. Providing enormously realistic 6-color photos and a wealth of features like direct CD/DVD printing, it makes printing your own photos quick, easy and affordable too. It is also the perfect way to turn your digital images into great looking photos. You will quickly and easily be producing your own photos in breathtaking color and all in the convenience of your own home.
Using Epson's unique Micro Piezo printhead the Epson Stylus Photo R200 captures exceptional detail, delivering an unbeatable 5760 optimized dpi print resolution for fast results and high definition photos. Featuring individual colors ink cartridges and new high performance ink formula, the Epson Stylus Photo R200 produces highly durable and fade resistant photos and thanks to the new vivid colors setting your photos will be more colorful and vibrant.

The R200 prints documents, photos,and directly on inkjet-printable CDs. The direct CD printing feature provides professional looking discs for archiving and sharing images and data with your friends and family. In just five simple steps the CD Print software helps you print personalized high quality photo images straight onto disc.
Epson offers products that work together in complete harmony to ensure perfect photos, every time. You can now scan and print with Epson scanners and printers, quickly, easily and with guaranteed great results, giving you unbelievable photo convenience and quality at home.
With the Epson Stylus Photo R200, producing your own photos at home has never been easier or more affordable. With separate cartridges for each ink colors, you only need to replace the colors used. What's more, Epson's extensive photo media range allows you to experiment with a variety of paper types to produce the best quality output in the desired format at very competitive prices.
Get creative with the software included–PhotoQuicker to apply superb effects and layouts to your pictures and Print Image Framer technology software, to personalize your photos with special frames and to create your own calendars, greeting cards and more. You have the flexibility to create stunning, high definition, borderless photos from 10 x 15 cm up to A4.
What's in the BoxEpson Stylus Photo R200 inkjet printer, one cyan ink cartridge (T048220), one light cyan ink cartridge (T048520), one magenta ink cartridge (T048320), one light magenta ink cartridge (T048620), one yellow ink cartridge (T048420), one black ink cartridge (T048120), CD print tray and software, printer documentation (Printer Basics, Product Information Guide, Reference Guide, Start Here card, CD-ROM containing printer drivers and software (Windows and Macintosh); User Manual Addendum available at Epson.com; printer cable not included
The Epson Stylus Photo R200 is the perfect solution to photo printing at home. Providing enormously realistic 6-color photos and a wealth of features like direct CD/DVD printing, it makes printing your own photos quick, easy and affordable too. It is also the perfect way to turn your digital images into great looking photos. You will quickly and easily be producing your own photos in breathtaking color and all in the convenience of your own home. Using Epson's unique Micro Piezo printhead the Epson Stylus Photo R200 captures exceptional detail, delivering an unbeatable 5760 optimized dpi print resolution for fast results and high definition photos. Featuring individual colors ink cartridges and new high performance ink formula, the Epson Stylus Photo R200 produces highly durable and fade resistant photos and thanks to the new vivid colors setting your photos will be more colorful and vibrant.

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 18.5 x 10.5 x 7.8 inches ; 11.4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 16 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B0001FDPZ6
• Item model number: R200
  

Technical Details

• 5,760 x 1,440 dpi maximum resolution, 3-picoliter drop size
• Up to 15 ppm color, 15 ppm black
• Economical printing with 6 individual ink cartridges
• Complete, easy-to-use CD and DVD face printing solution
• USB interface, PC and Mac compatible, 1-year warranty

Customer Reviews

(Update. Sept 30, 2007): Almost 3 years old, it's been a real workhorse printing DVDs, and I still rate it a 5-star printer. It did recently have a clogged nozzle. My fault. I read inkjets work best when exercised regularly -- print at least one page a week -- but the printer sat idle for about a month while I was on an extended roadtrip. Upon my return, black did not print. Status Monitor indicated more than 1/2 tank of black, but the Nozzle Check pattern printed all colors except black. So, for the first time ever, I ran the Head Cleaner. (You don't want to do this unless ABSOLUTELY necessary because it uses up a LOT of ink from all 6 tanks. You cannot select just one color.) Still no black ink flowing.
This site has the best information I was able to find about how to clear a clogged Epson printer nozzle:
http://www.inkjetreview.ca/Articles/clogged_epson_nozzles.htm.
The first suggestion listed -- putting distilled water on the printhead sponges -- is what worked for me.
By the way, except for the tanks that came with R200, I never used Epson ink, and the printer ran just fine. Unfortunately, apparently the newer Epson inkjets use only Epson ink. The difference is that a complete set of generic R200 inks cost about as much as a single tank of Epson ink. So, I sure hope this R200 lives for at least another 3 years.
Here's my original review: Excellent printer. I purchased it only for the CD/DVD printing feature. However, I decided it'll also replace my Epson Stylus Photo 870 which, after 4 years of heavy use, continues to produce excellent results even with off-brand ink. By comparison, the R200 print quality is even better.
Here's some info that might be useful if you're about to buy the R200, or are still shopping:
It takes about 3 minutes to print 100% of the disk surface. Printing less, like one line of text on the top half of the disk, and one line of text on the bottom half - and no background graphic - takes about 1.5 minutes.
If you do a price check on a complete set of Epson brand ink cartridges for this printer, you'll see the cost is more than half the price of the printer. But, each color ink has a separate cartridge - so only the color that runs out has to be replaced, not the whole set.
The R200 does not include a USB cable, so you'll need to either buy a cable or use a spare if you have one.
It's important to read the section in the manual about printing disks before you try to print your first one. The steps are simple, but if you don't select the right settings for Printer Setup, the printhead might miss part of the disk.
I read some reviews here and at other sites which mentioned having problems using this printer with a Mac. So far I've printed on disks using both Epson Print CD and another CD printing app called Discus, and printed to letter-sized paper from programs including Word, Exel, Photoshop, QuarkXPress, TextEdit, Mail, and printed web pages without a single problem.
If you prefer to use Photoshop, Illustrator, or similar programs to create original designs, no problem. Both Epson Print CD and Discus import graphics files.
I've seen some comments on how quiet this printer is. It is very quiet printing, but it does make noticeable noise when it starts the job, especially when pulling in a sheet of paper to print. So, it's not totally quiet.
The R200 is the same as the R300 as far as quality and speed; it just lacks some extra features the R300 has that, in my case, I didn't think were worth the extra cost.
(Update) I'll add that I'm a wedding videographer, and print about 15 - 20 dvds plus dvd case covers, a week. I've lost count of exactly how many I've done with this printer, but I can say after 3 years the disk feeder tray and the whole unit still works perfectly.
(Update) I read one review here about a problem printing shipping labels. After connecting online with their sites, I regularly print both USPS Priority Mail and UPS shipping labels with the R200, and it's quick.
[Update) I have replaced the original ink cartridges several times already, but, because I'm using this printer for all my printing, it's difficult to estimate the average ink cost per disk -- maybe $.30 at most. I can state the R200 is by no means an ink hog. The Epson Photo 870, which this replaced, seemed to use (evaporate?) ink even when idle. Not so with this R200. Considering everything my R200 has printed so far, it was well worth the purchase price. If this machine ever decides to die, I'll definitely replace it with another Epson.
(Update) Well, altho I've had very good luck with this printer, I'm not sure about replacing it with with another Epson, because supposedly the new ones work ONLY with Epson ink. That would increase my printing costs 5-fold. I've read Canon inkjets are better, but none print directly on disks.

Printer has the highest resolution specs out there, and among the smallest "droplet size" at 3 picoliters. (Canon I960 is 2 picoliters, but less than 4 picoliters is invisible to naked eye. A couple years ago, the smallest droplet size available at any price, including pro-level inkjets, was 4 picoliters...) Has Epson's patented, (arguabley) superior micropiezo (as opposed to thermal) technology and high quality nozzles built onto print-head, not cheaply built into ink cartridges, like other manufacturers. This model uses six individual ink tanks to more accurately produce gradients instead of the usual four colors - another feature, until recently, found only on higher end models that Epson pushed down into this consumer printer. Net-net? Absolutely amazing quality photos that rival or exceed far more expensive printers or "pro-level" technology that's a couple years old. All for a hundred bucks. I've made several side-by-side comparisons between photos from the R200 and the local photo lab. R200 wins, hands down, no question about it. Bye-bye photo lab.
So as not to bastardize more expensive R300,R500 photo stylus line, Epson doesn't exactly tout R200's resolution. Note, resolution specs are not on the box of the R200, but are big and bold on the box for the other R-series models. The printers in the R-series are identical, except you must print from your PC with the R200, it doesn't connect direct to your digicam, or have media slots like the R300, 300M... If, like me, you tweak sharpness and adjust color levels - always, in a photo editor, before printing - you'll never use those features. Save your money; go with the R200.
As an added bonus this printer has the ability to produce professional quality graphics and text directly onto printable CDRs. A terrific, distinguishing feature that works very well. Another distinguishing feature is its ability to print borderless on every available paper size... don't take this for granted. Not all printers are this versitile when it comes to borderless. I use this printer for text as well as photos, and its text looks perfectly fine to my eyes. Is it "the best" ink jet text out there? Probably not, but I'll trade that capability any day for its superior photo quality.
Some pointers - to save on ink costs check out Abacus inks, and/or a software package called Ink Saver 2.0 (I would strongly recommended I.S. 2.0 to compensate for the R200's illegible text "draft" mode...) If you want to stick to Epson original inks, Altex (dot com) has the lowest price available.
On a final point, the build quality of this printer appears MUCH better than the other manufacturers entry level models. This printer, based on its superior specs, versitility, build quality, and price point is a fantastic value. Epson outdid themselves by aggressively pushing the technology from their premium models into the entry level R200 and giving it capabilities - like direct CD printing, that other printers simply don't have. Epson, therefore, has managed to leap-frog the other manufacturers in a the very crowded field of capable sub-onehundred dollar inkjet printers.