Taking my new Epson R1800 back.

I just bought my Epson 1800 about 4 days ago. So far I've printed out about 100 prints, and they are very good quality. The skin tones are right on and the colors are beautiful and consistent with my monitor. I love the pigment ink, as it doesn't smear, get fingerprints, and is more water resistant than dye inks it appears.

My only gripe is this. When I look at my prints under strong light, especially flourescent lights, the colors change when viewed at different angles. I called Epson support and it appeared that I new more about the printer than the guy on the other side of the line did. We tried everything, and the tech support finally came to the conclusion that the gloss optimizer is not working like it is supposed to.

However, I suspect it is the ink itself. Will try either the 2400 or the HP B9180.

You shouldn't give up. Have a store make a print out of their R1800 and do the same test you did. If it looks fine there, just get a replacement. One bad unit doesn't discount the model as poor. My R1800 is great.

By the way, what paper are you using? If you use paper not designed for pigment ink, your prints will not be good. Even different brands of paper designed for pigment might not give great prints.

I have not had a problem using any Epson papers so far with my R1800.

John E wrote in post #2247653
I just bought my Epson 1800 about 4 days ago. So far I've printed out about 100 prints, and they are very good quality. The skin tones are right on and the colors are beautiful and consistent with my monitor. I love the pigment ink, as it doesn't smear, get fingerprints, and is more water resistant than dye inks it appears.

My only gripe is this. When I look at my prints under strong light, especially flourescent lights, the colors change when viewed at different angles. I called Epson support and it appeared that I new more about the printer than the guy on the other side of the line did. We tried everything, and the tech support finally came to the conclusion that the gloss optimizer is not working like it is supposed to.

However, I suspect it is the ink itself. Will try either the 2400 or the HP B9180.

Consider putting the money in the bank for a few weeks and getting the 3800 when released in Dec. (I think). Has a few features that don't fint some workflows, but if it works for you it is supposed to be a fantastic printer.

I had problem with my 1800 and it was the inks that came with the unit. I had to clean print head and change the yellow. Who knows how old the ink is when you get it.Customer service was not to bad. I tried email that did not work so I called . The pics I am printing now are perfect. The 1800 is an very good photo printer. Good luck