I had ordered my unit in early June (actually from 3 different
outlets). At that time there were no reviews to whip up the
"must-have" frenzy we later witnessed, so expectations were high that
a printer would shortly arrive - I was to be disappointed for as long
as most and longer than a few. Throughout this extended period of wait
Epson UK/Europe used excuses such as unprecedented demand, etc but
this is only half true - the whole truth will likely never be told.
Was the Photo 2100 worth the wait?
Before I begin pontificating about the good/bad/ugly it's worth
mentioning that I use both Mac and PC platforms (all versions of
Windows, Mac OS 9 and OS X). What follows are my thoughts having used the Photo 2100
on a daily basis for the best part of two months and means that my
comments are based on a broad range of workflows and image types. This
first page deals with the feature list and page 2 with my thoughts and
experiences on matters such as Print Quality & Colour
Accuracy, GreyBalancer, Ease of Use, Alternative drivers
(i.e. ColorByte Software ImagePrint 5
visual RIP) and my
Conclusions.
You can jump straight to Page 2 by clicking the
following icon
- Photo print quality up to 2880 x 1440 dpi.
- Long lasting lightfast prints suitable for professional
re-sale or gallery display.
- 7-colour printing with new Light Black as standard.
- Optional Matte Black for improved print density on
selected media
- Individual ink cartridges for maximum ink efficiency.
- Grey Balancer software for improved Black & White prints
- Borderless printing on roll or sheet fed media.
- Flexible media handling; paper roll holder, auto cutter
and catcher
- Direct CD/CD-R/DVD face and card printing (up to 1.3mm
thick) enabled by unimpeded direct media path.
- USB 2.0 High speed, Parallel and FireWire (IEEE1394)
connectivity.
Note: many of the graphics used
on this page have been downloaded from various Epson web sites
Top left to Bottom right
Connectivity, Thick Paper Manual Feed, CD
Printing & Separate Ink Cartridges
The screenshot above illustrates four of the features that Epson
believe will help the Photo 2100 meet the needs of professional
users. "Fire Wire" is a useful addition to the conventional parallel port and "USB 2" should eventually help speed communication up as more computers are
fitted with the appropriate interface. That said I think the only
advantage of the faster ports is quicker "spooling" rather than quicker
printing. From my own experience I haven't found any great speed difference between Fire
Wire and USB and so my unit remains firmly connected to a self-powered USB
hub. The manual feed for thick paper is useful, but still doesn't work with
Mac OS X. The same can be said of direct CDR printing. As a Mac OS
X user I'm beginning to think Epson engineers managed a minor miracle when
they figured a way of making the ink
flow through to the paper - OK enough of my sarcasm and on with the
serious part of the review.
The Photo 2100 uses a new quick drying 7-colour
UltraChrome ink set; Cyan, Light Cyan, Magenta, Light Magenta,
Yellow, Light Black and Photo Black. There is also an option to swap
out the Photo Black cartridge and replace it with Matte Black. Epson
claim that the two types of black have been developed to satisfy the
needs of the photographic and fine-art markets. The Photo Black should
provide optimum results on Epson's Gloss, Semi Gloss, and Lustre
media, whilst the Matte Black will give best results on matte and fine
art media such Watercolor - Radiant White and Epson Velvet.
The screenshot shown below illustrates how the Roll Paper Holder
and Automatic-Cutter are fitted. Within the Utility section of the driver
the user can decide upon Single Cut or Double Cut action
for roll paper. Like the direct CDR feature Auto-Cutter is not yet
supported by Mac OS X (more sarcasm). When used with Windows or Mac OS
9 they both appear to function as described in the manual. I'm
sure those who chose purchase their media in rolls will find both
items useful.
The Auto Paper Cutter and Paper Trough
The more observant readers will have noticed by now that I have not
yet mentioned the Epson Stylus PHOTO 2200. Well that would
because Photo 2200 is not sold anywhere except North America
and as such I don't have access to said model. Nevertheless, the main
differences (at least those I know about) between the Photo 2100 and 2200 can be
summarised as follows:
- The Photo 2200 does NOT support direct printing on CD's.
- Grey Balancer software is NOT supplied with the PHOTO
2200 nor will Epson North America support it.
- Epson North America claim that the Photo 2200 supports printing on Premium
Glossy media
- Photo 2200 supports an extended colour mode called
Epson Natural Colour
Most of what you will find written on page 2 will apply to the
Photo 2200. It's also worth mentioning that with Mac OS 9 and OS X the Epson
2100 will not be recognised unless the appropriate 2100 drivers
are installed. Trying to trick the printer into life with the Photo
2200 driver will not work.
With the Photo 2000P we got used to the idea of 100-year
inks but now we find Epson telling us that up to 75 years is really good,
but of course there are the caveats:
Lightfastness - the lightfastness of printed images is
influenced by a range of different factors, the most important of
which are:
- Light - natural or artificial; high or low powered
- Humidity - the levels of moisture in the atmosphere
- Temperature
- Atmospheric pollutants
In order to establish an accurate measurement for lightfastness,
EPSON have established stringent test conditions which have been used
to determine an accurate figure. Given the debacle we experienced
following similar claims for the Photo 1270/870 we can only
wait and hope. That said the new UltraChrome pigment based
inks should last a lot longer than the dye based inks of the Epson
12x0/8x0 series printers.
Epson indicate direct support for the
following media types:
- Archival Matt (called Enhanced Matte in North America)
- Watercolour - radiant white
- Premium Semi-gloss Photo Paper
- Premium Glossy Photo Paper (only North America)
- Glossy Paper - Photo Weight (not North America)
- Lustre, Resin Coated based media (only North America)
- Epson Velvet Fine Art (only North America)
The above media/paper types are available in a wide range of sizes and
have been around and in widespread use since the release of the
Photo
2000P so there is little point in further comment.
With all the Epson "techno waffle" and hardware attachments dealt
we can now progress to how the Photo 2100 actually performs
Continued on Page 2
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