We know that the Epson printers using Quick Dry Ink are very partial to specific brands of plain paper. Does this also apply to the older models? To test the ink on the older printers, I ran SOME of the papers through a Stylus Color Pro XL. Since the same ink cartridges are used on the original Stylus Color, you can expect similar results there. (Anyone know whether the Stylus II and Stylus IIs uses similar ink?)

The first item I noticed is that the black ink is a LOT paler than the Quick Dry Inks. I had to use 720x720dpi mode on coated paper settings before text would print with any definition. (Plain paper and glossy settings produced light-grey letters.) On the otherhand, the printing was crisper across the board. (In an aside, I've noticed that colors printed on the Pro XL are also somewhat paler than the SC600. Perhaps this is partly the answer to why the new printers go through ink cartridges like a whirlwind -- they simply throw down more ink per page? Definitely something to investigate.) Back to the comparison, I performed the same process as shown in the Quick Dry Ink Comparison; the results are below: