Epson
Pro 3800,
R625,
R360,
RX560,
PM240,
PM280,
P-3000 and
P-5000
In the same briefing where
Epson told us they were taking printing, they indicated their short-term plans with a host of new products, including a tiny (relatively speaking) A2 photo, some portables and two photo viewers.
Stylus Pro 3800
Epson were very pleased to tell us about their new Stylus Pro 3800, an A2 printer that can print big but sits small. Up until now, if you wanted an A2 printer you had to reserve a whole desk for it, but now with the help of Micro Piezo printheads, the 3800 sits in the same footprint of an A3 printer - while still large in comparison to a computer or A4 printer its tiny compared to the size of existing A2s.
Being a professional printer, there are few special technologies: Microweave printing allows better halftones to be printed, and a new lookup table and colour spaces allow skintones, highlights and shadows to be printed a lot more accurate. In another first for a printer, the printer takes 9 UltraChrome K3 inks, including Matt Black AND Photo Black (so you don't have to keep swapping). The Pro 3800 (click for more info) will be out November 2006 for €1395.
Stylus Photo Printers
Three new Stylus Photo printers were announced, the R625, R360 and RX560. The R625 is aimed towards new users in both price-point and specification, while the R350 is a more mid-range printer with in-printer editing functions (like cropping and removing red-eye) available with its 3.5inch LCD screen - although both have PhotoEnhance technology. Both printers can print 10x15cm prints in 31 seconds and 30ppm in A4. They can print onto CDs or DVDs but only the R360 can print files off a CD or straight from a Bluetooth mobile.
The RX560 is an all-in-one printer with an A4 scanner for copying and scanning. It shares the R350's in-printer editing functions due to its 2.5 inch LCD. All three of the printers have Epson's MicroPiezo printing heads and 200 year Claria Ink. The printers are available in October for €129 (R265), €199 (R360) and €229 (RX560).
PictureMate Printers
The PictureMate series has been updated with the PM240 and PM280. They have been developed to fit in with Epson's idea of PC-less printing, with the ability to print straight from Memory Card, PictBridge, Bluetooth (optional) or CD (only on the PM280) - meaning that you don't need to have a PC to be able to print, but with the USB connection you still can. With the 2.5 inch LCD, photos can be edited on-printer and then be printed out to a maximum size of 10x15cm, in just 42seconds.
A new design has been developed with Sam Hect to be fully portable with a fancy unfolding design, and optional battery packs can be bought to mean that you don't even need a power supply to use it. Paper packs of 50 and 150 sheets are available. Both will be available in October, the PM240 being €199 and the PM280 for €299, the only significant difference being a CD-ROM tray to print photos from CD or burn them onto it.
Photo Viewers
The renaissance in photo viewers started by Canon is continuing with two more from Epson. The P-3000 and the P-5000 both have a large 4 inch LCD, with the four colour Photo Fine Ultra technology for really clear and accurate images. They support the storage, viewing, copying and printing (PictBridge) of JPEG and major RAW formats and accept CompactFlash and SD card. The viewers have a range of professional orientated features like Exposure Control Warning, Adobe RGB, a rating system and MetaData tag displays, and the casing is tough and durable. The systems also double up as a PMP playing movie and music formats. Available in October, the 40GB P-3000 will be €499 and the 80GB P-5000 is €699.
