New Printers to Replace The X900 and X890 Series?

This is off-topic from life with a 7900, but perhaps of interest to both of my regular readers: A few days ago Epson announced a new series of printers: Eight-ink SureColor (SC) P6000 (24"), and SC P8000 (44"), and ten-ink SC P7000 and SC P9000. Epson lists these new machines under the heading, "Photography and Fine Art". In appearance and overall size they are quite similar to the X900 and X890 printers.

The eight-color machines use Epson's UltraChrome HD inks. While the name is similar to the UltraChrome HDR inks used in the X900/890 series, and the available cartridge sizes are the same, the inks have new part numbers, so one assumes they are not the same, and likely not interchangeable.

Epson calls the inks for the ten-color machines "UltraChrome HDX", perhaps in an attempt to ensure nobody can keep straight which inks are used in which machines. In any case, it seems clear the HDX inks are completely new.

And yes, one still (apparently) must swap MK for PK, and back, as the two inks continue to share a channel in the head.

There's no shortage of speculation around the Web: these machines use new (and one assumes better) heads, or they don't; one can swap the new inks into an X900/X890, or not; there will be fewer head clogs (ink delivery problems) or that problem will remain a major annoyance and expense; the list goes on.

Imaging Resource has posted a decent quick overview. I found a couple of minor factual errors, or at least, information that doesn't agree with what Epson has posted. I also noted a number of the features the article describes as "new" are, in fact, present on the X900/890 series.

Epson's "Pro" printer page is here. You can see the Stylus Pro X900 and X890 series are still shown, under the heading, "Photo, Proofing, Packaging, and Fine Art" (pretty much covers it!). At the top of that page you'll find links to detailed information about the new SureColor machines.

Of particular interest is the ability to schedule automatic head/nozzle checks. This apparently uses a small amount of ink to check for nozzle clogs, and then cleans only the channels needing it. Apart from the ability to schedule when these checks happen, the nozzle checking part of this feature sounds similar to the much-reviled ANC function, which, I think it's safe to say, most X900/890 users disable soon after setting up their machines. Let's hope it works better than ANC ever did, and doesn't leave the machines stuck in an endless, ink-draining cleaning mode.

There is, as yet, no indication the SC machines will replace the similar-sized Stylus Pro printers. Time will tell. Although this is not an endorsement of the X900/890 series, if you're at all interested in owning one of these machines, it makes sense to watch for bargains over the next few months.

  --Jay