The printing and imaging market has been doing some strange things in the past year or so.
It seems quite a few manufactures have decided that the grass is greener on the other side.
Linotype-Hell, for example, is well known for producing very good, very expensive drum scanners. Linotype still makes US$100,000 machines but has started selling a desktop bed scanner for about $300.
Epson has seen greener grass as well. While most of their machines sell for less than HK$5,000, the Stylus Pro 5000 is the Epson fleet flagship and unless you have about $68,000 in your back pocket, you will not sail away on one of these.
The 5000 is targeted at the growing desktop publishing industry. With more companies moving publishing in-house, and the proliferation of service bureaus, there is a real market need for inexpensive proofers simulating the colours coming off a printing press.
The 5000's price jump naturally accompanies an expansion in features when compared with Epson's less expensive printers. The machine can handle anything up to Epson's oversized A3 paper using a tray feed or single sheet feeder.
The machine has four individual ink cartridges which are very large, something professional users will really appreciate. Postscript interpretation is handled by a custom-built Fiery RIP.
