Well, my last Epson 1270 was a piece of crap as regards banding.

Guess Epson fixed it when they made your Epson P2200.

The marketing hype for high end Epson models, like the 4800, 7800, 9600
claim automatic alignment of print heads, after a test pattern is
analyzed..

That implies the print heads might get  _out_  of alignment.

John posted that Epson puts the ink nozzles on the printer, not on the
ink cartridges. (high end Epson printers only?)

The Epson high end printers, $2,000 and up, claim they can
automatically detect and clean partially clogged nozzles.

I don't know if that actually works.  Seems to me if a nozzle gets
partially clogged with  _dried_  ink, that there is not much that can
be done to unclog it, other than to remove the nozzle assembly from the
printer and clean it in a strong solvent.

Well, I am too busy chasing my tail to properly respond to all the
great helpful posts here, so I threw in a few, er, exaggerations, to
liven up the thread.

Trying to whip together an "outfit" for my Canon 5D, among many other
chores and projects.

Gave up trying to find a clamp-on tripod that will allow me to attach
the camera to limbs, ladders, etc., guess I will have to jury rig one
from stuff I find at a hardware store.

Whoops, UPS pounding on my door, appears to be a 200 pound muscle-bound
Russian woman.

Looks like she has the interval timer for the Canon, a device that will
repeatedly click the shutter at timed intervals, anywhere from one
second to 99 hours.

Wait a second...

Asked her how UPS handles heavy 100 pound items - - - she said with
both hands. (???)     Finally got across to her that I wanted to know
the UPS limit, she grunted they will deliver up to 150 pounds.

Mark-

elcoggins@bee.net wrote
(in article
<1147179971.278413.322560@i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>):

My 2200 *will* clog, if you leave it sitting for a while (a
couple weeks) without printing anything.  A nozzle check is
sometimes good enough, other times the ink-eating clean-fest is
required.

I agree that matching monitor and printer calibrations is a
breeze on the mac.  However, the Epson software to control and
monitor ink levels and such sucks on the Mac compared to the PC.
Overall, it's worth it though to have what you see on screen
match what you see on the printer.

I've yet to figure out how to get it 100% dialed in for a dual
monitor setup though.  I have two identical monitors, but
a) Apple will apparently not allow you to copy one calibration
setting to the other
b) That's okay, since they aren't quite the same anyway 'as is'.
c) Problem is I can't ever quite get the two to look exactly the
same with the manual monitor calibration sequence (no, I don't
have one of those colorimeters).  So, I wind up using a color
setup for one of the two monitors and do all the color tweaking
work on that one and then print.  

I tried, but I keep missing.

Great series of 3 posts there John, lots of help for this newbie.

Sorry for not responding here in detail, but I have just 'nuff time to
snap off a quick post, then gotta get back to chasing my tail.

Wanna  explain why I steal all your tax dollars.

It has nothing to do with you personally.   It all has to do with my
own bitter attitude, from the raw hand that life has dealt me.

Hopefully, when I explain the circumstances, you will forgive me and we
can get on with discussing Digital Single Lens cameras, and printers
sometimes used with those DSL cameras.

It all started because I am now not much over 3 feet tall.   I used to
be taller, 5' 10'' to be precise, but life has worn me down over the
years, I kept shrinking due to old age.

As you can imagine, my short stature gave me a complex.   People
sneered at me from on high, especially big guys.   Those same big guys
did not realize that all their vital parts were inches away from my
teeth, but I always restrained myself and did not emasculate them.

Just picture me as being "Yosemite Sam" in the Bugs Bunny cartoons, and
you will get a good idea of what I look like, mean disposition and all.

To make things worse, my complex made me gain weight, so I was not too
much over 3 feet tall and weighed well over 200 pounds, a terrible
sight.

Craving respect, I went into the Army. (er, well I was actually drafted)

Once in, they lined us all up, and said anyone who wants to be a medic,
to take one step forward.

Well, I never claimed to be smart, plus the sound of the sergeants
voice went over my head, because I was shielded by all those tall
bodies around me.

Anyhow, everyone else took one step  _backwards_ ,  so I was
inadvertantly "volunteered" to become a medic.

Fortunately, there was no actual  "War" in Korea, everyone told me it
was a police action, like in Iraq today.

I could be a policeman.   I asked them where was my police badge.  
They gave me a big round badge with a red cross painted on it.

I was happy, about to get the respect I so richly deserved, as a
policeman.

Would not work in a M.A.S.H.  or anything like that, they said
policemen were needed much closer to where the action was, in battalion
or company first-responder aid stations.

Anyhow, what happened next, I don't want to talk about, ya'hear.

Got plenty of respect, but I don't want to talk about it, all that is
in the distant past.

RUNNING  SCREAMING  out of the Army after my 2 year hitch, I got a job
at the Hughes Research Lab near Los Angeles.  Hot shot engineers there
were always bragging about what engineering "societies" they belonged
to, like the Association for Computing Machinery, (ACM), or the
American Association for Artificial Intelligence, (AAAI), or the
Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, (IEEE).

I said to one of those engineers that I could get probably into those
societies if I really put my mind to it - - - that brought down the
house with loud guffaws from all the en-gin-eers, they really hurt my
feelings.    I was little more than an un-educated janitor there, a
person who did not even complete high school.   I had to leave school
to support my family.

I saw red, SOMEONE WAS GOING TO PAY DEARLY !!!

I got into the ACM and the AAAI fairly easily, my background of working
with the in-flight computers inside the F14, F15, F18 aircraft helped,
plus my hobby of working with the Lisp language.  Getting into IEEE was
a bit rough, but I made it.

All that was back in the days when it was tough getting into those
societies, not like today when anyone can get in, if they are willing
to lie about their background.

But I  _still_  got no respect, probably because I was a runt, and
getting shorter with each passing year.

Even the government gave me no respect, collecting 30% of my paltry
wages for state and federal tax.  The yearly tax "bite" was $25,000.

(janitors make lotsa money at Hughes)

34 years went by, I became more bitter and shorter with each passing
year.   Craving respect, I got an old leather jacket with a eagle
painted on the back, grew a bunch of mean looking facial hair.

Bought a large motorcycle 3 times heavier than any sane person would
buy, it weighed over 1,000 pounds compared to usual 300 pound
motorcycles.

One tiny problem, my feet would not reach the ground when I was sitting
on my motorcycle.

Had the seat customized so it was 2 inches lower, but my feet still
could not reach.

Customized my boots with thick soles and heels, feet could then reach
the ground, just barely.

Could not work the shift lever with my large left boot, so bolted a
aluminum extending piece into my left boot near the toe, to allow me to
shift.

Got lotsa respect riding that big mean motorcycle, looking like
Yosemite Sam pearched atop a very large elephant.

Figured out a way to get some of my tax money back.   I got the
standard $100,000 low cost old man tuneup, insertion of two stents in
my ticker, replacement of both of my biological eye lenses with plastic
lenses.

Getting greedy now.    I on a year long waiting list for a cornea
transplant for my left eye.

So ya see, you are paying for my rebuild with your tax dollars, just
like I was paying for all those Vietnam era military guys to go to
college after their service hitch, and become the latest generation of
snooty aloof engineers.

Not enough time to even read the posts here, what with making the 80
mile round trip to my physical therapist.   He sez there is only a 10%
chance of an extensive exercise routine killing me, which are good
enough odds for me.

Gotta figure out a way of getting Medicare to pay for all this, because
it is financially breaking me, that physical therapist costs $40 an
hour.

End of apologies and bitching.   If I ever get the time, I will try to
get you guys to talk me out of buying the Epson printer model 4800.

Epson sent me a sample packet of prints made by the 4800, and they look
GREAT.

No banding whatever, even viewed through a 10x magnifier.

I could not believe that, but I saw it with my own rebuilt eyes.

Blacks in the color prints are dead black, just like they should be.

I could not find  _any_  dither artifacts in areas I knew to be
"plain", like the photo' of the 4800 itself.
(viewing with 10x glass)

There are  _plenty_  of dither artifacts in the consumer grade Epsons
that I have been using up to now, so I know what to look for.

Whatever Epson is doing with the 4800 seems to be working.

I am weakening, weakening, weakening...

Gotta run, hafta Google for  "RIP printers" to find out if it is worth
getting the "Pro" model 4800 or not.

After all, they do  _include_  Ethernet capability with the Pro model,
and I know that I will need Ethernet.

Gonna spend a long time looking, I will see if HP will mail me a sample
packet of prints done on  _their_  high end printers - - - and I will
look closely at the $600 Epson with its 8 ink cartridges.

What I am really worried about is whether or not printer technology
will make another big advance the day after i buy a $2,000 printer.<g>

Mark-