By Allan D. Francisco
The Stylus Photo R310 from Epson is a printer designed primarily for people who love taking pictures with their digital cameras or camera phones. While Epson does not discriminate against consumers who are not too keenly enamored with these digital photo devices, the R310’s various features and capabilities exist primarily to make pixel pictures look their very best in print.
Design, Innovations and Installation
The R310’s design and looks would not make it stand out from the rest of the crop of inkjet photo printers currently in the market. On the other hand, it possesses several innovations that would make any digital photographer’s heart flutter with infatuation. It comes with a 1.5-inch color LCD that gives a rudimentary preview of how the print would turn out. A real nice touch since the R310 as with its direct-print siblings print images even sans the PC, though I suspect and hope that Epson would soon come out with a much improved display system. A smaller monochrome display on the control panel provides information on the status of the printer and guides the user in navigating the unit’s various settings and functions.
It also has a built-in tray for printing on CDs and DVDs. A dozen possibilities have come to my mind, possible applications for the R310 CD/DVD printing ability. Picture a struggling rock band if you will, imagine how much it would enhance its chances of landing a recording deal with a music label by sending over a professional-looking demo CD/DVD. Of course, quality of music, talent and actual performing ability would not hurt either.
Installing the 498 x 289 x 476-mm, 6-kg R310 requires no genius. In fact, it is almost an idiot-proof process. Hey, I did not even have to call any of our IT high priests for assistance. And I even had to install it twice. I first had to install it on my soon-to-be-former PC, a Pentium III, 128MB RAM, Windows 98SE system. The almost-orphaned Microsoft OS readily detected the R310 and searched for the appropriate driver. Inserting the Epson-provided CD started the installation process. A couple of hours after the process was completed, one of our tech guys came bearing my new PC, a Pentium 4, 256MB, Windows XP system. After the PC was set up, I repeated the whole process, and it worked just as fine, only more seamlessly with the Windows XP.
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| Epson Stylus Photo R310 | |
The R310 comes with a 5,760 x 1,440 optimized dpi resolution, and through its friction feeder system can handle several paper sizes including A4, A5, A6, Letter, B5, 100 x 150 mm, Legal, Envelopes, Executive and Half Letter. It connects to a PC via its USB 2.0 high-speed link, but can function using its USB 1.1 connection, although at a much reduced speed.
Designed for optimized direct printing, it supports various flash memory formats such as Memory Stick, MultiMediaCard, SD, xD-Picture Card, Smart Media, Compact Flash I and II, Microdrive, Memory Stick PRO and Duo, MagicCard Memory Stick, and MiniSD card.
Supporting Mac OS 9.x and OS X, and Microsoft Windows 98/2000/Me/XP, the printer comes with a CD containing several software including printer drivers, an on-line guide, Epson Photo Quicker 3.5, Print Image Framer, and Print Image Framer Designer.
It also comes with an optional Bluetooth Adaptor that allows the unit to print images received from camera phones and other Bluetooth-enabled devices.
Performance
Once primed and ready, the R310 started trying its best to impress me. And I was raring to test its mettle. First, I got hold of the 10 x 15-cm photo papers that came with the box and proceeded to print some pictures of my family’s visit to the in-laws in Bicol this past Holy Week.
Next, I took a couple of the blank CDs and tried the unit’s CD-printing function. If you’re wondering how could I make it seem easy to use the R310 and get acquainted with its features, well credit should be given to Epson. And to the user’s manual and a stand-alone idiot-prompt sheet that came with the unit. Instructions are to the point and quite enlightening.
In almost all conditions and settings, the R310 performed as well as Epson touted it would. Only a couple of issues hold me from declaring it perfect. Its preview screen needs more resolution, and it prints a tad too slow. Well, adjusting the settings could prompt it to print faster, but at its optimal Best-Quality setting, it takes quite some time to finish a print.
But I only have praises for the quality of its prints. Pictures that I have printed using the R310 sure beat those printed by the photo centers I have tried.
Our verdict? The R310 empowers the digital photographer by performing as a virtual, professional-level darkroom.
