Printer advice needed (Are Epson printers notoriously troublesome?)

chris fitzgerald · November 8, 2004 6:12PM

I have an Epson Stylus C82 that was a great printer when I got it. As time went by,the print quality began to get worse, so that I had to keep raising the "print quality" settings to get a decent looking result. Just recently, I tried printing, and the Black won't print at all. I changed the cartridge, and still nothing. After about five emails back and forth with Epson print support, all I got was "keep trying the HEAD CLEANING utility until it works". No dice.

I'm pretty much resigned to getting a new printer, but was wondering if Epson is known for this kind of thing, or did I just get a bad apple? If it's an Epson thing, what other inkjet printers should I look at that are known for reliability? Thanks!

wrong robot · November 8, 2004 6:19PM

all printers are notoriously troublesome. I hate printers.

that said, I've had the least frustration from a lexmark

formerlurker · November 8, 2004 6:35PM

I used to recommend Epson printers, but I've seen this sort of thing one time too many.

Canon printers are excellent and that's what I recommend to my clients for the last year or so.

yikes600 · November 8, 2004 7:57PM

Ditto on the Epsons. I've owned about 4 and they all crap out after a couple years. Get a Canon! They're quality and reliable, and unlike HP they don't overcharge for ink.

telomar · November 9, 2004 2:47AM

In HP's defence they integrate the print heads into their ink cartridge, which adds to the long term reliability but also the cost. They still overcharge but that's another matter.

I have both a HP printer and a Canon but I must say I hate the Canon drivers. The printer itself is quite nice though.

Edit: My old printer was an Epson and managed to last 7 or so years. Only reason I dumped it was because it had been relegated to a draft printer and it didn't work with OS X.

robin hood · November 9, 2004 7:26AM

I haven't had any problems yet with Epson printers, but that may be just luck.

scottib · November 9, 2004 2:56PM

I purchased a refurbed Epson Photo EX (wide format) in Jan/2000, and it's still going strong (with a print server and CUPS drivers). I also have an Epson Photo 960 to print on DVD/CDs (and other photo stuff). After a year, no problems.

mmmpie · November 9, 2004 4:39PM

Im happy with my Epson R300. I dont expect it to last a long time, it only cost $150. Considering that an ink replacement costs $60 the price of the printer is insignificant.

I also just bought a Brother laser, seems like a nice printer. The Epson is a photo printer, so using it for text is just painful ( and expensive ).

You get what you pay for. Ive always liked Oki's, but you can only get colour lasers now, $600 is a bit much for my home printer budget ( I only bought the brother because a new toner for my NEC cost about $20 less ).

ebby · November 9, 2004 4:46PM

I have the Epson Photo EX too, but I replaced it with an Epson 2200. I have been amazed at the results ever since. The Photo EX still works, but probably after a head cleaning.

meeces · November 10, 2004 12:48AM

Bought an epson stylus 740 with my original iMac, it's now hooked up through airtunes/airport to my powerbook, works fine. Only thing is I can't check ink level without it being hooked directly by cable. I still print color pictures with it too, and while the quality isn't the very best (it is 7 years old or so) the pictures are frameable.

robin hood · November 10, 2004 5:03AM

Been thinking about this thread a little more. Actually, Epson printers are incredibly troublesome. Why? Because of Epson's extortion policy! They keep making us pay through our noses for new ink catridges, which have almost no ink in them!

telomar · November 10, 2004 9:19AM

That's the case with most printer manufacturers. You don't really think they're making money off the hardware?

buonrotto · November 10, 2004 9:49AM

My old Epson 7401 printer was noisy as a jet plane and the prints sucked. I got a Canon i860 and it's great, but I think that 4+ years of printer advances have helped quite a bit. I suspect that Epsons can't be as bad as they were. FWIW, while I'm very satisfied overall with the Canon, its driver is only OK, doesn't show much info on ink level, though the printer can squeeze out every last drop in the cartridge, and the included attachment for 4x6 paper feeds is clumsy.

As far as ink, everyone makes you pay through the nose for ink cartridges. Getting a printer that take individual ink cartridges instead of a single C-M-Y one will be more economical in the long run at least.

gandalf the semi-coherent · November 10, 2004 11:49AM

Hmm, my Epson 740i still works perfectly. I've had it for five years now, and I've done a lot of printing with it.

Also, there's absolutely no reason why you should pay regular price for ink cartridges. I don't even pay the inflated prices of generics at office supply stores. Rather, I go to 123 Inkjets and get my cartridges there. Why should I pay $29.95 every time when I can spend $5.95? And more importantly, the cartridges have worked just fine. No problems whatsoever.

GTSC

ichiban_jay · November 10, 2004 5:00PM

I loved my old epson c60. worked reliably for 2 years before dying (it may not seem long to you but that's a record for our family

)

Forewarning, do not, absolutely do not get a Brother ink-jet printer!!! Let's just say our family is on our 6th one within 3 months. Ended up getting a Canon IP3000 and have never been happier. Only complaint is that I cant share the printer from windows to mac. I called them and they told me there was no printer driver icon that I could select in the printer setup utility.

Unless someone has a solution...?

Printer advice needed (Are Epson printers notoriously troublesome?)

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