Life of your Epson proofer??

[Alith7]

I'm sure most of you are running Epsons for your proofs in prepress, if not, you can still weigh in.

Here's my questions:

1. What Epson(s) are you running?
2. How long have you had it (them)?
3. What are your thoughts on age/end of life for certain models?

My reason for asking? We bought our 7600 in 2004. In 2008 we bought our 7880 because I had already reset the life meters in the 7600 twice and I wasn't sure how much longer it was going to keep going. Now, 7 years later, the 7600 is still going strong, never had to repair anything, the 7880 I've had to replace the cleaning pads twice now, but otherwise still going strong. I'm curious, is this normal? They are so cheap, and I would LOVE to have a reason to get a new version with the built in Spectrodens, but I can't justify even that cost when there is nothing wrong with the current printers.

 

[[email protected]]

One or more of your current Epsons may need to have an unfortunate accident.

 

[Alith7]

You have no idea how hard I'm laughing right now!
I have thought that exact thought many many times!

 

[chevalier]

They last FOREVER. It's almost like the sales people at Epson didn't send the note to engineering about planned obsolescence.

 

[wonderings]

We had an Epson 10600 Ultra chrome for about 10 years before the nozzles could not be unclogged. Rather then repair we opted to upgrade to a 9900 with a new RIP. The speed is incredible, especially compared to the 10600 running off an old rip. Hoping the 9900 has the same lifespan

 

[Alith7]

we also have a 10000 running at one of our storefronts, as far as i know, it's still running like a tank. Poor epson sales reps... must be hard to sell when you have a limited market to begin with, and your product never dies.

I suppose if you left them sit for weeks/months at a time between printings you might start to run into nozzle problems, but ours run at least one or two jobs everyday (except weekends of course). I just thought that the motors would give up or something would wear out by now.

 

[rotarypower3]

We've had a 9880 for about 7 years, no major issues. We also have a 9900, it's about 4 years old and has just had the head replaced along with several other minor components.

 

[benstarr]

The 49/79/9900 have much shorter lifespans than previous models. Most I've seen don't make it much past 3 years without needing a new head.

 

[Puch]

We've a 4800 , a 4900 and a 7900, the x900s with the spectro option. The 4800 is like a tank, just churning out pages day by day for 8 years now. The 7900 which is 4 years old, had two head replacements, and the spectro stopped working one year ago. The 4900 is brand new, working like a charm, had only one minor issue with the spectro.

IMHO the x900 series has a flawed head design, the noozles being too small and close to each other, hence the big problems about clogging & cleaning failures you can read all around. If you don't need the larger gamut and the automatic certification, don't buy an x900! If you absolutely need these features, then count on buying a new printer every 3 years... either a brand new equipment or paid out as service fees.

 

[Alith7]

thanks for the input guys!

 

[jhamilton]

Just a reminder...the Epson Stylus Pro 7900 has been replaced with the SC-P7000SE and the Stylus Pro 9900 has been replaced with the SC-P9000SE. If you'd like the new Violet ink then you will need to order the CE version. BTW, the gamut is very impressive through EFI.

 

[Alith7]

of course... because I asked... the 7880 died yesterday. i briefly brought it back to life, but the board is having a melt down...

And yes, I know the 7900 has been discontinued. And, to make it worse, my RIP doesn't know when they are going to have the drivers to support the the new SureColor.

 

[Stephen Marsh]

BTW, the gamut is very impressive through EFI.

All things being equal, I would expect that any brand of RIP that is correctly setup for the same media and printer would have the same/similar gamut.


Stephen Marsh