EPSON R800 printer

Page 2.

Driver installation.

With the inks fitted, then now is the time to connect the computer to the printer. The R800 has two connection choices, High Speed USB 2.0 and Firewire (IEEE 1394). I will test printing speeds using both ports at a later stage but for the time being I will use a USB 2.0 connection. USB 1.0 is also supported.

The R800 is supplied with drivers that support the following Operating Systems; Win 9X and Win XP - 2K, Mac 8.1 or later and Mac OSX 10.X. Just insert the CD and a wizard will take you through the entire installation process. As the review unit is pre-production the installation screens were not available. Once installed a R800 printer icon appears in the Printers and Faxes control panel and this becomes the systems default printer (right click any printer icon to reset it as the default printer).

R800 becomes the default printer	Right click on another printer to set it as the default printer

Printer parts.

Operation of the R800 is straightforward. To open the output paper tray, the front cover must be gently pushed inwards, this releases the latch. The front paper catcher is a four section telescopic unit, when fully extended there is quite a bit of spring on it, this is the only part of the printer (so far) that I felt could be more substantial. However, it's purpose is to catch a few sheets of paper and not to be used as a resting place for a mug of tea.

Press the tray cover to open	The four section paper catcher

The front output tray also doubles up as the CD/DVD feeder. The front cover has two positions, upper and lower. To change the tray position place one hand on the top of the printer, open the cover and pull upwards until it clicks. Two red lights flash briefly and a whirring noise is heard from within, the motorised tray feeder has now become engaged. The output tray is now ready for the CD tray to be fitted.

Pull upwards	The output tray is now in CD/DVD printing mode
Without power the CD tray stops here	With the power on the CD tray pushes in.

I will cover CD printing in more detail later in the review.

As with the Canon i950, the rear paper feeder is well thought out.. The paper compartment has a dust cover lid which doubles as the paper support. This is such a simple idea which prevents all sorts of foreign bodies from accidentally entering the printer (my daughters Barbie shoes included). The paper guide has a smooth but positive feel, there is also a rear paper guide for roll media, which also has a positive feel.

Paper support doubles as a dust cover	Double extension rear paper support
The paper guide has a positive feel	Rear guide for roll paper

For those of you who want to partcipate in the interactive review can I ask you to post your questions as the review progresses, i.e. I am not working on the b/w printing just yet. I will check the forum at regular intervals.

Next page - First prints