Product Portfolio: Product of the Week - Epson Stylus Pro 4000.(Inkjet printing machinery)

Delay marked the Stylus Pro's launch and continues to mark it's delivery. Simon Eccles finds out if the wait is worth it.

Buyer anticipation may be a good marketing tool. When Epson first announced its attractively priced and specified Stylus Pro 4000 A2+ format ink-jet with Ultrachrome pigment inks back in October, it was due to ship by the end of 2003.

The date soon slipped to March, then April. Now there's a handful of 4000s with the dealers and doing the rounds of exhibitions, but if you order one today it is likely to be June before your name comes to the top of the waiting list.

There are three configurations. The 4000-C8 is a basic eight-colour printer with Mac OS and Windows drivers. The 4000-PS supplies an Adobe PostScript 3 software RIP (for Mac or Windows); 4000-C4 is largely aimed at the CAD market and takes two sets of CMYK inks for faster printing. Officially Epson quotes 13.3 sq m per hour output for the eight-colour models and 20.9 sq m for the twin-CMYK, but this is in the draft mode that's little use for proofing.

Practical appeal

Stylus Pro 4000 is an attractive proposition for printers and repro houses. It's reasonably compact, if not exactly 'desktop' with a footprint of 848x1,105mm with the paper tray fully expanded. Most of the proofing RIP and ROOM software makers already drive the A1+ format Stylus Pro 7600 so it's easy for them to drive the 4000.

The new printer is also practical …