Customer Reviews
Great printer 
2003-02-05
I've had this printer for about a year, and have had no problems at all - no paper jamming, no clogged cartridges, and no software related problems. As far as using ink, if I print photos, I expect it to use ink - otherwise I'd get a blank sheet of paper. The quality and color of the photos I print is outstanding - friends and family can't tell if I printed them, or if I had them printed at a lab. On any printer, the paper used for photos makes all the difference in the world - so I use Epson's premium glossy photo paper, as well as their heavyweight matte paper - and the results are excellent. This is my second Epson printer - the first was a 640 - and when the time comes to upgrade, I'll definitely buy another Epson.
Poor reliability 
2003-01-18
I had this printer for 2 years, then had to trash it when it started printing blue lines across everything. It also had a tendency to smear ink. It isn't smart enough to tell when it's printing off the paper, which can happen if you're using poorly documented software (which includes the software bundled with the printer). When it was cooperating, it was great; but that hasn't happened for a few months now. Time for something more reliable.
I am beginning to loathe this printer... 2003-01-05
I purchased this printer in the early part of 2001. I was extremely impressed with the photo quality on premium glossy paper. I was also impressed with the borderless capability on 4 x 6, 5 x 7 and 8 x 10 prints. I now hate this printer and here's why:
1. Paper constantly misfeeds, sometimes being completely contorted within the machine. This ruins the ink cartridges and is a pain to deal with. Even when it doesn't seem to be totally out of line, the paper is often just slightly off horizontal--you will notice this when printing text near the top.
2. Printer cartridges clog on a continual basis. Now, I realize that if you let your epson puppy sit idle for months, you may indeed need to clean the heads. Ok, well, I am doing this freakin procedure on a daily basis when I'm using the printer! I can't tell you how annoying this is as it also wastes a large amount of ink each time it goes through the cleansing process. In addition, the cartridges often become out of alignment, forcing the user to go through yet another tedious and long procedure.
3. Do you know how long a borderless 8 x 10 print on premium glossy takes to print? I'll tell you because epson won't -- roughly 10-12 minutes. You plan on doing a portfolio of say 20 pages? Good luck. Go to Kinkos and spare yourself the aggravation.
Shame on you epson, shame shame shame.
amazing printer well worth the money 2002-11-08
this is an amazing printer. i am able to print professional looking 8 x 10 for less than $.75 the printer is fast and does not jam.
Printing under Linux is PERFECT 2002-09-28
I purchased this Epson Photo 890 to replace an earlier competitor's model based on the recommendations of linuxprinting.org (a must read for Linux Printer reviews... I am not affiliated with them in any way).
First, Epson has made HUGE advances in its cooperation with the Open Source Community, and Linux drivers and tools are available to make this printer (and others) work as good, if not better, than under other proprietary operating systems from Redmond WA :)
Using CUPS under RedHat 7.3 I have set this printer up with multiple "profiles" so I can print to a virutal printer at just about any color/resolution/paper combination at the stroke of a keyboard or mouse and the quality is near perfect.I hooked this printer up to a Windows box as well for comparison, and I could not see the difference in quality, and Linux seemed to actually print faster.
If you are looking for a printer that gives amazing output, that can also run under Linux then look no furhter, this is the one you want.
4 YEARS AND GOING STRONG!! 2004-12-03
I purchased this Epson 890 in Dec. of 2001. It has worked perfectly since day one. The pictures when DPI is set to 2880 are stunning. If your having a problem with the color I have noticed you need to go to custom settings before printing and set to 2880 DPI. I have always used Epson ink & paper. Using Epson ink has to be the reason why I never had a clog. If you have a chance to still pick up this work horse refurbished jump at the chance. Good Luck!!
Great performer on more than photos! 2004-06-06
This is my third Epson printer, purchased in June, 2001, just before a trip to Italy where I planned to take lots of digital shots. The first Epson lasted me 4½ years, and the second one, a Stylus Color 800 (refurbished) is still going strong as my everyday "workhorse" for non-photo applications after 4 years. After poor HP experiences, I am absolutely sold on Epson.
When this printer is given Epson papers to work with, it produces the most stunning (and lightfast) photos imaginable. I've actually taken some of the same digital images to a local drugstore and printed on their Kodak machines, and BOY, are mine superior!
Well worth the price even though it has been superceded by faster models with individual ink tanks.
I've heard fairly often that this is an ink drinker, but that hasn't been my experience. As long as you set the proper settings in the printer options panel depending on the job, they'll last a reasonable length of time.
This one will keep me happy for a few more years, I trust.
Was OK while it worked 2003-10-20
I had this printer for about one year.
The GOOD:
The inks are really good and long lasting. You can drop water on them one minute after printing and they won't fade.
The printer accepts many different kinds of paper sizes and printing media.
The drivers have lots of settings and you have enough flexibility to be creative.
The BAD:
The drivers have lots of settings and you never know if you have chosen the right one, and at times, when the colors are wrong and any setting seems to be wrong, after you go through tons of ink and paper, you might have to do as I did, take the pictures to a photo shop, in a few minutes, at a fraction of the cost when you add the waisted paper, ink and time.
Printing is very slow. A real picture of 8x11 takes "forever" (10-15 min). (How can they claim that the printer is fast? Fast comparing with what? Drawing the page by hand?)
The ink cartridges clog constantly and one every other page comes out with random tiny red lines across. Customer support didn't want to talk to me unless I paid, and then they just told me to take the printer to a repair shop (After 20 minutes of waiting and paying the fee, the service call was over in about 30 seconds). Waist of money and time calling customer support. A repair shop will charge to diagnose and repair the printer (change the printer heads and align them) more than what a new printer costs today.
I have no choice but to buy a new printer now.
Oh, and another thing, in one year I mingled with it enough to get acceptable pictures out, but I could never get on the paper the same colors that I would see on the screen. I got some special pictures with all the basic colors and different combinations, and to save my life I could not set the printer to reproduce those colors. I waisted days and nights downloading upgrades and changing settings, I bought the printer's tech book (I am an electronics engineer by trade, so I HAD to read the manual :-)) but I still could not screen match it (screen calibrate it).
Guess what... I bought recently a Canon i9100, and I am really happy with it.
JUST BUY IT ! 2003-04-06
You can't improve on perfection. It's fast, quiet and the quality is superb. Don't let the price of supplies scare you. Compatible color cartridges are available ... from many vendors and the quality is the same. Try eBay for Epson Paper. Sure it's 2880 DPI, and some of the new ones are 5760 DPI. If your eyes can detect 2880 dots in an inch, you are obviously Clark Kent. There's enough rebates out there that you should be able to get this printer for around $99. Look, don't read any further, take my word for it, JUST BUY IT !
Beautiful pictures, but ink cartridge nightmare 2003-02-24
I was excited by the extraordinary initial quality of the Epson 890 photo printer until I had to change the ink cartridge.
The ink cartridges are both equipped with chips that are supposed to monitor ink usage. Unfortunately, when the chip calculates that either cartridge needs to be replaced, you have no option to continue printing. The printer refuses to do ANYTHING until the desired cartridge(s) is replaced. Even if you only want to print in black and white with an empty colour cartridge, TOO BAD.
Further, if you accidently misalign cartridges when installing new cartridges, you can easily damage the chip sensors. In this case you end up with a printer that won't ever acknowledge the insertion of a new cartridge and will thus never print again.
Additionally, the colour cartridge is a single cartridge, forcing the replacement of the entire cartridge when any one of the five coulours runs out.
My advice: Get a photo printer with individual, inexpensive, chipless colour cartridges. Avoid the Epson 890.
