The Epson Stylus Photo 1270 is a hefty printer. It measures 15.5 by 23.5 by 31 inches (HWD) with all trays extended. The 1270 has a maximum true hardware resolution of 1,440-by-720 dpi and uses a variable-size droplet technology (VSDT) that produces drops as small as 4 picoliters. The result--when printing on photo paper with Epson's new quick-drying dye-based inks in six colors--is breathtaking.
The 1270 has a 100-sheet input tray and a 30-sheet output tray. More impressive is the range of print stock this unit can handle--as large as 13 by 44 inches. We printed text on plain paper and photo samples on Epson's new Premium Glossy Photo paper, which resists fading as well as water.
On our speed tests, the Epson unit was much faster when printing photos than the HP. An 8- by 10-inch 300-dpi photo image printed in 1 minute 54 seconds in 360-dpi fine mode using Adobe Photoshop 5.0 Limited Edition, 3 minutes 43 seconds in 720-dpi photo mode, and 7 minutes 32 seconds in 1,440- by 720-dpi mode. For most print jobs, you can use the 720-dpi or even 360-dpi modes.
To print a two-page Word 2000 text document, the 1270 took 29 seconds in economy mode, which is acceptable for draft-mode work or internal distribution only, and 72 seconds in normal 360-dpi mode, which produced excellent output. A 43-page mixed text and graphics Word 2000 document took 8 minutes, 2 seconds to print in economy mode and 19 minutes, 57 seconds in normal mode.
The 1270 has both parallel and USB ports. You can use it with an optional roll-paper holder (US$40 street); a roll of photo paper for printing 50 4- by 6-inch prints edge-to-edge costs US$20. A narrow-carriage version, the Epson Stylus Photo 870 (US$300 street), comes with the roll-paper holder standard.
If you're looking for the highest-quality printer for digital photograph printing, choose the Epson Stylus Photo 1270.
Epson Stylus Photo 1270.
Rating: 5 Star
Street price: US$500.
Requires: 64MB RAM (128MB recommended); 100MB hard disk space (200MB recommended); Microsoft Windows 95, 98, 2000, or NT 4.0. Epson
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