Great color quality. Colors really pop, especially with certain papers. It is relatively quiet, quick, and efficient on the inks. Easy to understand and use. I haven''t had any problems! A great deal...Do they even sell these anymore? AWESOME DEAL FOR THE PRICE!!

I wish the inks would last forever. Ink is expensive. I did notice some streaks, and uneven transitions in prints a while into using it, but I learned about the self cleaning option in printing tools on the printing menu after hitting the print command. After a good cleaning, it is back to great printing....Cars need oil changed...and filters replaced....printers need more ink, and printheads cleaned....

I just read a bad review of this printer, and all the bad things they were describing were from dirty print heads...something easily cleaned in the print options under the tools. This printer is not a photoenlarger, but it produces great quality images. I love the colors that come out of this machine..especially on coated water color paper. Anything that I don''t like about it is probably something I could fix if I learned more about it....like cleaning print heads occasionally to avoid lines and bad transitions from color to color. When maintained regularly, as any normal man made machine should be, it is very impressive to even the pickiest. It isn''t a professional printing press, but it is something that can be very effective for graphics students, and even professionals when doing color roughs for clients, boss, etc..

Similar Products Used:

Epson Poster Printers, HP PS5000

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Photo quality is excellent; however, if you''re not used to seeing the grain of your film enlarged to 11x14, you may blame the printer. One caveat: printer cartridges and paper costs are quite expensive, although admittedly lower than a photo lab.

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Exceptionally detailed and uniform prints. Color saturation is excellent and print quality easily rivals lab prints. I have had no problems with fading after 8 months of using the printer. The prints looks exactly as they did when I originally printed them. I have been producing dozens of 11x14 prints from my printer with very little trouble.

Frequent Cleaning of the heads is required to obtain optimal prints. Print times are painfully slow. The highend Epson paper I use (Glossy Film) is really expensive.

Well worth the price. Highly detailed, "lab-like" prints up to 12x17 in size using Super B paper. No fading and great color saturation. If you have access to a drum scanner or the new Nikon 4000 ED scanner then you can have a professional quality production setup at home. High quality scans look fantastic on the Epson 1270.

Customer Service

Have not had to use it.

Similar Products Used:

Epson 740

Print quality!
Reliability
Ease of use
Durability of prints
Ability to print 11"x17"

Occasional print defects (easily corrected by cleaning heads)
The printer's apparent dislike for other brands of photo paper

Great printer. I've had lots of great experience. People constantly are shocked when I show them the print and tell them it didn't come from a lab. Clients love the speed of proofing time and the quality of their contact sheets. My prints have held up wonderfully. Exposed glossy 8x10s have lasted months, just as long as those under glass. I've see no trace of the color problems other users have spoken of. If you want an inkjet that will print 11x17, this is your best choice!

Customer Service

Always helpful, friendly, and responsive -- though that was from experience on my previous Epson printer. Haven't talked to them with this one!

Similar Products Used:

Epson Stylus Photo 700
Several Lexmark and HP printers

Excellent image quality. Quick throughput.

Rapid cyan ink fading can mean disaster for some folks.

When this printer came out, I was happily using my Epson 1200 as a proofing printer for my graphic design work. The 1270 was introduced as offering inks with a life span similar to standard silver-based photo prints; 15-20 years or so. Not long after the printer was on the market, reports came in that many people were seeing rapid fading of the cyan ink on 1270 prints. The prints end up orange and the problem has been dubbed the Epson "orange-shift". I personally have experienced the problem and had complete fading of cyan ink after less than 3 months with prints on Premium Glossy Photo Paper (PGPP).

Epson discovered that the cyan ink is sensitive to oxidation, particularly from ozone exposure. The problem was most severe with PGPP because the resin surface has a special porosity that keeps ink from pooling on the surface, but which also increases surface area for oxidation.

Epson changed their marketing copy to say that the prints will provide photo-quality lifespan provided the prints are protected in plastic sleeves or displayed under glass. This means that the prints aren't really the equal of photo prints which don't need special care.

Epson's response to the problem has been mixed. There has been a buyback program for people who were unable to work with the fade problem. Epson reformulated the Premium Glossy Photo Paper with anti oxidant chemicals, but it took them two tries to get a paper that didn't cause additional problems with "spider web" surface textures in solid color areas. Epson has not reformulated the cyan ink and it is still sensitive to ozone exposure. The fade isn't as rapid with other paper stock, but it can and does happen if the prints aren't protected. Keep in mind that Epson project the new paper will cut the cyan fade problem by half. I don't consider six months life for an unprotected print to be acceptable, so I refuse the use the PGPP stock.

Many people respond that they've never seen the problem. They are fortunate not to have the atmospheric conditions that accelerate the fading. Some people have seen visible fading in less than 24 hours. Keep in mind that the printer has only been on the market about a year. If you don't protect your prints, don't be surprised to see your prints degrade well before the projected light-fastness rating. Epson's new printers that replace this model use the same cyan ink, so the problem continues. If you need long print life from an Epson printer, you will have to go with the 2000P. Unfortunately, this printer is more expensive, much slower and doesn't quite create images with the same quality as the 1270.

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how'd you like the play? The 1270 is well built, it's faster than my 1200 was and it can print impressive images. I use Heavyweight Matte paper for my photo prints and use the standard photo papers for graphic proofing. The cartridges are small. They also have a computer chip that Epson has used to prevent you from using alternate ink cartridges with this printer. Ways to get around the chip are just coming to light. Folks with Windows 2000 and ME have had some driver problems. There's really no better photo printer on the market for anything near the price. It's very unfortunate that Epson stumbled so badly on the marketing of this series of printers.

I'd give this printer 5 and 5 for graphic design proofing. For photo printing, I'm rating it poorly because Epson promised more and still can't deliver.

Customer Service

Excellent, fast and very responsive repairs.

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Many previous Epson models including the 1200, 1520 and 3000.

Excellent for high quality photo printing, especially when using premium photo paper. I have printed 8x10's taken with Olympus 3030 digital camera, and can't tell the difference between them and the ones taken with a Minolta 35mm with film. Speed is good for this type of printing

Cost of color ink is high, one color cartridge will do about 24 8x10's at high resolution.

I would highly recommend this printer for someone who needs to print a moderate amount of photos. Cost per print is about $1.00. Also works well for color-intesive printing of all kinds, but cost might outway the benefit for regular printing needs.

Customer Service

Have not needed

Similar Products Used:

Epson Stylus 850

Superb quality prints which closely match a properly calibrated monitor. The chromatic shifts on Epson's PGPP, Lustre, and Semigloss, as well as their GF papers are bothersome and I don't use Epson papers anymore. I would highly recommend ICI Olemec Glossy paper and Satin semigloss with beautiful colorfast finish analagous to their professional Ag halide counterparts. For Glossy film(GF) format, Pittorico(marketed under Olympus Camedia) is drop dead gorgeous, but costs about $2/letter size sheet. All these media can be ordered through Digital Art Supplies in SanDiego,www.digitalartsupplies.com
(I have no affiliation whatsoever with them).

A little on the slow side when using highest resolution mode, but no problem if not dealing with work in larger volumes.

The best printer at this price point. Definitely qualifies for professional applications, short of museum quality prints. For new buyers, would consider its latest iteration,the 1280, which is definitely quieter, a bit faster, and boasts a higher resolution. I have not tried it on photopaper so that I cannot say whether this results in any visible difference. If you don't plan to print anything larger than 8x10, buy the 870 which is quite a bit cheaper, but has the same specs.

Customer Service

Outstanding. I needed to return my 1270 after about 6 months for a print head replacement, and it was handled with utmost dispatch. I have had no recurrence of the problem since repair.They also bought back ALL my Epson unused and partially consumed photopaper packets when I complained about the chromatic shift, and sent me three color cartridges gratis for the ink they felt that I had wasted on suboptimal prints. All of this with an "audible" smile.

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HP 1100

Grate color and B&W resolution. Need to look closely to see that it is not a real photograph.

Costly ink and small ink cartridges. Need to protect prints from direct light or air.

There is no perfect printer! Even at $2000 price point you will be disappointed with something. Assuming you know what you are doing with properly calibrating your computer monitor and working with a digital dark room program like PhotoShop, you will be happy. It is fast. The color is outstanding for even fine art work.
I use it a lot for B&W photographs. I find it a little grainy because there is only one color to take the full range of gray. However, I have used it for fine art work and it has been very satisfactory. The shades of gray are very gradual and with the help of PhotoShop you can fix the graininess with little effort.

Some people say that it will block up in some colors. It is still better then real photographs in that I estimate you can get about 7 stops of image resolution out of this printer. You can only get about 3 stops out of a slide and 6 out of a print negative. And all but the bet wet dark room photo paper will give you no more then about 4 to 6 stops. So if you have the money try it out. If not take a look at the 870.

If you are used to a wet dark room and want to go digital, this is a very good place to start. But first learn what you are doing. Don't just scan a photograph in, print it and expect it to be great. Just like in a real dark room great work requires hard work.

One other note for the wet dark room people. If you want to go digital don't even think of a digital camera. There is no way to get the resolution, color saturation and dynamic range of print film. Fust use the finest grain color file. Scan it into the computer and do with it as you wish. Make it B&W, increase grain or color saturation, etc.

Customer Service

Printer did not ship with shoftware. The call to Epson took 2 min. and the software was shipped and arrived in less then a week. Don't worry they will take care of you :)

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Epson and HP photo printers.

Print Quality are the closest thing to wet system currently available.
Ink & Paper are 25 years lightfast.

Ink reservoir is not color independently replaceable. Make it nore expensive to replace.

relatively low price, except ink and paper. Excellent Picture Quality, Sharp well defined and extremelly saturate color. When printing on Pictorico Glossy film or Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper the results are Fabulous.
Only the NEW replacement, model 1280 or 2000 is slightly better but cost more.If you are in need for Photo Quality printer, this one is Very Hightly recommended.

Customer Service

Have not using yet.

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Various format and models from Hewlett-Packard, Canon etc...

excellent prints, true color reproduction

everything is great except for the pizza roller marks on the glossy prints and the color shift problems.

Isn't anyone else noticing this problem of light lines or marks crossing the prints? Noticeable at about a 45 degree angle in bright light.They call them pizza roller marks and say that we have to live them. Trying to sell photos printed and framed that look like this is a problem that will make me look for a new printer brand.

Customer Service

Adequate. Took care of the color shift issue with the prem.glossy paper.Hard to get them to admit there is a problem with the printer design.

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