very, very suspect!
Pros:
cheap, looks nice, usb and parallel ports, works with Linux.
Cons:
average print, bad color print, wastes ink, exspensive cartridges - stay away!!!
The Bottom Line:
Stay away from Epson & chipped cartridges!! Research your peripherals well before buying.printers=price AND running costs. more exspensive printer may work out cheaper over time.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
OK, i don't think this printer is as bad as people are saying...yes, it's not great by any stretch of the imagination, but seven 1 star ratings?
OK, maybe your right. I'm gonna make it 8!
First off, this printer works under Linux - thats a bonus (for me and a few others).
I totally agree that it saps ink - total unnecessary waste, actually. If you haven't printed for a few days, you can hear it go through it's cleaning cycle - total waste.
The real major annoyance is the chips, and the monitoring software epson has on these newer machines; the chips and software are there as a facade: they're there pretending to help you, like tell you how much ink you have.... In reality, they are there to stop you using cheap, non-Epson cartridges.
Simple as that. They lock you into buying stupidly exspensive Epson brand inks. I bought my c84 for $39.99. Cartridges ran out - it was going to be over $60 for a new set. So how can a set of cartridges cost almost 30% more than a set of cartridges PLUS a new printer???
Easy answer; Epson will lose a little money tricking you into buying one of their printers, because they seem good value for money....then you will find out that the replacement cartridges are ridiculous prices, and you CAN"T use any others - Epson makes its loss back, plus a profit from the first set of cartridges you buy; every other set after that is pure profit!
It wouldn't be so bad if this was an excellent printer...but it's not. It's average at best.
Black and white text is pretty good, but there are problems
with the print head picking up dirt and dust and marking your prints - more so than other printers.
There's also the double-feed problem I've encountered a few times.
And of course, if one of your ink cartridges gets low, your printer won't print AT ALL until you replace it! Effectively holding you hostage until you give Epson a crazy amount of money for a cartridge.
Is this really what you want to deal with when you buy a printer?? Of course not. I sincerely hope that Epson is being punished for its mercenary philosophy.
I know i won't ever buy another printer from Epson (i'll stick with Cannon/HP, thanks), and I hope you won't either.
I'm pretty sure their top-end printers are something wonderfull to behold, but I'm an average joe, and I can't afford that, so I'm herded into Epson's 'rape them for what we can - they're just the mass consumer market' mentality.
And I've come out sore.....
