Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I know that purchasing this particular printer was taking a chance....what with its extra large and low cost ink reservoirs its a new technology . It is an ink jet printer that can scan, fax copy and print. So what else is new?? The quality for what it is, is not all that bad, but then again, the construction AND print quality is about at the same level as a $100.00-range printer....and this one is also not any faster than a low cost printer. It is wireless, it does scan (slowly) and as long as you don't have any high expectations and are willing to pay up front for a lot of low-cost ink supply, this will probably work out for you. One other thing I found annoying is that when I called Amazon (and Epson) to verify that this printer could duplex print, I was told in no uncertain terms that it does! Twice...both by reps at call centers someone across the seas, I'm pretty sure. Unfortunately, this printer does not duplex unless you figure out, in a WINDOWS BASED PROGRAM ONLY, to print on all the even sides and then go back, re-load the paper and print odd-number pages (or whatever) on the other side. I'm not about to do this, but for close to $500.00, Epson should have a real duplex feature. In honestly, I did not go further and check online reviews as diligently as I should have. I attribute this to my advanced age (late 70's) and hark back to the time that when you made a call and spoke with a company rep, they most of the time, told you the truth or at least knew what they were talking about. So, I will live with this printer I suppose ,and use the savings in cost of ink and the need to dump fewer cartridges into some landfill to justify using twice as much paper to print what I need to print. Maybe Ronald Reagan was right: if you've seen one tree, you've seen them all. Obviously, I can't rave about this printer and will end by saying that it least it has a small footprint and wasn't all that hard to set up---you'll have to spend about an hour doing so though partly because it takes about 20-30 minutes to charge up the ink wells before anything else can be done. Finally, the online instruction manual runs to about 300 pages!! I should think you might need something along those lines to get an ICBM up and running....but a printer???? You decide. And now for a final update. Despite the fact that I was unhappy with the fact that it didn't duplex, I decided to keep it and give it a try after going through all the set-up steps. I thought that it could be OK to accept more paper use (and waste) because of the low cost inks. here's what I've learned through a 3-week trial period and a discussion with an Epson Technical rep. First, the printing quality is highly variable. I do a lot of PDF downloads of articles I need and some are dark and strong--other pages (or articles) not so clear. In printing a total of 76 pages over this period, I've had to run through the de-clogging of the print heads 3 times....and this is a time consuming project if you're in the middle of something. Before deciding to return the unit (which I did) I called Epson to see what I could learn because I thought (and still think) that the concept of not paying usurious prices for ink is a good one. Here's what the rep told me just a short time ago: (1) You must follow set-up and especially ink-loading procedures to the letter. I did this. (2) This printer is really designed for almost continuous use and the pens will clog if you leave it unused for 12-24 hours. Its really for business use in a busy office. (3) Once the ink is installed YOU MUST NEVER DISCONNECT THE PRINTER FROM ITS POWER SUPPLY. It must always remain on the keep a vacuum in the ink reservoirs to make sure it is kept from exposure to the air. (4) if you go away you should also cover the printer with a plastic bag which "might' help the pens from clogging. Obviously this is not a printer really designed for the average, home office user....at least not for now. The rep was helpful and honest. Sorry Epson, but you should really let people know what to expect before they purchase what will someday, no doubt, be the standard for small printers at a reasonable price. In the final analysis if you need good quality printing for your work, you'll just have to pay blackmail prices for ink cartridges and stick with Duplex Laser printers for the time being. Hope this helps.