EPSON R1800 V NEW PHOTO 1400 PRINTER

Hi, Have an Epson stylus photo 870 printer which is now 6 years old and going strong. However, now looking to upgrade to an A3. Was going to go for the Epson R1800 but see there is a new Epson photo 1400 printer out. The 1400 is 6 colour inks with new claira technology and the R1800 is an 8 ink and been out a while can anyone help as to which one would be better? I am not a professional but am looking for the best quality. thanks

Sue H wrote in post #2551206
Hi, Have an Epson stylus photo 870 printer which is now 6 years old and going strong. However, now looking to upgrade to an A3. Was going to go for the Epson R1800 but see there is a new Epson photo 1400 printer out. The 1400 is 6 colour inks with new claira technology and the R1800 is an 8 ink and been out a while can anyone help as to which one would be better? I am not a professional but am looking for the best quality. thanks

I have owned the Stylus Photo 870 for a number of years, and I bought the R1800 last year. I was impressed with the 870 when I bought it, and it does produce acceptable 4x6 prints. When it comes to the R1800, all I can say is WOW! Every time I print 13x19, I can't believe that I actually printed that in my own house.

I'm not too familiar with the 1400, but after reading about it on the Epson website, and comparing it with the R1800 specifications, it is my opinion that the R1800 is still a superior printer.

As you stated, the 1400 uses the newer Claria inks, but the R1800's 8 colors will produce a wider color gamut because of the Red and Blue in addition to Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow. Plus the 2 blacks, Photo Black and Matte Black will produce better blacks and B&W prints. The 1400 has Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Light Cyan, and Light Magenta.

Also note that despite the Claria ink being a newer technology, the ink used in Epson's professional printers, the 3800, 3800, 7800, and 9800 is the Ultrachrome K3 ink. The R1800 uses Ultrachrome Hi-Gloss ink.

The R1800 also accepts up to 13" wide roll paper. The 1400 does not.

Additionally, since the SRP for the 1400 is $150 less than the R1800, that also leads me to believe that Epson consider the R1800 to be a higher end printer.

That's my opinion. For what it's worth.

Good luck!

the r1800 uses ultrachrome and the r2400, 3800, and up use the ultrachrome k3 inks. the k3 inks are best of epson. i think the claria inks are dye vs pigmented in the k3 and regular ultrachrome. the pigmented inks will be more fade resistent. the k3 inks were an improvement over the original and have better gloss to them, though i've no experience with the original ultrachrome inks. i love my r2400 and like previously posted, i'm blown away when i print something printers like the r2400 and up are great at black and white because they use 3 levels of black.

I had a r1800 sold it to buy a r2400. I absolutley hated the 2400 and sold it and bought another 1800. The 1800 is an amazging printer and gorgeous prints. I have since bought a Canon iPF5000 to do larger format with but still use the 1800 more as I so smaller stuff.

The pigment inks do not scratch as easy as the dye based inks, and theoredically do last longer. We will lknow in a hundred years or so if it is true hehe.