Epson Stylus Photo 1400 ~ Great large-format printer on a budget!

Author's Rating:

Pros: prints large format 13x19
nice quality prints
easy to install and use
ink lasts

Cons: expensive ink
no ports for memory-cards
not all-in-one
some banding/blurring on high-speed

The Bottom Line: 
After using the Epson Stylus 1400 for over a month, I'm very pleased with the print quality and performance ~ it's great for a professional or family.

Author's Review
UPDATE:  My Epson Stylus Photo 1400 still works great after three months of daily use. Finally changed 4 of 6 ink cartridges. The ink lasted a long time, especially after printing several dozen ledger-sized maps in full color. Buzzing noise can be heard occasionally, but it goes away if I turn it off and let it rest for awhile. Occasional banding went away after using printer maintenance panel to clean and adjust print heads. Overall, this is an outstanding printer! Now, my full review...

Background: My former printer, a Epson Photo RX 500, died a slow and painful death. It was an all-in-one printer, scanner and copier, but slowly each function died out, leaving me with a giant grey shell that refused to print. I hesitated to buy another Epson printer. Anything could be better than a self-destructing printer, right?

As they say in the movies, Never say Never Again. After researching all the printer options and searching the internet for a better printer, I ended up buying the Epson Stylus Photo 1400 over a month ago. I decided to choose a printer that addressed my most pressing print jobs, while skipping the scan and copy functions. And I'm very glad I did!

DPI:  Epson promises  that this printer delivers "Precision color and detail — up to 5760 x 1440 dpi and ink droplets as small as 1.5 picoliters". My sharp results seem to support this claim ~ the dots are definitly too close together to count.

Size Matters: Large format? No problem! The biggest reason I chose this printer was for printing Ledger Size (11 x 17) and larger (up to Super B or 13 x 19 inches) . Since I'm now doing GIS (geographic information systems) consulting work from home, my principal use for this Epson Stylus 1400 is printing maps for my clients and volunteer projects (like mapping a chocolate farm in Brazil). Maps generally are colorful and often contain raster images, photographs and fine text and symbol details, so being able to print larger sizes allows me to print fewer tiles of my study area. Normally, most cartographers have access to large format plotters (like the HP Designjet 4000), which I agree are most useful for the profession. However, since I no longer have access to one, this inkjet printer has made my mapping so much more efficient, and dare I say, fun. While 11x17 is a generous size, I am eager to try printing the largest size this Epson can handle, which is 13x19.

I've been overall very pleased with the color quality, resolution and readability of tiny text on printed maps that I've printed on OfficeMax multipurpose paper. I'm sure my maps would be even more vibrant on coated paper stock, but I haven't purchased that yet. The quality is high, although in my opinion, it's one step below the sharpness an vibrancy of color laser printing.

CD-DVD Printing: I never had this capability before, so I was excited to try it. I recently burned five DVDs from my Sony HandyCam. The DVDs are plain white, so they are the perfect canvas for a colorful design. Using the Epson Print CD program that came with the printer, I chose colorful background designs (like jelly beans, dolphins, music notes) that came with the program and added my own descriptive text. Then, I set the DVD into the special tray and inserted the tray into the front of the printer. I had to read the manual a few times to figure it out at first, but once the tray was loaded and I pressed "print" from the program, the DVD came out perfectly after several minutes of printing! This DVD printing feature gets 5 stars ***** from me.

Photo Printing Quality: Since we exclusively take digital photos, the Epson Stylus 1400 promised hi-definition ink and MicroPiezo head technology (electrical pulses force ink precisely onto paper), plus border-free photo printing. For most of our photo printing needs, we create photo books using an online service like Snapfish or Shutterfly. So I wasn't seeking a high-volume photo printer. But, I do like printing my favorite photos for picture frames, collages and gifts. Overall, I'm fairly pleased with the photo quality I've gotten on Premium Glossy photo paper. A letter-size photo on the highest (enhanced) setting prints in about 3 minutes. The color looks vibrant to me, and the resolution is very sharp. I'm also impressed by the borderless capability, which goes from edge to edge (although the bottom edge has a millimeter of white edge, the other three edges are truly borderless). Photos printed on enhanced mode come out a little tacky at first, but dry to a smooth finish. I give the quality 4 1/2 stars ****.

Claria Ink High Definition Ink: The printer comes with a set of 6 ink cartridges to get you started. I was told these "starter" cartridges are not fully loaded, but so far I've printed quite a few ledger-sized maps and a half dozen photos, and the cartridges are still about half full. The cartridges used are: T0794 (yellow) T0791 (black) T0795 (light cyan) T0796 (light magenta) T0793 (magenta) and T0792 (cyan). They cost about $19 each. You can purchase the entire set of cartridges for $67, which is a much better deal than buying them individually (Epson T079 OEM Bundle pack of 6 Inkjet Cartridges). Claria ink is supposed to deliver "the ultimate combination of photo quality and longevity". I like the results so far, but the ink is not 100% waterproof. I purposely brought one of my maps out into the rain, and the ink smudged a little. However, compared to my previous Epson, the ink is much more durable and water resistant, so overall I give the ink 4 stars ****.

Ease of Use: I set up my printer right next to my computer, so it's easily accessible. The entire setup, from box to print, took about an hour. The software installed practically automatically after I inserted the CD. The printer has a large footprint and a nice weight, so it doesn't move around and feels sturdy where it sits. Its approximately 1 foot deep by 2 feet wide and 8 inches high. The paper loading extension is in the back of the printer, and that adds about another foot of height when fully extended. You can load up to 120 sheets of plain paper at a time, which is a useful capacity. The output tray extends about a foot from the front to catch printed materials. When you're not using the printer, you can retract and close this tray to save space on your desktop. So far, I haven't had any major problems with paper feeding into the printer. We mostly print on papers we recycle, so sometimes they get stuck together. To feed different sized papers, just slide the left edge guide to correspond with the edge of the paper. But mostly I've noticed paper feeds smoothly and accurately. Always load paper right side up (and narrow side down) for printing.

Other features I like: I like the simplicity of the front panel. There are only three buttons to press: 1) power light 2) ink light (red light flashes if cartridge is low and stays on to indicate replacement) and 3) paper light (misfeed or other paper issue). My old printer was lit-up like an airport, and the excess of lights annoyed me. I am grateful for the manual, which is clearly written and explains things in easy to understand terms. The manual includes full chapters on ink replacement, maintenance and an extensive troubleshooting section. It even addresses troubleshooting print quality problems like banding, blurry, smeared, faint, grainy prints or wrong or missing colors. I am very impressed with the manual!

I was also excited to find that Adobe Photoshop Elements software came with the printer. I already use Adobe Premiere Elements for creating slideshows and video editing, so now I can edit my photos with a wide array of options before loading them into my slideshows. This software costs about $100 to buy, so I consider the addition a very nice gift from Epson.

One thing I miss: My other printer had several ports for various memory chips, which were useful for transferring photos to my hard drive without having to find the proper cable for my camera. While I miss this feature, there are other work-arounds, so it's not critical. This Epson includes USB-Direct port which will print directly from your digital camera or camera phone. Your device must come with the right cable and also must support PictBridge or USB Direct Print. I haven't tried this option yet, because I keep my photos on (and prefer printing from) my WD External Hard Drive. I also miss the scanner and copier in my all-in-one, but hey, life can't be perfect!

Any problems so far? I haven't had any issues at all with the print quality, so I'm a very happy camper with this printer. One small glitch I've noticed is a whirring or humming noise that sometimes occurs after a print job. I have dealt with the noise by turning off the printer and waiting awhile to turn it back on. I hope the noise is not indicative of a future problem ~ if so, you can be sure I will update!

*Update ~ I'm noticing a few blurry or banding lines appear when printing text on high-speed (the default). I ran a nozzle cleaning and head alignment to correct this. Clicking off "high speed" printing seems to clear up the problem, but I'm disappointed to have the issue with high-speed printing and text. It's not a deal breaker, though ~ I still think the print quality is very good overall.

Overall: I give the Epson Stylus 1400 four stars **** for its ease of use, reliability, print quality and print size options. I docked a star for occasional blurring of text that occurs on high-speed printing. This printer has made it possible for me to make cartographic prints and nice quality, borderless photo prints from home, so it's great for a home office or family... or both!

Looking for a GIS Laptop? Please read: Sony VAIO Laptop Awesome For GIS ~ Includes Best Buy Laptop Purchase Experience

Need to buy ink for the Epson Stylus Photo 1400? Read this first: Epson T079 Ink 3-Pack Cartridges ~ Is your Ink Genuine or Counterfeit?

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