I must confess that I don't know how Epson does it. It seems that each new family of the company's inkjet printers is better, more capable, and less expensive than that the one that came before.
I was reluctant to replace the Epson Stylus Color 900G connected to my Windows computer with the new 980; the 900G has been a workhorse that happily churns out reams of high-quality output. But I couldn't resist Epson's update to the Stylus Color 980, which follows computing's age-old (in Internet years, anyway) imperative to perform better, faster, and cheaper.
The Stylus Color 980 is aimed at the professional and SOHO computer user who wants dependable and fast letter-sized output. Epson claims the unit has an 8.26-by-10.76-inch printable area, but you should also be able to use Epson's 8.3-by-2.75-inch Panoramic paper for printing signs and mini-banners.
Output speed with black text is 13 pages per minute (PPM) and 10.5 PPM in color. Epson claims computer users can print color Microsoft PowerPoint pages in as little as 15 seconds, and high-resolution 8-by-10-inch photos at 720 dpi in approximately 78 seconds. In my own real-world tests (printing photographs and lengthy text-heavy manuscripts) the Stylus Color 980 not only met those specifications but did so in virtual silence.
This printer is better looking than its predecessor, and has "business printer" written all over it. The Stylus Color 980 has USB and Parallel ports built in, and like the 900 models that preceded it, it has Ethernet and FireWire options for networking. Like almost all Epson printers, the Stylus Color 980 is compatible with Mac OS as well as Windows.
The top-loading feature of all Epson printers (which provides for jam-free paper feeding with a wide variety of papers types and weights) makes for a snug fit when the 980 is installed in traditional SOHO furniture designed for front-loading HP printers. In the past, I've had a camera repairman make a Plexiglas paper holder that was shorter and steeper than the one in Epson's design.
Because the Stylus Color 980 has a tiny 3-picoliter ink droplet and 2,880-by-720dpi hardware resolution, output quality is impressive. Text is laser-sharp, and photographs look good, too. Although the 980 is only a four-color printer, I expected it to produce photorealistic output--better than the 900--and I was not disappointed. The printer's 2,880dpi output surely must stir some interest among graphics users who are wondering when Epson will offer a 2,880dpi Photo Printer. I hope that a drop in the price of the awesome Stylus Photo 870 is a sign of things to come.
The Stylus Color 980 is priced at $249, but at press time Epson was offering a $50 rebate, making it $199. This is truly an amazing business printer at a bargain price.
Epson Stylus Color 980 benefits:
Connectivity options include speedy FireWire or networkable Ethernet
Crisp 2880dpi output
5,000 pages-per-month duty cycle for business applications
Text output at speeds of 13 ppm and color at up to 10.5 ppm
High-resolution (720dpi) photo output
