What is the difference between the C66 and C86 the man at the store couldn't tell me SPECS seem the same but theres around a £20 difference, Any body know. ?? 8)

I personally would avoid Epson Printers, as the head is on the printer rather than the cartridge, so when it goes it is ditch printer time. Whereas if you buy a printer with the head on the cartridge you just replace the cartridge

Originally posted by Skatiechik
I personally would avoid Epson Printers, as the head is on the printer rather than the cartridge, so when it goes it is ditch printer time. Whereas if you buy a printer with the head on the cartridge you just replace the cartridge

It is true that there is this distinction... but then why by a new head each time you want to buy a cartridge?

Really the issue of head replacement was more important when printers were more expensive. These days a printer is almost the same price as a full set of cartridges and you get a new set with the new printer :)

I’ve had both C66 and 86 Ink is the same I also thought the same and tried to work out the difference. Not much in it, To the extent the 66 did not like envelopes as much as the 86 but that was all.

As for the heads, There were designed to work for a while but if you leave it for a long time they do dry up and a printer clean / head clean may not fix it then it is a new printer.

Ok what printer would you recommend??? Thought this would be good seeing it has separate cartridges for each ink.

I like the C86 but i dont really put it through a lot. Not even tried a high quality photo yet.

Originally posted by Bikertec
Ok what printer would you recommend??? Thought this would be good seeing it has separate cartridges for each ink.

Don't forget that separate ink tanks appear to be more expensive than a combined ink tank (as the capacity per cartidge hasn't increased hugely).

Originally posted by Fairydreams
Don't forget that separate ink tanks appear to be more expensive than a combined ink tank (as the capacity per cartridge hasn't increased hugely).
Yes but how many times have you thrown a combined color cartridge away just because one color ran out.

Originally posted by Bikertec
Yes but how many times have you thrown a combined color cartridge away just because one color ran out.

Frequently... but then I never threw out a cartrige where only one colour ran out and all the others were full :)

Moving from the Epson SP1270 (Black + 5Colour) to the R300 (6 Indiv), I've noticed that although there is a slight stagger (Yellow runs out first) I needed to replace all the cartriges within a 2 week period at a total cost of over twice that of the previous printer's two cartridges. Other users printing standard images have reported similar findings.

If, however, you only do cyan+light cyan duotones then you will only use those inks each time you print and it might be cheaper. That does, however, represent a minority of users.

Also remember that many of the print cartridges have up to 40% of the ink remaining in them when the printer states they are empty... so there is waste anyway.

I had an older Epson before the C86 which would tell you the cartridge was empty, I would take it out put it back in again and the computer would flash up as full on the status monitor it would last for about half a cartridge again on the status monitor before the ink actually ran out. The newer status monitor is slightly better as it warns you then when it says its out you cant print any more as it is actually out.

Originally posted by Glasstop
I had an older Epson before the C86 which would tell you the cartridge was empty, I would take it out put it back in again and the computer would flash up as full on the status monitor it would last for about half a cartridge again on the status monitor before the ink actually ran out. The newer status monitor is slightly better as it warns you then when it says its out you cant print any more as it is actually out.

From the lawsuit in the USA it seems that for many Epson printers it hasn't run out, it is just that the cartridges have chips on them which remember that they have told the printer they are empty, so will refuse to print. I haven't tested this by opening the cartridges, but the fact that Epson's response is that the cartridges deliver the stated ink so the fact that lots is left is irrelevant, suggests there is still ink left.

I know it has run out on my 86 by the fact it begins to go faint and misses bits out it dosn't just stop.

Originally posted by Glasstop
I know it has run out on my 86 by the fact it begins to go faint and misses bits out it dosn't just stop.

That does sound fairly conclusive to me :D

If you're using a LOT of ink for printing then I'd recommend the Epson C86...

Not just because of the seperate ink resevoirs but also because you can get a continuous ink feed system.

http://www.inksupply.com/index.cfm?source=html/cobra.html

I purchased 2 of these for a primary school that zip through their printing at a fierce rate of knots and it works out that it paid it's way in less than 2 weeks..

Just something worth bearing in mind... and I liked it so much I got one for myself... Talk about painless :D

Wow this looks great why asn't anybody else thought of this it seams to make so much sence. I noticed the price in dollers do they do them in the uk ?. 8)

Originally posted by Bikertec
Wow this looks great why asn't anybody else thought of this it seams to make so much sence. I noticed the price in dollers do they do them in the uk ?. 8)
Sadly not... but the dollar is so depressed that it's a steal...

Trust me, if you do more than enough printing to replace a cartridge every 1 month it's worth getting... and if you hit problems I can help out as I've had to trouble shoot 3 of these and know what to watch out for :)