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Epson Stylus Photo R380

76

Good
  • Pros
  • Prints on CD/DVD media
  • Nice photo output quality
  • Cons
  • Disappointing plain-paper print quality
  • Confusing CD/DVD printing process
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PC World Editor's Review

by Melissa Riofrio

This model's many extras, including the ability to print on CDs and DVDs, are appealing.

Epson's Stylus Photo R380 offers photo features galore, plus a cool bonus: CD/DVD printing. Are these features worth the trade-offs of mediocre print speed and indifferent plain-paper print quality? Some users will think so.

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Like many printers in its price range, the Stylus Photo R380 can print photos directly from a PictBridge-enabled camera, a media card (CompactFlash, Memory Stick, SD, or xD), or an infrared port. A generously large 3.5-inch color LCD on the control panel lets you preview photos and navigate menus easily, and Epson bundles ArcSoft's PhotoImpression 5 software for editing images.

Most of these features are readily accessible via the front control panel. Unlike the ones on Epson's Stylus Photo R260, all of the buttons here have clearly marked word labels instead of icons. Navigational arrow buttons surrounding a central OK button make it easy to find and choose settings shown on the LCD.

The Stylus R380's standout feature, CD/DVD printing, involves putting the CD into a special insert, sliding that insert into the output tray, printing (Epson provides label-design software), then waiting 30 minutes for the disc to dry.

We paused first over the control panel's Mode buttons. One is labeled 'Memory Card'; the other, 'Print CD/DVD'. The lever for switching between regular and CD/DVD printing is unintuitive, as well: You flip it up to move the output tray down, and flip it down to move the tray up. Epson mentions all of these components in the careful directions, but it neither explains them nor offers helpful visual cues for recognizing them.

The Stylus Photo R380 uses Epson's Claria six-color, dye-based ink system (consisting of black, cyan, magenta, yellow, light cyan, and light magenta ink cartridges).

The printer produced photos and graphics quickly, while text straggled out at 3.9 pages per minute--slow compared to most competing printers' text times. Photos printed on glossy paper looked smooth and natural, but on plain paper the same images looked washed-out and fuzzy. Meanwhile, text suffered from noticeable feathering and lightness.

Other inkjet printers offer a better balance of performance and features than the Stylus R380 does. Few models can print on CDs and DVDs, however; and for some potential buyers, that feature will make the sacrifice worthwhile.

Melissa Riofrio

User Reviews for Epson Stylus Photo R380

  • Reviewed by: dlauber

    Duration of ownership: 3 Months

    Strengths: Brilliant colors, faster color printing than previous Epson units, prints directly on CDs/DVDs, networkable including via print server, uses long-lasting ink

    Weaknesses: It's an inkjet, so it swallows ridiculously expensive ink. When printing on CDs or DVDs, you must allow 24 hours for the ink to dry before playing the disc (not 30 minutes as the PC World review suggests).

    Overall Evaluation: After years of using the Epson Color Stylus C80, the R380 was like a revelation. Now, I'm no fan of inkjet printing -- our primary printer is a Ricoh Aficio CL4000DN, a color laser with extremely low cost of ownership compared to the color lasers that HP, Xerox, and the other big names produce -- but the R380 is as good as it gets for a low-cost inkjet printer. While I use our color laser for business and all text printing, the R380 serves its purpose well for printing photographs and CDs/DVDs. One of its best features is the R380's ability to easily print on inkjet printable CDs and DVDs so you don't need to apply labels anymore (saving 50 cents or more per CD). The process was far easier than I expected and the results very professional looking -- in fact my wife can't tell the difference; my homegrown compilation CDs look like they were produced professionally. I've been pleasantly surprised by how much faster the R380 prints than my previous Epson inkjets and by the much high quality of color printing. While it is disappointing how Epson gouges consumers with its excessive prices on ink cartridges, the pricing is no worse than the rest of the industry. Better yet, the ink will last long beyond our lifetimes. All in all, if you need an inkjet printer for photos and/or CD/DVD labeling, the Epson R380 does the job extremely well and easily. And it works on networks, even via a print server. Now if Epson and everybody could just stop gouging us on ink.... but that's a dreamworld, isn't it?

  • Reviewed by: cbentcb

    Duration of ownership:

    Strengths: prints very well on cd/ dvd

    Weaknesses: Quality on photos are not as good as some other s

    Overall Evaluation: Overall, a great printer for all roun printing. For printing on dvd this printer excels, however photo quality can be a little better. Great option in the photo print without a computer.

See all user reviews

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