Epson Artisan 1430 has been a popular wide-format printer. People love its amazing print quality, and are using it for printing large photos and crafts. However, following the company’s five-year cycle on their wide-format printer line-up, Epson XP 15000 has been released to replace it. So, how do Epson Artisan 1430 vs XP 15000 compare? Is the new printer able to live up to the performance and quality of the predecessor?
Continue reading below, as we are going to discuss everything about:
- The size & design of Epson XP 15000, is it an improvement from Epson Artisan 1430
- The new features introduced on Epson XP 15000 that Epson Artisan 1430 lacks
- Whether the new Epson XP 15000 has even higher print quality than Epson Artisan 1430
- The ink economy of Epson Artisan 1430 vs XP 15000
- Whether you should stick with Epson Artisan 1430 or go for Epson XP 15000
Design
Since it is a wide-format printer meant to handle A3-size paper sheets, Epson Artisan 1430 is obviously large. However, it is still fairly sized for this type of printer. It measures 24.3 inches wide, 12.7 inches deep, and 8.5 inches tall. The weight is about 26 pounds. It is not too heavy, so moving it is a possibility, though not something that you want to do often.
Epson Artisan 1430 does not have an LCD panel. Instead, you get a control panel with all the basic functions. The printer is equipped with an input feed that can hold up to 100 sheets of plain paper, or up to 30 sheets of specialty paper. Read also: Nebula Mars 2 vs Mars 2 Pro.
Interestingly, Epson XP 15000 has managed to compress everything into an even smaller and lighter package. This unit measures 18.74 x 14.52 x 6.26 inches and weighs 18.73 pounds. As a result, if size is an important factor when choosing between Epson Artisan 1430 vs XP 15000, you will find this printer to be quite attractive. It won’t eat that much space on your desk, and it is certainly a nice choice for a small office room.
Unfortunately, the reduced dimensions come at the cost of build quality. Some parts are made from lighter yet less robust plastic. Anyhow, Epson XP 15000 still brings an improvement to the user interface: it now has an LCD screen. Although this ain’t a touchscreen, it already allows a more convenient and less confusing operation. There is also an automatic print tray, along with a rear feed slot and a cassette for A4 plain paper sheets.
Epson Artisan 1430 Epson XP 15000
Product Dimensions 27.8 x 17.3 x 12.5 inches
30.9 x 18.7 x 16.2 inches
Shipping Weight 35.3 pounds
18.7 pounds
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Connectivity
When it comes to connectivity, Epson Artisan 1430 is fairly practical. It does not have an Ethernet port, but this is just a minor issue, as it already comes with Wi-Fi. So, network use is possible via a wireless connection. In addition, mobile devices can print directly to Epson Artisan 1430 via the EpsonConnect mobile app.
Of course, there is a USB port for a direct computer connection. There is no media card slot. Meanwhile, the USB port on the front is dedicated for PictBridge-enabled digital cameras, and is very handy if photo printing is your main purpose.
Between Epson Artisan 1430 vs XP 15000, you may gravitate more towards the new model if you prefer to use Ethernet for network use. Epson XP 15000 adds an Ethernet port to its connectivity. But it still has Wi-Fi as well as Wi-Fi Direct. You can use the Epson iPrint mobile app to connect an iOS or Android device. It is also compatible with a wide range of cloud printing apps, such as AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, and Mopria.
Again, there is a USB port for computer connection and another one dedicated for PictBridge. Unfortunately, there is still no media card slot, and you still can’t plug a USB flash drive directly to the printer – you need to use a computer to print files stored in such a drive.
Inks
One of the main differences between Epson Artisan 1430 vs XP 15000 that makes people worry is the ink cartridge. Epson Artisan 1430 has a decent, fairly efficient ink system. It works with Type-79 ink cartridges that are said to be able to provide 50% more prints than standard units. The specs say that the cartridges can provide up to 810 color prints or 470 black-and-white prints. Additionally, the old printer can work with third-party refillable ink cartridges.
The company has decided to use a different ink system on Epson XP 15000. The predecessor works with black, yellow, cyan, light cyan, magenta, and light magenta inks. The new printer works with black, yellow, cyan, magenta, red, and gray inks. You can choose to use Type-312 standard-capacity cartridges or Type-312XL and Type-314XL high-capacity cartridges.
According to the specs, the standard-capacity cartridges can provide up to 360 color prints or up to 240 black prints. Meanwhile, the high-capacity cartridges can provide up to 830 color prints, 500 black prints, or 4,000 grayscale prints.
So, when used with the high-capacity cartridges, Epson XP 15000 can actually print more. However, this printer is more picky with third-party refillable cartridges. There are now some options available, but the refill process is slightly complicated. The company themselves discourages the use of third-party cartridges.
Print Quality
When comparing the print quality of Epson Artisan 1430 vs XP 15000, there are indeed subtle improvements on the new model. But let’s start with Epson Artisan 1430. This printer uses 90 output nozzles per color to ensure a strong, accurate color quality. The maximum print resolution is 5760 x 1440, which is impressive.
As a dedicated photo printer, Epson Artisan 1430 works amazingly well. It is rather slow, which is something to be expected from this type of printer, but the output results are easily comparable to photos printed by much more expensive models. Images look very sharp and detailed, with vivid colors. However, the print quality is not as good on plain paper, and the slow speed won’t allow you to use it for document printing, at least not conveniently.
Epson XP 15000 is supposedly a major improvement in print quality, as it uses 180 nozzles per color. The maximum print resolution remains at 5760 x 1440. For photo printing, the output results are stellar; while there is no obvious difference from Epson Artisan 1430 in most cases, photos that contain sky views or varying shadow levels will reveal a wider dynamic range and better color accuracy.
The most obvious difference is found on monochrome photos, which Epson XP 15000 handles really well. Thanks to the dedicated gray ink cartridge, monochrome images can have more details. There is also a slight improvement in printing speed. As a side note, this is still meant to be a dedicated photo printer, but it can handle other purposes better now. The print quality on plain paper is better, as the gray ink cartridge makes document printing more efficient.
Epson Artisan 1430 vs XP 15000
Conclusion
Although Epson XP 15000 is not a big improvement in every aspect, it is overall a better and more powerful printer than its predecessor. For ease of use, it now has an LCD screen and can work with various cloud printing apps. It uses different ink cartridges, with the high-capacity ones offering slightly higher print counts. The print quality is even better here, though not always noticeable.