For some reason Epson decided not to include ICC print profiles in the UK (and maybe Europe) and they don't seem to have made it to the download pages yet. I telephoned Epson Support in the UK - a nice young lady dealt with me very politely, but clearly didn't have a clue what an ICC profile was, but took my name and number and promised to phone back... I'm still waiting. Some kind person sent me the files, so I'm making them available for download here. There are profiles for matte, enhanced matte, matte heavyweight, photo paper, premium glossy, premium lustre, premium semi-gloss and super fine.

Download R800 profiles

The R800 very sensibly has - unlike the 2000P - even margins on all four sides, and despite the warnings in the manual, borderless prints (on certain paper sizes) don't seem to me to show any degradation at the very edges - an A4 borderless print is a decent-sized picture.

I haven't done any measurement of print times. The R800 is a lot faster than the 2000P and I'm happy with that. One spin-off benefit for me has been the discovery that I can print high quality text pages very quickly; my HP LaserJet died a while back and I couldn't justify replacing it.

My only real criticism of this printer is about the manual/help file, which is pretty dismal and has a lot of gaps. Given the price - just over GBP 200 from Amazon UK and just under USD 400 from Amazon.com - the R800 is a great printer. I thoroughly recommend it.

Other R800 Links

11 Oct '04: Updated drivers from Epson

Profiles for Tetenal paper (thanks to Wendell Ying for this link) | Profiles for Ilford paper (thanks to Keith Johnson for this link)

Outback Photo's Epson R800 Diary: includes a handy curve adjustment for a magenta cast that sometimes appears on B&W prints with Epson profiles. I can't say that I've noticed it, but the few B&W prints I have made have used the custom premium semi-gloss profile that I had made by Imaging Revue. | Steve's Digicam Review