15 out of 15 people found this review helpful.
A great printer for the frequent printer
Date of Review: Nov 25, 2001
The Bottom Line: If you print a lot, and don't want to replace a $30 cartridge, every time a third of it is finished, I recommend this printer.
My first printer was an HP-560C. I have since gone through another HP722C printer, and have now come to try an Epson printer.
My first impression of the Epson C80 was:
Eh..
I saw it at CompUSA, and it looked awfully big for a printer, because of the top loading paper tray.
But nevertheless, I decided to see how it prints.
I was astounded by both the speed, and the quality of the colourful picture that came out.
The colour was brilliant and crisp, and it's waterproof as well.
I checked the pros and cons of every printer in the printer section, and I found the C80 to be the best value for $130 (After rebate).
I took it home, and I had to do absolutely nothing.
I just plugged the USB cord (not included) into my Windows XP box, and I started printing almost instantaneously. 20 ppm black, and 14 ppm colour. For the same price, you can get an 8ppm black, 6ppm colour printer from a competitor.
A big advantage (to me) is the separate ink tanks.
Since the ink tank is only ink, and no print head, it's more ink for the same price as HP cartridges, but the 3 different colour tanks offer you to replace only one of them if one runs out, instead of the whole 3 in a competitor. The price of each colour tank is $11, and each black is $28.
The printer is very quiet aswell, you almost cant hear it print (if you are 10 feet away), and the software is very helpful. The onscreen ink level indicator warns you when you need to get a new cartridge, and the many profiles help you choose how much ink you really need to use up.
In addition, the printer prints very clear and crisp in economy mode aswell, but if you take a magnifying glass, and you look carefully at the letters, you will see the letters have little streaks, unvisible to the naked eye.
Overall, The Epson printer prints much faster and much crisper than it's counterparts for the same cost.
