Epson Stylus Pro 3880

Bottom Line

Professional photographers and serious amateurs will want to give the Epson Stylus Pro 3880 high consideration. Image quality for both color and black-and-white prints is impressive, as is the ability to deliver sizes up to 17 by 22 inches.

Performance

Impressive black-and-white, color prints. Experts say the large-format Epson 3880 is a great choice for those who are serious about photography. Whether you print on glossy or matte stock and in color or black and white, results are equally stunning all the way up to the maximum print size of 17-by-22-inch prints, reports say. "If you've been considering a larger printer, the 3880 should be at the very top of your list," says a professional reviewer on Shutterbug.

The Stylus Pro 3880 uses pigment-based inks that are designed to last 100 years, and photos print quickly. However, reviewers point out a couple of flaws: The paper feed, which holds 120 sheets, sometimes requires a lot of fiddling, and the printer does a wasteful ink purge every time you switch between glossy and matte paper.

Features and Design

Unusually compact for a large-format printer. Its terrific image quality is just one reason the Epson Stylus Pro 3880 fares well in both experts' and owners' eyes. Another is its surprisingly trim footprint. Unlike most large-format printers, the 3880 can fit on your desk as long as it's a pretty big desk, says PC Advisor. It also can be networked via Ethernet.

The Stylus Pro 3880 uses an eight-ink system, and ink costs seem high at first glance. The tanks are high-capacity, however, and reviews say that reduces ink costs in the long run. Shutterbug notes that the printer ships with nearly $600 worth of ink, taking a little sting out of the high up-front price.

The Epson 3880 isn't the newest printer on the market, and lacks certain bells and whistles like an LCD screen and the ability to print directly from cameras. But one Amazon.com user finds its other features helpful, including printer alignment and a job history function. The latter helps photographers organize the history of each print by file name, paper type, size and a quantitative readout of how much of each color ink was used to create the print.

Durability

Long-lasting ink cartridges. Customers who gripe about the Epson Stylus Pro 3880's performance often have issues from the beginning; very few complain about the printer breaking down long term. Owners say one pleasant surprise is how long the ink cartridges last, a benefit of their size being larger than what's used in many competitors.

The 3880 has been on the market for several years, but praise for the printer -- mostly from professionals, who seem to be the primary buyers -- keeps rolling in. One Amazon.com user says in a lengthy review, "After one year of printing fairly regularly, I have to say that I am still very pleased." Another notes that the nozzle requires no cleaning, even if the printer is turned off for weeks.