After loading the ink, we place a sheet of plain paper into the top feeder and then install the driver. But first, let’s finish setting up the printer. This information is useful for separating machine cost from remaining ink value in order to calculate a capital consumption cost for use of the machine itself, and later on to calculate ink cost per print. or so before all the cartridges will need to have been replaced. I estimate that I’ll print another 35 sq.ft. of inked surface and so far only the Light Gray tank was replaced. After six weeks of printing, I’ve printed about 67 sq.ft. Whether you measure from the Status sheet (Figure 5 left) or the LCD screen (Figure 5 right), the proportion of 50ml remaining to be used is about 0.31= 15.5 mL per cartridge x 10 cartridges = about 155 mL total. These are normally 50ml cartridges, so I assume that Epson’s info panels showing ink remaining are based on ultimate 50 ml per cartridge and there are 10. But we can use the amount that remains in the cartridges. The initial fill charges the lines and those lines need to remain charged for the life of the printer, so we never use that amount – it’s an overhead built into the cost of the printer. What matters to “printer economics” about starter ink is how much remains in the cartridges after the initial fill. But do be aware, this is my estimate based on the stated assumptions – nothing Epson has blessed or even had anything to do with. So, I’ll do that here, because “roughly” is more information than nothing. But with a couple of assumptions and a bit of work we can figure it out – roughly. Now for the serious part: no-one I consulted knows how much ink you actually get to use from the starter cartridges.
To get roughly equivalent USD value, divide CAD by 1.35. So it’s just plain uneconomic to drink the ink if nothing else. No kidding, they really do! I don’t know what the stuff tastes like, but at CAD 1.31/mL (after sales tax) a 750 ml bottle of wine at that price would cost CAD 982.50, and I guarantee you that here in Toronto I can buy really nice 750 mL bottles of Ontario wine for 1/50 th that price. They even advise us not to drink the ink. Let us proceed with the START HERE poster that comes with the printer and follow it, step-by-step. Epson provides this packaging to minimize risk of damage in transit. You’ll find blue tape ever so neatly and precisely applied in various places, and you do need to remove ALL of it before doing anything else (Figure 4). The ink delivery system comes filled with shipping fluid, so it needs to be voided and ink replaces it on initial set-up. Epson provides this because the one inside the printer gets filled to about 90% of its capacity with printer initialization. The small package in bubble-wrap at the back is a spare maintenance tank. Then there is the conventional and famous “Blue Tape” waiting to be peeled off once we get the product out of the box (Figure 3) and positioned to set-up. They just want to make sure you know this is an Epson product packaged by Epson and not tampered with by anybody else (Figure 2). The first bit of specialty tape one encounters is outside the box, having the name “Epson” imprinted throughout. Let’s begin at the beginning with Epson tape. This printer can be purchased at B&H Photo. You’ll find a summary of all the major points at the end of the article if you want to scroll down.
Mark, thank you for such a detailed report. Never before has been so easy to print from any mobile device as well as your typical applications on notebook and desktop computers.
With the introduction of the P700 and P900 printing is taken to a whole new level of ease and accuracy. At PXL we believe you don’t have a photograph until you can hold it in your hands. Publisher’s Note: what follows is a very significant and detailed overview of the Epson SC-P900 printer. Aha, “this is IT”, I said to myself as I hustled it inside the house, took a bite of lunch and got down to “work”. I walked home from visiting with a friend, socially distanced and masked as the times require, and as I reached my front door, I was pleasantly surprised to see a large box from Epson America sitting at the doorstep (Figure 1).