epson printer

[frank]

I have a lexmark 4650 printer and am not very happy with it. the software seems bloated and it doesn't work very well. the ink is also very expensive. my son has an epson workforce 520 that seems to work very well, has a small software package, and the ink is cheap online. I am looking at an epson 545 or 645. does anyone have experience with these printers and do you have any recommendations? I don't want to get another lemon. thanks

frank

 

[MBAustin]

We have an Epson Workforce 630. We had several Canon Pixma printers before this and while we liked the print quality, they used lots of expensive ink and broke down after a couple of years. So last year when the Pixma died, I decided to switch brands and went with the Epson. The general print quality is fine, but photos not so much (although to be fair I have only printed a handful and haven't experimented much with different papers or settings - I was spoiled by the Canons' excellent photo printing without tweaks). I think in a year I have only replaced the ink once - much much cheaper to operate than the Canons. I also like the duplex (print on both sides) feature to save paper, and the Workforce 630 also has a feeder for scanning or copying which has been handy a few times. It meets our needs well and we've been happy with it.

 

[ERD50]

We had several Canon Pixma printers before this and while we liked the print quality, they used lots of expensive ink and broke down after a couple of years.

Not my experience. I use an 8 year old Canon Pixma iP2000, bought for ~ $80 back then. Have used nothing but cheap generic ink at ~ $2/cartridge. Go through maybe 3 B&W and one Color cart per year. Never had a problem with it - though in 2009 it gave the 'ink waste tank full' warning, and I had to go through the process of removing the ink waste pads, cleaning, drying, replacing and resetting it. But the web walked me through that, been fine since. Son has one as old that is still going. Daughters did die last year, got her a B&W laser.

I have photos printed for me, I just use it for documents.

You can't buy these printers anymore, the new ones all seem to be 'chipped'. They go for hundreds $$$ used on ebay.

-ERD50

 

[Lsbcal]

For reviews on printers I'd checkout Amazon and Best Buy. You'll get a more balanced picture with hundreds of reviews.

 

[rbmrtn]

Somewhat depends on what you want to print. If you don't need color a small laser printer works fine. They last longer and the consumables are cheaper in the long run.

Thrown out a couple Epson workforce for people in the last year. Cheap plastic parts broke, can't be easily replaced. I've found the Brother MFCs and lasers to be fairly reliable. Consumer level HPs seem to be junk these days, thrown out a few of those.

I rarely print much anymore, I use something like cutePDF write and just save things to a PDF.

 

[Mulligan]

I use an HP Deskjet 1000 that suits my printing purposes just fine. However, last week I noticed something incredibly odd when I went to get new printing cartridges. The cost of the printer (which included the cartridges) was $30. The cartridge package by itself was $31. You could save a buck by buying the whole thing and throwing the printer away. I find that incredibly crazy, and no the printer wasn't on sale!

 

[ERD50]

I use an HP Deskjet 1000 that suits my printing purposes just fine. However, last week I noticed something incredibly odd when I went to get new printing cartridges. The cost of the printer (which included the cartridges) was $30. The cartridge package by itself was $31. You could save a buck by buying the whole thing and throwing the printer away. I find that incredibly crazy, and no the printer wasn't on sale!

Often, those are 'starter' cartridges in the new printer, and only have ~ 1/4 the life of the replacements.

It's a shame that we are stuck with expensive ink. They sell the printers cheap to make money on ink later. But I think that the printer makers just can't break out of this - a printer on the shelf with a 2-3x price tag and cheap ink is apparently a hard sell. The average person, doing a web search by price, passes it by.

Maybe we need some standard stickers like appliances have - this product will cost $X/year when printing X pages/year. Total COO over 1,2,5 years is... I suspect it really is an environmental issue, people throw these 'cheap' printers away to get a new one.

-ERD50

 

[Mulligan]

Often, those are 'starter' cartridges in the new printer, and only have ~ 1/4 the life of the replacements.

It's a shame that we are stuck with expensive ink. They sell the printers cheap to make money on ink later. But I think that the printer makers just can't break out of this - a printer on the shelf with a 2-3x price tag and cheap ink is apparently a hard sell. The average person, doing a web search by price, passes it by.

Maybe we need some standard stickers like appliances have - this product will cost $X/year when printing X pages/year. Total COO over 1,2,5 years is... I suspect it really is an environmental issue, people throw these 'cheap' printers away to get a new one.

-ERD50

That would certainly make since. I am not a big consumer of printing, and the original one lasted almost 2 years. The costs would really add up probably on a printer like mine if it was used on a frequent basis.

 

[target2019]

My approach has been to always have a decent laser printer to do the bulk of printing. Last time out I purchased a Canon multi-function printer. It produces low-cost prints and copies when I need them. Also throw in a fax and scanner in the same footprint, and I believe this is the way to go.

Next up are your color printing requirements. Get the best value you can. Chances are the printer will be broken, clogged and out of ink when you need it. The cost per page is also ridiculous. So go value, and buy another in a year or so.

 

[GrayHare]

If you do sufficient printing, I second the color laser recommendation. Though the initial investment is larger than that of an ink jet, there are no clogs, no cleaning, and no streaking. The color lasers generally are physically larger, but that's often because their toner cartridges are larger and can print more pages between replacement/refill.

 

[happy2bretired]

I have the Workforce 645 and really like it. It's on my network and I print from my Mac and from my iPad. I set it up all by myself with some help via searches on the Internet. I had to download different software. I did get to work...if I can do it, anyone can. Nice not having cables running all over and now I have my printer right next to my computer. I bought mine on sale, I believe, for $99, from Office Depot. That sale was pure luck when I was looking for a wireless printer.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I was a laser man for many years after getting tired of $50 ink cartridges drying out when I didn't print for a couple of weeks.

Whole extended family is now on Brother inkjets that use the LC61 cartridges. The printers are about $50-60 for an all-in-one that copies, faxes and prints, and the noname ink can be had for less than a buck a cartridge. For 2 years, no break downs, no leaks and no dried out cartridges. If one did dry out, I don't mind sticking one in for 80c.

Amazon.com: Brother Printer MFCJ625DW Wireless Color Photo Printer with Scanner, Copier and Fax: Electronics

Amazon.com: 12 Pack. Compatible Brother LC-61 Cartridges. Includes Cartridges for 3ea LC-61 of each Color Black Cyan Magenta Yellow.: Electronics

Highly recommended. We have 8 or 9 of these kicking around at 5 different houses and zero problems/hassles. I love the wireless option, we put the printer anywhere we want it in the house and everything can print to it.

 

[Walt34]

My approach has been to always have a decent laser printer to do the bulk of printing. Last time out I purchased a Canon multi-function printer. It produces low-cost prints and copies when I need them. Also throw in a fax and scanner in the same footprint, and I believe this is the way to go.

That's what we decided to do also. We use a Dell color laser for the bulk of printing and I use a HP D7560 for photos.

But if those die I'll certainly keep CFB's post about the Brother machines in mind.

 

[easysurfer]

I decided to go laser a few years ago and as for convenience and cost saving over the life of the printer, I haven't looked back.

No long ago, I picked up a perfectly working Lexmark laser printer for about $10 at a Goodwill. I ended up giving that to my niece.