Art Sauder wrote: I am contemplating the purchase of a new printer I am considering the Photo 700 and wanting good picture output as well as some hobbywork. I would appreciate input from anyone who cares to give it regarding suitability of this printer. I have no questions or concerns about it's photo capability. With my experience demonstrating and selling these fine printers I will say the choice is good for doing photographs. The Epson Stylus 700 Photo was designed for the avid amateur and professional photographer. It will do a very good job reproducing just about any type of picture be it scanned, taken from a floppy,CD or downloaded from the net. This printer, like all of the Epson line, except the 440, will print in a maximum resolution of 1440x720 on premium paper like Ink jet or glossy. You can print on a wide range of media from plain paper to iron on transfers which means it provides the greatest flexibility. In a recent Windows Magazine Hardware Review, dated August 1998, http://www.winmag.com/library/1998/0801/rev0050.htm or Epson's sight as follows http://www.epson.com/printer/inkjet/styphoto700/ (sigh, I hope I did this right) In a test, Windows Magazine stated that the Epson 700 printed 1.45ppm for a three page mixed document. Slow? Yes. However, if your primary objection is to print photos, this machine will do an excellent job. Print speeds depend upon system configuration, software application, page complexity, the amount of page covered and print settings. On the other hand, if you're not fussy about six color printing, (which bolsters the mid tone shades), or four color printing, I would recommend the Epson Stylus 740.http://www.epson.com/printer/inkjet/sty740/ This is a new machine on the market and it will do a good job of printing text, (laser quality) and printing pictures that are close to what the 700 can do. I have printed the same pictures on both machines and if you look carefully, you can see the difference. To the person wanting better speed and good quality, this would be a good choice of printer. "The 740 will print a black text memo in approximately 10 seconds (6ppm) Color speed is approximately 5ppm (Text and color graphics) Photo speed on a 4x6 glossy is about 1.5 minutes and a 8x10 will run in about 3 minutes." Not too bad for a middle of the road machine. As I stated earlier, I have printed real samples on the 700 and 740. My choice between the two would be the 740 for it's speed, up to 6ppm mono, 5ppm Color and the good quality of the photos. This machine has "174 nozzles for the black ink which means you can get up to 900 pages of text, (iso/iec 10561 letter pattern)up to 634 pages of graphics (5% coverage). The color ink life is about 300 pages (15% coverage)." The machine will give you decent speed and a good print. For those who really love speed, I would recommend the 850......No I'm not going to go there right now. <smile> I hope this will answer some of the questions you may have. Sincerely, Frank Suszka [log in to unmask] ----- PCBUILD mailing list - http://nospin.com Bob Wright:[log in to unmask] - Drew Dunn:[log in to unmask]