Ink Jet Printer Cavalcade Unveiled

Epson and Hewlett-Packard each announced two new ink jet printers this week, and while none of the four is a specialized photo printer, photography is clearly a large part of their appeal.

Epson's Stylus C82 and C62 are labeled as all-purpose printers; HP's PSC 2110 and 2210 are all-in-one units that combine printer, fax, scanner, and copier functions. All are scheduled to be available in stores in September.

High End for Home

With a list price of $149, the Stylus C82 is intended as Epson's top-of-the-line home ink jet. It prints, officially, at a very impressive 22 pages per minute in monochrome, and 11 ppm in color. Of course, like all such numbers, that describes the fastest of all possible conditions, text only, the lowest-quality printing mode, nothing fancy on the page. Your mileage will probably be less--and the rule holds for all other printers as well.

The Stylus C82 is also capable of printing at a very fine resolution of 5760 by 1440 dots per inch (dpi). Like all recent Epson ink jets, the C82 can vary the size of the droplets to get the best look (relax, this is automatic; users won't be asked to set the droplet size). But unlike the others, the C82 can make droplets as small as three picoliters. (A picoliter is a millionth of a millionth of a liter, a measurement starting to appear in the ink jet printing industry. Depending on the resolution of the printer, ink jet drop sizes range from 3 or 4 picoliters to more than 25 picoliters, according to Beacon Graphic Systems, a distributor of printing services and supplies.)

The C82 can make such small droplets because the new pigment-based "Enhanced DuraBrite" inks sit on top of the paper, rather than sinking in. According to Epson, these new inks are also waterproof and more stable, lasting up to 80 years. Again, of course, your mileage may vary--there's no way to be absolutely sure for another 79 years; and as with speed, that number depends on the best conditions.

But one nice touch with the inks is an absolute fact: Each color comes in its own cartridge. If you run out of blue ink, you only have to replace the blue cartridge. That should help keep costs down.

Budget Epson Offered

The Stylus C62 can't use the long-lasting DuraBrite inks, which require special nozzles, or one-color cartridges. However, its list price is only $99 ($79 after a $20 rebate), which should keep down some of the costs.

The C62 does provide some of the same advantages as the C82 model. Once again, the printer supports six droplet sizes, although the smallest provided by this budget model is 4 picoliters. And it's still fast, although not as fast. Under ideal conditions, it can print 14 ppm monochrome, and 10 ppm color.

Both printers come with an improved, very easy installation process, according to Epson.

HP Goes All-in-One

Hewlett-Packard's new PSC 2110 and PSC 2210 aren't just printers. They're also fax machines, scanners, and copiers. Such all-in-one devices are not a new concept; what HP does differently is put a high-quality engine into its "Swiss Army" printers.

The less expensive of the two, the PSC 2110 (list price $249), has a maximum resolution of 4800 by 1200. The unit is capable of printing 14 ppm in monochrome, and 10 ppm in color, according to HP's specs. For the best look in color prints, you can replace the black ink cartridge with a special photo cartridge that, working with the standard tri-color cartridge, gives you six-color printing. HP claims that the colors last 50 years.

The 2110 also can operate as a 600-dpi scanner.

The PSC2210 is priced $150 higher at $399. It offers a slightly faster version of the same print engine, capable of hitting 17 ppm in monochrome, 12 ppm in color. The print resolution is the same, but the scanner is capable of 1200 dpi.

But what makes the 2210 worth consideration are the digital photo capabilities, including the capability to read Compact Flash, Secure Digital, SmartMedia, and Memory Stick flash RAM. Among other tricks, you can insert your camera's memory card directly into the printer, print thumbnails, select shots and a desired size, and print the selected pictures--all without turning on your PC.

None of these printers is called a "photo printer," but it's as clear as a clean lens that the vendors are targeting people who take snapshots.