Epson Stylus Photo R380 Inkjet Printer (30 PPM, 5760x1440 DPI, Color, PC/Mac)

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?