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Setting up each of the three printers didn't present any problems. The Epson printer uses 8 inks, although you there are 9 inks to the UltraChrome K3 ink set, The 9th ink is either a Photo or Matte Black ink which can't be fitted at the same time. This means when you swap media types (from Glossy to Matte) the printer has to flush out any ink resident in the print heads. Each cartridge has to be shaken prior to installing, this is to get the pigment ink particles circulating. The Epson Stylus Photo R2400 inks include; Light Light Black, Light Magenta, Light Cyan, Light Black, Matte Black, Photo Black, Cyan, Magenta and Yellow.
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Epson R2400 UltraChrome K3 Inks |
HP B9180 Vivera inks |
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HP uses 4 separate print heads |
Canon Pro 9500 Lucia inks |
The HP B9180 printer uses 8 cartridges, the Vivera inks are fitted all at once, Photo Black, Light Grey, Matte Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Light Magenta and Light Cyan. As with the Epson, you have to shake each cartridge prior to fitting.The B9180 doesn't have to flush out any ink when swapping media types. The cartridges remain in a stationary position and ink is fed to the print heads via a series of flexible tubes. The HP also uses four separate print heads each supporting two colours, these must also be shaken before fitting. These should last for life - no, not your life, but the printers life. They can be easily replaced by a user should they become blocked.
The Canon Pro 9500 uses 10 Lucia inks; Photo Magenta, Photo Black, Photo Matte, Photo Cyan, Grey, Magenta, Yellow, Cyan, Green and Red. The Canon incorporates an automatic shaker which circulates the pigment inks at regular intervals. The cartridges are placed in a cradle which also contains the print heads, the entire assembly moves up and down the carriage rod. The print head cradle can be user replaced, although you would have to purchase this direct from Canon, I have not managed to find out how much a replacement head would cost.
Each of the printers claims to have a wider colour Gamut, than the competition, although I do not normally Gamut charts, I will take a look at the claims and actual results later in the review. It will be interesting to see how the HP and Canon printers, each with 1 Light Grey, perform with B/W printing especially when compared to the Epson which uses 3 shades of black..
Fitting inks
Driver and software installation
Each of the printers is supplied with drivers for both Windows and Mac OS, The Canon CD also includes Vista drivers, HP and Epson Vista drivers can be downloaded via the manufacturers web sites - later versions of the installation discs that I have here, may include Vista drivers.
Installing is very simple, just put in the CD and follow the on screen instructions. You may be advised to turn off your anti virus software whilst installing. You may also be asked to register in order to receive update notifications etc., make sure your anti virus and Firewall are turned back on before you connect to the internet - learn from my error!
Driver installation.
Running total
Click on links below to view the original reviews
Epson Stylus Pro R2400 interactive review
HP Photosmart Pro B9180 interactive review
Canon PIXMA Pro 9500 interactive review
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