The Stylus Photo R285 is a new printer aimed at the keen amateur photographer. It offers amazing photo prints up to A4 with great colour depth and range at the fraction of the cost of a Professional A3 photo printer. The machine itself is compact and functional but it has to be said it’s not overly attractive, although the sliver top does give some colour to the otherwise black box.
Where it counts the Epson R285 really does shine, it can produce prints up to A4 at a maximum resolution of 5760 x 1440 dpi and a colour depth the makes photos come alive. The printer is capable of printing on a vast number of different media types including compatible CD and DVD discs but it will be mostly used with photo paper media which it handles very well whether gloss, matte, or gallery paper. One of the downsides of the Stylus Photo R285 is the speed in which it prints. Epson are known to be slow and noisy printers and the R285 is no exception. The spec sheet says that is capable of printing a 10 x 15 cm photograph in 12 seconds, but this is in draft quality and you would never print a photo in draft quality so this figure is very misleading.
Another problem is the cost of Epson R285 ink cartridges is almost as much as the printer itself. The printer can be purchased for under £60 but a full set of replacement ink cartridges are £40 when bought in a multi-pack.
The only saving grace is that the printer uses a individual ink cartridge system which means you only have to change the colours that are empty and means you don’t waste any printer ink. Although the six colour ink cartridge system produces excellent print results using genuine Epson ink cartridges the price tag is just too steep for a lot of people so they will opt for the cheaper (half price) third party alterative compatible ink cartridges.
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