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Epson Artisan 810

Roberto Baldwin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:14:57 -0600

All-in-one printers do everything, but usually at the expense of excelling at any single job. Not so with the Epson Artisan 810, which quickly spits out high-quality photographic prints and also ably takes care of your scanning, copying, and standard printing needs.

The printer uses a tray that accommodates a variety of different paper sizes, including legal, 8.5x14 standard, and various user-definable sizes, which we didn’t have any problems switching between. It also includes a dedicated slot for 4x6 or 5x7 media. You can also print on ink jet–ready CDs and DVDs. The Artisan features print resolutions up to 5760x1440 dpi.

The 810 is speedy--by the time we walked across the room to even wait for our prints, they were already done. The printer has an RPM (Resolution Performance Management) mode that will give you the highest-quality prints available, but it comes at the expense of speed. We noticed the greatest improvements using RPM mode when printing grayscale images with smooth gradients between light and dark. The regular photo mode was more than adequate for point-and-shoot images, but higher-res DSLR shots also showed marked improvement with RPM prints.

Back in Black.

For standard document printing, the Epson produced crisp fonts and pages nearly shot out of the printer. The 810 gave us between 37 to 40 PPM, depending on the amount of included text, and churned out 4x6 photo prints in 8 to 12 seconds. Double-sided prints took longer, but the printer features a built-in duplexer.

The Artisan 810, like most printers, also serves as a card reader and gives you the ability to print directly from memory cards without a computer. We especially like the ability to print out a contact sheet with thumbnails and choose which images to print full size. You can also add frames and create greeting cards directly from the printer itself--a nice touch if you need a card pronto.

All of this memory card–based printing is controlled from the 7.8-inch touchscreen. The screen is home to the easy-to-use UI that controls printer settings and its many features. Setting up the printer, including Wi-Fi printing, was quick and painless.

Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard Troubleshooting Roundup Two

David W. Martin — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 19:37:31 -0500

Apple's Mac OS X v10.6 was released two weeks ago and for most of us the transition from Leopard to Snow Leopard went by without incident. However, we've spent part of the last few weeks scouring Apple's discussion boards and support site for solutions to problems people have been reporting with the upgrade.

Mac OS X Snow Leopard v10.6.1 Security Content

The first update to Snow Leopard, according to Apple, only contains one security update. That update is an upgrade to Flash Player plug-in for Safari. The upgrade brings the plug-in to version 10.0.32.18. You can find more information about the plug-in at Adobe.com.

Mac OS X Snow Leopard v10.6.1 Update

This update released last week and Mac|Life covered it here.

Problems with MAMP and MAMP PRO

Mac|Life recently published a how to for this incredible tool that you can use to design and code web applications that rely on a webserver running Apache, MySQL and PHP on your Mac. Problems with the older versions prompted the developer to release version 1.8.2 of MAMP and MAMP Pro that is compatible with Snow Leopard. You can download the update from the vendors website.

Installing Snow Leopard and finding 'System Events.app'

When we installed Snow Leopard Mac OS X v10.6 over v10.5, and then after restarting the last time, a window came up right after logging asking for us to locate 'System Events.app. '

We called AppleCare and asked about this issue and their advice was just to hit Cancel on the prompt. We did this and on subsequent reboots the message never reappeared. It was theorized that this belonged to some app that have been previously installed, but could not be identified. The file is part of Mac OS X and it is located at: System/Library/CoreService/System Events.app and appears in some user accounts in Account preferences under Login Items.

MacBook Pro Display Gamma Fix

We found a problem with how colors display on the latest 13-inch MacBook Pro models. The problem, with a suggested work around, can be found on Apple's discussion board. Expect a fix for this in a future OS update where appears to be an accidental omission of settings for a particular display panel used in 13-inch MacBook Pros.

Where are my ODBC and Server Admin Tools?

Snow Leopard does not include the ODBC utility as part of its installation so you must download and install it yourself now. In addition to that if you had the Leopard Server tools installed previously, their updates don't appear in Software Update. You must download and install them yourself if you still need them.

SuperDrive Update 2.1 Unexpectedly Quits

Apple has released a support document on what to do when running the SuperDrive 2.1 update that can affect your computer after it updates and then restarts. The fix prevents the Update from reloading and then crashing on subsequent restarts.

VoiceOver Command Changes for Snow Leopard

Apple has published a support document that details the differences in VoiceOver keyboard commands between Mac OS X v10.5 and Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard. OS X v10.6 includes new keyboard commands and support for standard gestures on Macs with a multi-touch trackpad. If you've used this feature previously you might find yourself having problems since two VoiceOver keyboard commands are completely different in Mac OS X v10.6.

MobileMe Sync Log Changed

If you are trying to troubleshoot MobileMe in Mac OS X Snow Leopard the filename has changed from "dotmacsync.log" to "mobilemesync.log" and it is now located in ~/Library/Logs/Sync ("~" equals your Home folder). This Apple support document gives you all the details including the steps needed to view the log inside of the Console application.

Apple Releases HP and Canon Printer Drivers

If anything Apple's Snow Leopard fails pretty badly out of the box for printer support. While it was a good idea not to load all those drivers by default, to save disk space, it turned out to not be such a hot idea. In some cases the system wasn't going out automatically to Internet or the Snow Leopard Install disk and getting the drivers when they were needed. Some of these problems were addressed in the v10.6.1 update and others were not. Now Apple has posted downloads for Hewitt-Packard (HP) and Canon printers.

Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard Troubleshooting Roundup

David W. Martin — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:59:30 -0500

Apple's Mac OS X v10.6 was released last Friday and for most of us the transition from Leopard to Snow Leopard went by without incident. However, we've spent part of last weekend scouring Apple's discussion boards and support site for solutions to problems people have been reporting with the upgrade.

Gray screen after Snow Leopard Installation

If you start your Mac and get a gray screen after upgrading from Leopard to Snow Leopard try reinstalling Snow Leopard. If you haven't upgraded from Leopard yet, make sure that all updates have been applied to Leopard and then try upgrading to Snow Leopard again.

Apple lists incompatible software for Snow Leopard

You can see a list of applications that Apple considers incompatible with Snow Leopard here. The Snow Leopard installer will locate these applications and move them to a folder outside of the applications folder to a folder named Incompatible Software.

Printer and Scanner Software

A listing of compatible printers and scanners can be found by reading this Apple Support Document.

Problems playing media from Apple video editing applications

If you are having problems playing media that you created using Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Express, or iLife, then according to this Apple support document, insert the install disk from any of the three applications above and re-run the installer. An updated list of media formats supported by QuickTime X can be found here.

Exported or Printed Aperture 2.1.4 images suffer color shift

If you have Aperture 2.1.4, which is updated after installing Snow Leopard, and notice color shifting when exporting or printing images, then you need to read this Apple support article.

Windows XP Service Pack 3 not installing in Boot Camp after Snow Leopard Upgrade

A number of users reported problems with the installation of Service Pack 3 for Windows XP on Macs running Boot Camp after upgrading to Snow Leopard. Users will encounter the following error:

An error occurred while copying file osloader.ntd. Cannot copy file to destination directory. Click Retry to retry the operation or click Cancel.

Detailed instructions on how to resolve this problem can be found in this Apple support document.

Elgato's EyeTV - No video, digital audio or crashes on startup

Elgato is reporting that EyeTV versions 3.0 through 3.0.4 are not compatible with Snow Leopard and they recommend that you download the EyeTV 3.1.3b1 version. Note, the download is only valid during the current beta period. More information about their products and compatiblity with Snow Leopard can be found here.

Time Machine - missing backups

Apple's discussion boards are lighting up with complaints about Time Machine after upgrading to Snow Leopard. One of the biggest complaints is that their previous backups have vanished. Well the fact is they haven't vanished at all. There is a quirk in Snow Leopard - simply rebooting and launcing Time Machine again fixes the problem for everyone that has tried that so far. I checked two of my own Macs and found this to be the case -- nothing was gone, but for whatever reason Snow Leopard would not find it until the second time I launched Time Machine.

Time Machine backups located on boot volume

Snow Leopard will not install onto a boot volume that also contains your Time Machine backups. According to Apple a workaround is to drag your "Backups.backupd" from the root level of the hard drive to the Trash. Entering your admin password when prompted. DO NOT EMPTY the trash unless you have a copy of that folder on another drive. Drag the folder from the Trash to the Desktop. You will now be able to install Snow Leopard.

Epson Stylus Photo R2880

Arthur Bleich — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 04:30:00 -0500

The R2880 churns out stunning prints at a good price.

There’s good and bad news about Epson’s wide-carriage Stylus Photo R2880, successor to the four-year-old Stylus Photo R2400. First, the good: It’s more robust than the R2400 and puts out the most gorgeous color and black-and-white prints up to 13x19 inches (13x44 inches for panoramas) we’ve ever seen. The bad: Photo Black and Matte Black cartridges still require swapping when using different paper surfaces.

The R2880 also weighs almost 27 pounds and takes up quite a bit of space: Its physical footprint is 24.3 inches wide by 12.7 inches deep (20 inches with its top-loading sheet feeder extended). You’ll need even more room behind it, though, if you use roll paper (holders included) or load single or heavier (up to 1.3mm thick) art-type papers through front or rear single-sheet feed slots. A tray for printing on specially surfaced CDs and DVDs comes with the printer and a pair of USB 2.0 ports allows a two-computer connection, though only one can print at a time.

Following Epson’s quick-start guide, we shook each cartridge a few times and then snapped in Light-Light Black, Vivid Light Magenta, Light Cyan, Light Black, Photo Black, Cyan, Vivid Magenta, and Yellow in that order (we kept Matte Black close by for later use). A press of the Ink button fired up the printer, after which we installed the software without a hitch before connecting the R2880 to our Mac.

We began by printing our 8x10 inch test image on Epson’s Premium Photo Paper Glossy at the three resolutions suitable for photos: SuperFine 1440, Photo 1440, and SuperPhoto 5670. Each has a High Speed option that allows the printhead to lay down ink in both directions of travel, instead of just one; we ran each resolution in both modes.
Unidirectional output speeds were: SuperFine 1440, 3minutes, 12 seconds; Photo 1440, 4 minutes, 39 seconds; SuperPhoto 5760, 8 minutes, 7 seconds. Bidirectional times for the same resolutions were 1 minute, 36 seconds; 2 minutes, 29 seconds; and 4 minutes, 14 seconds, respectively. Eyeballing our six prints carefully, all appeared equal in quality. But looking at them through a powerful loupe revealed some minuscule variations. Nevertheless, Photo 1440 at High Speed gave us excellent results on most papers, along with reasonable printing times.

The R2880 is one of the quietest printers we’ve used--we could hardly hear it at 6 feet away. Prints show no color shifting (metamerism), color layering or bronzing, and Epson’s Ultrachrome K3 pigment inks have a predicted print lightfastness of up to 205 years under glass, but humidity, heat, and air contaminants could shorten that.

Most impressive was the quality of prints we output on different Epson, Red River, and Hahnemühle papers using the R2880’s Advanced Black-and-White mode. They easily equaled or surpassed the finest silver halide prints we’ve seen, offering rich, deep blacks with an extraordinary tonal range that could only be described as stunning. It was also easy to simulate sepia, platinum, selenium, and other traditional toners.

Ink consumption when printing uni- or bidirectionally at SuperFine 1440 or Photo 1440 was about the same. At $13.29 per cartridge, we calculated the average cost of ink for an 8x10 inch print at those four options to be 80 cents ($2.50 for a 13x19 inch photo) though it could be higher or lower depending on the percentage of dark or light areas in an image. SuperPhoto 5760 used about twice as much ink when producing museum-quality, exhibition images on fine art papers.