Epson SC 800 & p900 which one to buy

[drfihl]

I gave up on my faulty p900. At least I dont want to spend more time on it. I still want to go Epson and A2 and the p900 is an option. In Denmark I can get one for 1.100 € online and I have found a p800 on a craigslist www.dba.dk for 800 €. No warranty. Brand new. Unused and cartridges not inserted.
I want to go thirdparty ink with www.farbenwerk.com and I have chips for the p900.
How much ink is consumed for the priming of all channels?
I have a full set of new cartridges for 3880. Will they fit the 800?
The have heard p800 swap MK and PK like 3880. I have heard thats one og weak point for the 3880. Any thoughts oon that from those of you having the p800. I will print matte mainly.

Advice thank you

Carsten

 

[thebestcpu]

Hi @Carsten

I have the P900 and my brother has the p800.

I have done quite a bit of technical testing of the P900 and have shared those findings in previous posts I have made.
To the first order, I doubt you would notice a difference in print quality with the P900. I would consider the differences to be more subtle than a breakthrough

Note that the P900 base price does not include the roll paper option, which is already built into the P800.

Yes, the PK and MK channels are shared on the P800, where you lose a bit of ink, yet on the P900, most printing default modes have BEO Black Enhanced Overcoat turned on, which consumes Light grey ink at a pretty good clip.

Carbon Black gives a slightly darker black point, yet it's quite a slight difference (I think it is more marketing than actual value.

Similar to the higher dpi print settings on the P900, there is no noticeable difference when printing. I am pretty sure there is no actual difference in resolution between the two models.

The P900 is lighter and has a smaller footprint, which is a nice feature. While the P900 has more plastic parts, I feel the P800 is more of a tank.

Two significant downsides of the P800, though
1) It is a machine that is 5 years older than the P900, which probably means support for the P800 will end ~5 years earlier than the P900 (so possibly a shorter lifetime with the older P800)
2) No warranty is given. One trip to Epson repair and I bet all your savings on lower cost will be gone. That would make me hesitate.

So Pros and Cons
Hope this helps
John Wheeler