| About The Epson 3800 Photographic Printer first shipped in December, 2006. It was designed to fill the price gap between the Epson R2400, (a 13 inch wide printer priced at $849) and the Epson 4800 (17 inch wide printer priced at $1,995). All of these printers use the same highly-acclaimed 8 color Epson Ultrachrome K3 pigment ink sets. But at $1,295 the 3800 produces 17 inch wide prints at a more affordable price than any previous entry from Epson or anyone else. WHAT’S NEW & DIFFERENT Both of the older Epson printers can be fitted with a Matte Black cartridge as a replacement for the Photo Black. In the 3800 both black cartridges are resident in the machine and the changeover is done automatically by the printer driver based on the paper choice. But like the manual change-over process there is still some loss of ink (6 ml in total) as one black ink is purged from the system and the other variety is pumped in. The Epson 3800 will print on any type of cut sheet media up to 17 inches wide. The three paper feeders will automatically handle paper ranging from 4” x 6” to 17” x 22” as well as art papers that are up to 1.5mm thick. However it will not handle roll paper as both the 2400 and the 4800 do. Although the print head technology and resolution are the same on the 3800 and 4800, the 3800 utilizes a more advanced printing algorithm for dot placement and screening which improves the image quality at all resolution levels versus the older printers. The 3800 is particularly good at making exceptional black and white prints from either color or monochrome image files. (I recently printed some very challenging snow scenes with excellent results.) Proprietary Epson screening technology eliminates annoying characteristics such as bronzing and gloss difference. And the 3800 printer driver has a new Black and White Driver Dialog User Interface that enables a photographer to make precise brightness, contrast and tone control adjustments, and view the simulated effects before printing. The 3800 is 30% smaller (27’’ x 15” x 10”) and 50% lighter (weighing just 43 lbs.) than the 4800 making it much easier to position and move around in a crowded office or studio. From an operating standpoint the 80ml ink cartridges for the 3800 cost $59.95 apiece versus $69.95 for 110ml cartridges for the 4800. You can also purchase 220ml cartridges for the 4800 for $112. So for high volume printers the 4800 would still be more economical to use in the long run. WHAT’S MY RECOMMENDATION Personally I found the 3800 very easy to setup and use. The interface both in the OS software and on the machine is clear and easy to understand. It handles the paper well from all three input trays, and the resulting images are excellent in both black & white and color. Plus it comes with both Hi-Speed USB and 10/100 BaseT Ethernet connectivity ports. At present it’s clearly the best Epson printer in this size range, well worth the extra money versus the 2400, and a better alternative than the 4800 for anyone who’s not a high volume printer. WHAT ELSE Epson has two premium priced versions of the 3800 that come with built-in software additions. First, the Professional Edition at $1,495 comes with a PostScript Language Level 3 compatible RIP by ColorBurst, which is very useful for photographers and designers who create images for offset printing in CMYK mode. Second, there is Portrait Edition designed for wedding and event photographers that ships with an ExpressDigital Darkroom software package that has been customized to work with the 3800, also for $1,495. NOTE: All the prices in this review are the Epson “Suggested Retail Prices”. Although the 3800 is not being discounted yet, deals can be found on the 4800. | 
