Spot the dot
IT BEGAN WITH A clack and a crunch and then there was sort of a grinding noise, and finally my old inkjet printer gave up the ghost. I had been wanting to replace it anyway: it didn't have a USB port, so I couldn't connect it directly to my computer without an adaptor.
The first printer I ever tested was a huge A3 Epson machine that took about 45 minutes to crank out a print. If you used the carefully chosen test images Epson sent the output was impressive. The printer had a staggering resolution of 720 dots per inch, or dpi (we were more easily staggered back in 1995), but it was a four-colour machine using cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks. The only way the printer could make a light colour was to spread the dots out, allowing more of the paper to show through. The dot pattern became painfully visible, which is why Epson's test images contained only brightly coloured objects and dark areas.
Epson then began making photo printers, which used six inks. The addition of light cyan and light magenta meant it was possible to create light colours without having to spread the dots out too much. The resolution was doubled to 1,440 dpi. Then it was doubled again to 2,880 dpi. Now it has doubled again to 5,760 dpi.
When I took my new Epson Photo 830 home I was sceptical about the resolution claims. It seemed there was little difference in the size of the dots, but that Epson had simply found a way to place them more precisely, packing twice as many into the same space. That the numbers keep doubling makes me think the resolution of its printers has more to do with the increasing power of computers than anything Epson has done. More powerful processors mean more complex instructions sent to the printer, allowing it to place dots more accurately. In other words, same old printer, more sophisticated software driving it.
Nevertheless, the printer I tested was impressive: I couldn't find a dot with a magnifying glass. The prints were continuous in tone and some of the most eye-catching I have ever seen. I took measurements with a spectrophotometer and found the machine can produce an enormous range of colours. You should have little trouble reproducing any colour you care to with the Photo 830, or at least experience less trouble than you would have using any other form of hard-copy output, including a photo lab.
So much for reproducing high-quality images. But when people ask what sort of machine they should buy to print text from their new computer, my answer is always the same: none. For most users, printers are a waste of trees. Inkjet printers can be particularly frustrating for casual users because the nozzles clog if the printer sits unused. The Photo 830 clogged quickly, sitting idle for less than a week before its head had to be cleaned.
Prints may also look terrific on that expensive, glossy paper, but what about plain sheets? Although the Photo 830 is a photo printer and is meant to reproduce photos on glossy paper, the text quality is comparable to that of a laser printer. Photos on plain paper are naturally less than stunning, but should be good enough for presentations or reports. The Epson Photo 830 costs $1,080 from all good electronics dealers.
