Epson R200 Detailed Information - Reviews - Driver Downloads - Ink Cartridge Supplies - Manuals

Download your Epson R200 printer drivers for Windows XP here.

Download your Epson R200 printer drivers for Windows Vista here.

We only bought the R200 because we happened to spot it one day on an online shop at a discounted price. Our old printer was noisy, expensive to run and didn't produce very high quality prints so we went for it.
We have never looked back; I can only praise this printer. Primarily, it was so easy to set up; it actually took longer getting those stupid polystyrene end shields that they put products like this in when in the box, out of the box and removing all the little bits of tape from the printer than it did plugging it in, installing it and printing. Really easy. You don't even need to read the instruction manual.

For draft or text printing, the R200 is extremely quick and the quality is as you'd expect it to be, like most printers I suppose. When it comes to photo printing however, it's fantastic. We've got picture phones, which don't produce the highest quality pics in the first place but are fine to mess about with. We decided to print the pics from our phone through the printer and the results were remarkable. For a start, it does edge to edge printing, so you put in whichever size paper you want to print on, say 6" x 4" and you get a 6" x 4" photo, just as you would if you'd had photos developed professionally. The quality of the R200's prints is professional too and really high; the colors are almost exactly as they should be. All I would say is that you may need to go to the Epson site to download the right server for your machine for your pics to come out so well. Ours were coming out really dark until we did that.
The disc printing is also great. If you want to print directly onto a disc, the quality is again fantastic. Finding out how to insert the disc tray into the machine is fiddly at first and you have to make sure that there's enough room at the back of the printer for the tray to come out the back since to print it is pulled horizontally all the way through the printer then pushed back out the front again. Not the best design feature but once you realise this you can account for it.

Only thing I'd say negative is the cost of the cartridges; it takes 6 altogether and the genuine Epson ones aren't cheap. There are however several compatible ones at much lower prices, which we've used and found to make no difference whatsoever to the speed, quality and reliability of printing.

The R200 is an excellent printer and if you can get it below £70, a bargain.




Having last owned a color printer several years ago, (despite my modesty, I'll own up to it being a dot matrix!), I approached the purchase of this printer with some trepidation. Having initially been won over by the excellent quality of the demonstration print displayed with the printer, I was equally enamoured of the ability to print onto printable CD/DVD. The printer itself was very easy to set up (although, I found the instructions for installing the CD printing tray to be very "obtuse", consisting of a series of icons, without any written instructions.). A few minutes later, and I was happily printing away.
The first thing that struck me was how quiet the R200 was. This printer sits very happily in a small office/home office environment, although you must also allow space behind the printer when considering its location, as the CD printing tray is drawn into the printer prior to printing, and protrudes from the rear of the printer itself. I found that I needed to allow some 8 inches behind the printer. The printer has the ability to print to the edge of the print page (although quality may deteriorate slightly toward the edges), and if the recommended Epson photo paper is used, and your original source image is of sufficient resolution, the print quality is excellent. The prints dry very quickly, and the whole thing is very fuss free.

The R200 connects to the PC via a USB port (there is no parallel connectivity option), but does support bi-directional printing (this means that the printer can report its status back to the user) The ink cartridges (6 of them) are very easy to install, and the printer comes with a set of 6 cartridges in the box (and unlike some printer manufacturers, these are full cartridges). The printer is supplied with a small pack of 4x5 inch photo paper, but no additional A4 paper, or labels. Apart from the printer driver itself, the printer comes with the following software:
Epson Photo Quicker

This piece of software allows you to print contact sheets, and edit your photos. Amongst its useful, and user friendly features, it ahs the ability to reduce red-eye in a photo, and adjust most aspects of the picture (e.g. color balance, brightness and contrast, size and orientation etc)
The software is very easy for beginners to use, but don’t expect to be able to do anything major with it, in terms of retouching; for these tasks, use a dedicated photo retouching package such as Photoshop, paint shop pro or photo paint.
Epson PIF editor

This software (in conjunction with Epson Frame maker, also included on the CD) allows you to make "picture frames" for your prints, and comes with a few already designed examples. I found this software to be difficult to use, and not particularly user friendly)
Epson Print CD

This piece of software, is very easy to use, and allows you to print directly to the CD. The software allows you to import graphics created outside of the Epson suite, and really the only limit is your own imagination.
Overall, the software ranged from excellent through to poor, and seems to be a mismatch of programs which have been put together for the CD. However, all of the software does do the job it is supposed to do (if you persevere!)

Overall, I would heartily recommend the R200, and the price was right (Mine was purchased from PC word, which had an offer on at the time of writing - buy a digital camera with the printer, and the printer only costs £50.00)
Ahhh! One last thing, the manual is included on the CD, in electronic form only!

Replacing an Ink Cartridge In The Epson Stylus R200

In some circumstances, you may need to replace an ink cartridge before it is empty.

If the  ink out light is flashing or is on, replace the empty ink cartridge as described in the section below.
To replace an ink cartridge before the  ink out light flashes, or the EPSON Status Monitor notifies you that the cartridge is empty, follow the instructions in this section.

You can replace an ink cartridge using the printer's control panel.

We recommend regular cleaning of your Epson Stylus R200 printer with a set of cleaning cartridges.

Leave the old cartridge installed in the printer until you have obtained a replacement; otherwise, ink remaining in the print head nozzles may dry out.

Do not refill the ink cartridges. The printer calculates the amount of ink remaining using an IC chip on the ink cartridge. Even if the cartridge is refilled, the amount of ink remaining will not be recalculated by the IC chip and the amount of ink available for use will not change.

You cannot continue printing with one ink cartridge empty, even if the other cartridges still contain ink. Before printing, replace the empty cartridge.

In addition to the ink used during document printing, ink is consumed during the print head cleaning operation, during the self-cleaning cycle which is performed when the printer is turned on, and during ink charging when the ink cartridge is installed in the printer.

Using the printer's control panel buttons

The illustrations show replacement of the black ink cartridge. Replace the ink cartridge appropriate to your situation.

Make sure that the printer is on. The  power light should be on, but not flashing.

Make sure that the paper support is open, then open the printer cover and lower the output tray.

Make sure the CD/DVD tray is not inserted in the printer before you replace the ink cartridge.

Remove the new ink cartridge from the package.

Be careful not to break the hooks on the side of the ink cartridge when you remove it from the package.

Do not remove or tear the label on the cartridge; otherwise, ink will leak.

Do not touch the green IC chip on the front of the cartridge. This can damage the ink cartridge.

If an ink cartridge is temporarily removed from the printer, be sure to protect the ink supply port of the ink cartridge from dirt and dust; store it in the same environment as the printer. Be sure to store the cartridge as shown in the illustration. Note that there is a valve in the ink supply port, making covers or plugs unnecessary, but care is needed to prevent the ink from staining items that the cartridge touches. Do not touch the ink supply port or surrounding area.

Be sure to always install an ink cartridge into the printer immediately following the removal of the current ink cartridge. If the ink cartridge is not installed promptly, the print head may dry out, rendering it unable to print.

Press the  ink button. The print head moves to the ink cartridge replacement position, and the  power light begins to flash.

Do not press the  ink button over three seconds. Otherwise the printer starts cleaning the print head.

Do not move or force the print head by hand, as this may damage the printer. Always press the ink button to move the print head.

Open the cartridge cover. Pinch the sides of the ink cartridge that you want to replace, then lift the cartridge out of the printer and dispose of it properly.

If ink gets on your hands, wash them thoroughly with soap and water. If ink gets into your eyes, flush them immediately with water. If discomfort or vision problems continue after a thorough flushing, see a doctor immediately.

Place the ink cartridge vertically into the cartridge holder. Push the ink cartridge down until it clicks into place.

When you are finished replacing the cartridge, close the cartridge cover and the printer cover.

Press the  ink button. The print head moves and the ink delivery system begins to charge. This process takes about one minute to complete. When the ink charging process is finished, the printer returns the print head to its home position. The  power light stops flashing and remains on, and the  ink out light goes out.

The  power light continues to flash while the printer performs the ink charging operation. Never turn off the printer while this light is flashing. Doing so can result in incomplete charging of ink.