in general was simple and the inclusion of animations on the screen aids users in performing simple tasks such as loading the paper or changing inks.
Paper feed system
Epson’s media handling system has always been very straightforward and has seen little change over the last 10 years. The simplicity of the system was its strength, and while I’m not generally a fan of fixing things that aren’t broken, the new media handling system on the 900 series is really nice.
My favorite change is the lack of a paper spindle. Instead, the roll adapters are placed in the end of the paper roll and locked in place with a lever. Once secured, the roll is placed directly in the printer’s roll holder. To accommodate different paper sizes the left roll holder moves on a track. On the 9880 the 44” spindle has, upon occasion, had “is-
sues” with overhead lights, so this is a welcomed improvement. After using it for a few hours I kept thinking “why didn’t someone think of this earlier!”
The new system also utilizes an automatic paper feed system. All that is required to load a roll is to feed a small amount of media into the printer, and then with the push of a button the printer automatically advances the paper. The system can correct for small amounts of skew, and I found it to be fairly forgiving and easy to load. The system also automatically winds the slack out of the roll and provides back tension. The 9900 also has an optional take up reel for heavy production environments.
Another new feature on the X900 is end of roll encoding, a system that keeps track of roll length and paper type. It does this by printing a bar
In my opinion the media handling on the 900 series is second to none. It’s also good to note that the printer still accepts media up to 1.5 mm thick.
Cutter
This is an feature that at first seems so minor as to barely merit mention, yet in reality is a significant improve- ment. The paper cutter in the X900 has switched from a blade, to a self sharpening rotary cutter, giving it a number of distinct advantages over the previous system. First, it allows the printer to make lightning fast cuts in a single pass. The second improvement is that it can now cut through heavy fine art papers and even canvas. For fine art printers this is a big time savings! No more sloppy hand cuts resulting in expensive media waste. You can now send 4 canvas prints to the printer, go to lunch, and when you return have four cut sheets in the paper bin. Lastly, by placing the cutter in a different section of the printer than the print head, the paper dust from the cuts are less likely to attach to the print head and cause nozzle clogs - a potentially big deal!
Noise
This is another advertised feature I didn’t give much attention, but I’ve grown to appreciate this change. The first time I made a print on the 7900 I had to walk over to the printer to make sure that it was actually printing. Like the X880 series, the suction is louder when the printer first begins to print but is then reduced. On the
