all photo printers

This all in one is *very* different from all the others currently on the market. It is made for photos rather than for scanning documents.

It combines the R300 photo printer and Epson 2400dpi photo scanner into an affordable package that delivers great prints and high resolution scans.

I have had scanners in the past that would scan high resolution and create giant files with poor details. This is not one of those scanners.

I don't use the Epson software for photo editing or printing, so I won't comment on their usage or effectiveness. I really like Adobe Photoshop Elements for that sort of stuff.

You will need good photo editing software for cleaning up photos. Once you use high-res photo scanning settings, you will need to take time to clean up the dust on your pic. The dust is just a fact of life with high resolution scanners that are used in a home environment rather than in a clean room.

You will also need more ram for your computer. An 8x10 scanned at 600 DPI takes up approx 250mb of memory. I found my machine needed approx 1 gb to be able to process some of the scans at higher resolution -- especially if I wanted to have more than 1 pic open at a time.

Pros:
Super-duper prints on Epson Premium Glossy paper that capture crystal clear details.

Super-hi rez photo scans that really capture fine detail. A high-quality original scanned, cleaned up digitally, then printed out is indistinguishable from the original -- maybe even a little bit better depending on how good you are with Photoshop.

Very good deal for the money. Combine a $180.00 printer, $150.00 scanner, and $60.00 memory card reader into a $240.00 package.

Cons:
Limited life of non-water resistant inks.

Printer can take some fooling with the settings to get truly great details out of the pics. Once you figure out all the settings, and use good paper, the pics are spectacular.

Scanner takes some time fooling with the settings to get the colors and exposure correct. I have ended up with either overly saturated colors on some of the color correction settings, or too dark on the no color correction settings.

Does not work well with non-Epson paper.

My original review is further down, written a few days after setting up the printer. I'll now relate my 5-month experience.

The machine has been flawless. It's one of the best experiences I've ever had with an electronics device, and I am a gadget freak. I've printed approx. 30 greeting cards and 200 photos, from 4x6 through 8x10. Photos copy extremely well with the flatbed scanner, and I use it to make accurate copies of originals. For even better results, tweak your original photo on the computer and print it using your favorite image editing software.

You may rarely use the negative-adapter, but if you only have a negative and need a print, it is a godsend. High quality scans, for sure.

One ink cartridge just fell under 20% full (light Cyan), so the ink lasts a long time. You can find great deals on original Epson ink on the web (try Amazon first). I bought a whole set of refills on the cheap.

I mainly use it to print digital photos (4x6 mostly) from my Canon S400 Digital Elph, and to print greeting cards. I make remarkable cards for pennies compared to $2 - $5 at the greeting card racks.

Paper: Extremely high quality prints on Epson, HP, Kodak and Ilford Galerie photo papers. I love Ilford paper. You can find great deals online for photo paper. 200 sheets of high gloss for under $20. Don't penalize yourself on quality - get the high gloss.

I have a minolta 11x17 b/w laser printer, so I don't use the RX500 for most document printing. Toner is cheaper than ink, and laser is faster than inkjet, especially for long documents.

The Epson RX600 recently came out. Same as RX500, but has an LCD preview window. Handy if you print right from the digital card reader. You can get an external Epson LCD for as low as $18, so the extra $100 for the RX600 is a bit tough to swallow. Deals are popping up on the RX500. It's still the best value of any multi-function device.

*** Original Review ***

I was looking for a color printer, as I only had a b/w laser printer. Since I have owned digital cameras since 1999, it was time to get a photo quality printer. I Decided I wanted it to scan and copy as well. The multi-function device (MFD) was much better than in previous-generation products. It had to have separate ink cartridges (better value on ink), which ruled out HP, and almost everything but Canon and Epson devices.

After exhaustive research and showroom testing at a local retailer, I bought the Epson CX6400. Great value. It was a 4-ink system (not 6), but the DuraBright inks were getting pretty good reviews. I stayed up until 1am playing with my new toy. On premium glossy paper, the prints were very good. However, they had a matte, or maybe a semi-gloss cast to them, even on the best glossy paper. Other photo printers (Epson R300) delivered a glossier, crisper photo-processing feel to them. I could live with that for the price and features the CX6400 had. The 6-ink system was not in the cards for me if I wanted a MFD flatbed device.

The next morning, while reading the Sunday paper, I saw an ad for a brand new MFD by Epson. Just came out. It was the RX500. Here's the bottom line. It has the same 6-ink system and print engine as the beautiful-printing R300/M, and it is a flatbed MFD. Nirvana!

I exchanged the unit the next morning. Wow! The printouts are just like a photo lab with my 4 megapixel shots. Even my older 2 megapixel shots looked great.

You can do almost everything on the device without a computer, as it has card slots for almost every media type. When you print from the computer, the software lets you tweak the quality even higher.

Liked the Epson CX6400. Love the RX500. The RX500 is the best of both worlds...

The 4x6 prints look incredible on premium glossy paper, and very nice on plain, bright paper. 8x10 and 8.5x11 also look great - just like a photo lab. And you can print borderless prints, without perforated paper. Ideal!

Speed is pretty good. Larger prints, and highest quality obviously take longer to print, but it's well worth it. Surf the web while you are waiting.

The bundled imaging software (PhotoImpression) is easy to use and does a great job. You can go from a digital photo to a beautiful print in minutes. The amount of control is overwhelming, but fortunately the standard setting doa great job. Go with the default settings unless you have a special need. Just set the paper type and size, and you are off to the races.

It's faster start-to-finish when you plug your memory card directly into the device. If you have a few minutes to boot up your computer, you'll have more control and you can bump the quality up a bit. Honestly, it was hard to tell the difference, though. Tech specs say there is a difference in resolution, but if I'm in a hurry, I print without the computer.

The Rx500 also scans and prints existing photos very well, as well as a magazine cover I used as a test. New on this device (and an exclusive) is a transparency and slide scanner. I scanned and printed from a 35mm positive, and a film negative. The quality is outstanding. Now I can zip out a print from any old negative or slide I have stored away in boxes. Way cool.

The only "negative" or tradeoff, is that the ink will smudge if it gets wet. That's the price you pay for the 6-ink system. As long as you get your prints into a photo album, or under glass in a frame, it is a non-issue. I'll take the tradeoff rather than settle for lesser quality in a smudge-resistant ink.

Buy the RX500. You truly get the best of all worlds. A superior photo printer, with the convenience and ultimate flexibility of a an excellent scanner/copier...

I bought this printer after doing a thoroug search on the net. I rate is as quite good, but there are things that could be improved.

Software installed great; it was fast, and not too big.

Copying photos as a stand alone is excellent, but I noticed some greenish overcast. But I intent to scan everything into photoshop first, so I can live with that.

OCR software is quite effective and user friendly. I already like this one.

Cartridges are quite expensive, and it seems to be going through them rather quickly, but still acceptable.

The scanner is perfect. It has more resoulution than I can use.

The software works quite good, and it's user friendly, but there could be some more explanation in the manunal - for example I could not turn on the "dust and scratches option" in the scanner software, but I have to try higher resolution and see if the function becomes enabled.

The only major drawback I noticed was the text quality - I compared it to the printout from my HP cp 1700 at work, and Epson does not even come close.... mind you, the HP is a pricey unit able to print 13X17 pages. Having said that, the print quality is decent enough, but I feel a bit dissappointed.

I am using a USB 2.0, but the time it takes to start printing is not too impressive (on the other hand, some files are huge)

the unit is compact, appears to be well made and mechanically works very well.