Epson 3880

My Epson Stylus Photo 2200 printer had been acting up since earlier this year and finally died the death.  The first symptoms were “fixed” with a reset procedure that I found was all too well known on the web.  After a few more months, all the lights began to flash.  I partially disassembled the 2200 and cleaned every surface I could get to; cleaning and another reset gained a few more months but cost lots of ink – especially light cyan.  Last month all the lights began to flash again and it was decision time:  repair or replace? 

Although the 2200 had been a good printer for about eight years, I felt that it was not worthwhile to repair and elected to replace it with an Epson Stylus Pro 3880.  The 3880 can print on wider paper and also has larger ink cartridges.  After shopping the web for a while, I decided on a refurbished 3880 from Adorama.  Buying a refurb saved about $350!

 

Whereas the 2200 used seven inks, the 3880 uses nine!  Plus the 3880 cartridges have an 80ml capacity in comparison to the 11ml capacity of the 2200.  From what I’ve read, the 3880 uses ink much more efficiently than the 2200.  I sure hope so because the cost of a full set of 3880 inks is about $500 compared to $85 (but multiply by about 7 for volume) for the 2200.

My refurb 3880 came in looking good – new as far as I could tell and, so far so good, has delivered good prints.  In all honesty though, I’ve compared a few 3880 prints to some of my better 2200 prints and can hardly tell the difference.  The 3880 is supposed to be significantly better at Black-and-White printing and I’ll be trying BW next.