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Photograph: Rick Rizner
Epson Stylus C88
Pricing
$199.99 From 1 Vendor Get Best Prices »
- Spec Navigator
- Media Handling
- Network
- Connectivity
- Platform Support
- Dimensions
- General Features
- Resolutions
- Scanning
Media Handling
| Manual Feed Slot | No |
| Maximum Number of Input Trays | 1 |
| Maximum paper size, height | 1100.0 inches |
| Maximum Sheets With All Paper Trays | 120 |
| Output Tray Capacity | 30 |
| Standard Number of Input Trays | 1 |
| Maximum paper size, width | 8.5 inches |
| Standard input sheet capacity | 120 |
| Duplex printing | No |
PCWorld Rating, November 10, 2005
6 User Reviews Add your own »
$199.99
From 1 Vendor
Get Best Prices »
- Lab Tested
- How We Test Printers »
Pros
Can print 44-inch-long banners
Cons
Graphics quality was subpar
Bottom Line
Colors in glossy photos looked accurate, though skin tones appeared slightly grayish. Graphics quality was subpar.
Epson Stylus C88
Stylus C88 Review, by Paul Jasper September 27, 2005
The Epson Stylus C88 is attractively priced at $80. It does best at printing photos, though you'll need a PC to make use of this ability: The C88 lacks a PictBridge port and a media card slot. On the other hand, it's the only printer we tested this month that prints 8.5-inch wide banners at lengths of up to 44 inches.
Print quality was relatively poor on plain paper. Text looked charcoal gray instead of black at large sizes, and we saw narrow horizontal banding across solid areas. Diagonal edges appeared jagged and fine lettering seemed fuzzy. Artifacts in our line art document looked like pajama stripes, while diagonal lines resembled a staircase. Color graphics had a grainy appearance; solid areas looked washed out, edges had a harsh appearance, and fine details that many other models reproduced were missing.
Prints on photo paper looked much better. Skin tones were smooth and natural, though slightly grayish. Facial details appeared sharp, but shadow areas looked too dark. Our grayscale image also seemed a little dark, but had plenty of crisp detail.
In our performance tests, the C88 printed text pages at a reasonably swift 5.3 pages per minute. Color graphics printed slower than average, at 1.6 ppm. Our 5-by-7-inch color photo, printed at best quality on letter-sized photo paper took a tedious 3 minutes and 37 seconds. In contrast, the $50 Canon iP1600, which earned the same score of Good for photo quality, printed a glossy photo in 1 minute and 17 seconds.
The C88's four pigment-based inks come in individual cartridges, a rarity in a model priced at under $100. The upright paper feeder at the back can hold 100 sheets. The 30-sheet output tray folds down from the front of the case, and you can flip it up when it's not in use, reducing the bulky footprint. The simple control panel has three buttons: power on/off, cancel print job, and change ink cartridges.
Upshot: The Epson Stylus C88's only distinguishing feature is its ability to print 44-inch-long banners--longer than the other brands of inkjets can produce. But aside from that, you can do better with models from HP or Canon for the same price.
Paul Jasper
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PCWorld Lab Results
- Rating Breakdown
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65
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82
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73
- See Complete Lab Results »
Performance Comparison with Similar Printers
65
74
82
82
Performance
| 5 x 7 Photo (secs) | 216.64 |
| Color Output Quality | Fair |
| Color Photo (secs) | 28.6 |
| Color Photo Quality | Good |
| Color Photo, Best Quality Settings | 216.64 |
| Color Photo, Normal Settings | 28.6 |
| Grayscale Output Quality | Good |
| Line Art Output Quality | Poor |
| One-Page Grayscale Graphic | 30.45 |
| One-Page Grayscale Graphic (secs) | 30.45 |
| Output Score, Color Graphics, Default Settings (formerly pf-Output-Print-Color-Default) | Fair |
| Output Score, Color Photo, Best Quality Settings (formerly pf-Output-Print-Color-Best) | Good |
| Output Score, Grayscale Graphics, Best Quality Settings (formerly pf-Output-Print-Grayscale-Best) | Good |
| Output Score, Line Art, Default Settings (formerly pf-Output-Print-LineArt-Default) | Poor |
| Output Score, Text, Default Settings (formerly pf-Output-Print-Text-Default) | Fair |
| Ten-Page Word Document | 112.37 |
| Ten-Page Word Document (secs) | 112.37 |
| Tested Color Graphics Speed (formerly pf-PCWColorSpeed) | 1.6 |
| Tested Color Speed (ppm) | 1.6 |
| Tested Glossy Photo Speed (ppm) | 0.3 |
| Tested Photo Speed (formerly pf-PCWPhotoSpeed) | 0.3 |
| Tested Text Speed (formerly pf-PCWBWSpeed) | 5.3 |
| Tested Text Speed (ppm) | 5.3 |
| Text Output Quality | Fair |
| Three-Page PowerPoint Document | 127.3 |
| Three-Page PowerPoint Document (secs) | 127.3 |
| Three-Page Word Document | 49.18 |
| Three-Page Word Document (secs) | 49.18 |
| Two-Page Excel Document | 67.74 |
| Two-Page Excel Document (secs) | 67.74 |
Text Printing
| Text output quality | Fair |
User Reviews
Average User Reviews for Epson Stylus C88
1 Review Add your own »
- Latest User Reviews 1 review
-
Reviewed by: greymann19
Duration of ownership: 6 Months
Strengths: Price, Separate color inks instead of one tri-color cartridge, Lw ink costs, Good to very good print quality, Small "footprint"
Weaknesses: Nitpicking, but a little better quality and faster color print speeds would be nice.
Overall: If you want a fast, high quality, photo printer, spend $50 more and get a Canon. But if you want a nice, inexpensive utility printer with low ink costs that lasts, this is THE one to get. I have purchased two so far for my business, the last one from New Egg was $71 with FREE shipping and no sales tax.
Review Now! Already own it? Tell us What You Think
User Reviews From Around the Web
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Reviewed by: msimpson3
Strengths: a good workhorse
Weaknesses: none so far
Overall: we purchased this printer about 1 year ago and so far it's been a very good purchase for our business. i've ran up to 7 hours of print jobs stopping only to add paper and change the ink. i'm not talking black and white either. These were color print jobs. it's a good little printer.
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Reviewed by: troyboy
Strengths: Very low price
Weaknesses: catridges are more expensive...
Overall: I have been using this printer for couple of weeks, till i have no problem with this printer. For this lowest price this one is working great. This will be useful if it works for 2 or more years. catridges are more expensive than the printer. you can do better with models from HP or Canon for the same price.
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Reviewed by: eachtw123
Strengths: cheap
Weaknesses: ok printer
Overall: i have this printer for couple weeks. the reason i bought this one is because it is cheap. for the money i paid, i wont complain it. however, if i have more money, i would buy other printers.
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Reviewed by:
Strengths: speed
Weaknesses: ink consumption,printer heads clog
Overall: Each time you power it on 5% of the ink is gone.Head cleaning?another 10% is gone and it stops printing when there is still ink in cartridges because of those Epson smart chips! My black head is clogged but I don't want to touch it anymore!
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Reviewed by:
Strengths: cheap
Weaknesses: piece of junk
Overall: This is a ridiculous piece of manufacturing. The more I use it the increaslingly frustrated I get. Buyers beware. Try printing a sample at the store before purchasing.
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