The Epson R2880 does feature a couple of very welcome enhancements that bring the printer up to the same output quality as the larger 4880, 7880, and 9880 models. The most obvious of these is the replacement of the standard magenta inks with the newest Vivid Magenta and Vivid Light Magenta. These new formulations increase the color accuracy and gamut of the printer, especially in blues and purples. The black and white mode of printing is also improved with better neutrality and virtually no metamerism, and the printer now includes support for printing directly to CD/DVD media.
Setup
Setup is quick and straight-forward. The first think you'll notice if you're coming from an older model Epson like the R2400, is the redesign of the case. The printer now matches the look of the 3800, R1900, and R1400 with a clean desigb, and all controls on the top of the printer – nice for those of us that don't like bending over to view status buttons.
In addition to the standard feed, the Stylus Photo R2880 comes with a single sheet adapter for feeding thick media, and roll holders for printing from roll paper up to 13” wide. The Epson R2880 is the only printer offering in this class that supports roll printing, making it a top selection for anyone interested in long panorama prints. Also included, and new to the R2880, is a CD/DVD tray for printing directly to inkjet compatible discs.
After unpacking and removing all the tape and packaging materials, plug the printer in and follow the instructions to insert ink cartridges. While the R2880 charges the print head, you can install the software, including the printer drivers, Epson Print CD, and Epson Printer Utility. During the installation you'll be prompted to connect the printer. The R2880 has dropped the Firewire port found on the R2400, and added a second USB 2.0 port. You can connect the printer to two computers for a limited form of sharing, or you can connect to a wireless print server for network use. It would be nice to have a built-in Ethernet port like the HP B9180, and Epson's larger printers, but as the majority of users will have this connected to a single computer, this is a fair trade-off.
Ink cartridges are small, with about 11ml of ink each. If you do a lot of printing, it's more economical to go with a larger printer and their higher capacity ink tanks, but for most users, the smaller cartridge sizes won't be an issue. Although I don't have quantitative data, ink usage on the R2880 appears to be improved over the previous model.
Pros: Excellent color; truly neutral black and white; prints exhibit fine detail; improved build quality; moderately useful roll paper holder included
Cons: Still have to swap Photo and Matte black inks; bundled with small capacity inks; awkward rear feed for specialty papers; bundled profiles print a little dark
Price: $799
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