DON'T BUY EPSON PRINTERS

[radfringe]

This is not some political call for a boycott - just some friendly advise from a very digusted Epson printer owner (soon to be a former Epson printer owner)

Last September my faithful (but very old) Canon printer died. It needed a new printhead assembly, which upon investigating I found it cost more than a brand new printer. My partner and I debated pros/cons of new printer versus printhead replacement. We decided to buy a new printer.

We wanted one with good print resolution, and had separate ink cartridges as opposed to the all-in-one or tri-color cartriges. the Canon printers we looked at cost more than we wanted to spend - but there was an Epson C88+ with separate cartriges, print resolution was great and the price was good. So we bought it.

Little did I know the freaking printheads on the EPSON c88+ clog up at the drop of a hat. I've run the printhead cleaning function, followed all the Epson tech help advice - and the damn thing is still clogged.

One thing the tech people did tell me is that I should print out 5-10 heavy color/graphics a day to keep the print heads from clogging. Yeah right - I'm going to print out a bunch of garbage every day - and who is going to buy me new ink cartriges every freaking week??????

I've done some googling on Epson printer problems - and yes the MAIN problem people are having is clogged print heads. There are some cleaners you can try, and a few other tips/tricks -- I'm going to try some tonight so I can at least print out a couple of photos.

However, do I want to go through all these gyrations everytime I need to print? I don't think so. Come Saturday, I'll be looking for a new printer and it won't be an Epson anything

[Phentex]

1. we learned that too, but it wasn't clogged heads....

It would print one page and then get an error. So you'd go through all the troubleshooting hoops and then it would happen again. And then the troubleshooting only worked part of the time. The most shocking part was trying to find help. The printer was only a few months old but I was supposed to pay 9.95 an hour for tech support ?!. It seemed like it should have been an easy fix, but taking it somewhere would cost more than buying a new printer. I even wrote to the computer guru in the local paper and he suggested buying a new one.

We have an hp and haven't had any problems since.

[radfringe]

3. we're looking at a Canon and an HP

doing some price snooping at a few models for not only the initial cost of the printer, but also the cost of the cartriges (OEMs and "compatibles")

[ScreamingMeemie]

4. I had a Canon and it was constantly clogging. We were given the same

advise...to use it more often. Of course, that adds to the cost. We bought an HP 3 years ago and absolutely love it. Good luck.

[BarenakedLady]

2. We've had good luck with ours.

It's an Epson Stylus Photo 2200, my husband prints his photography with it. We've haven't had too much problems with that. The head cleaner things has taken care of it. I guess the newer printers are much better than the older models. He wants to upgrade soon.

[radfringe]

5. He wants to upgrade soon.

been seeing complaints from people who own a newer Epson Photo printer -- same problems unless you print alot - head clogs and the printhead clean function just sucks up the ink.

suggest that he do some research before buying another Epson

[BarenakedLady]

6. "unless you print a lot"

They may be the key. He does print a lot and has only had to use the printhead clean function about once every 3-6 months. He still is researching the next printer.

[Quakerfriend]

7. I've had an Epson color 880 for several years. It was super

until I stopped printing alot of photos. Now I know why! For whatever reason it will print one or two decent photos and then all of the photos come out in that sort of chartreuse color. Drives me crazy!

The color used to be magnificent. I think their inkjet cartridges are made more poorly now. The colors don't seem to be nearly as bright or last half as long.

I also have a new HP PHotosmart 2575- IT IS TERRIBLE! Printing has been POOR right from the start.

So, I've gone back to using the Epson:eyes:

[Catshrink]

8. I've always used HP printers because

when you change the cartridge you also change the print heads. The cartridges probably cost more but you don't have that problem. I buy the replacements at Costco -- I think they have the best price even though I have to buy two at a time. I print intermittently, a couple of times a week, color and B&W, with no problems.

Yeah, yeah, I know, HP. But no printer hassles here.

[fabsfour]

9. Our Epson has worked extremely well for years

Sometimes we print a lot, sometimes we don't print much at all. This Epson has worked well for years. We've actually been waiting for it to break down for the last few years, but it hasn't. It works way better than the last HP we had. When there's been as issue (we had one this weekend) we clean the printheads and all is well again.

[B3Nut]

10. Epson R-series aren't too bad

but the C series with the DuraBrite ink are clogmonsters. I've been running Canon lately (used to run HP inkjets) and have had zero issues with them. I love my iP4200, which is discontinued but you might be able to find a B-stock or lightly used one on eBay for cheap. Separate ink tanks, user-replaceable printhead, and stellar text and photo quality. The MP530 all-in-one has the same print engine, my boss and I each have one at our desks at work.

Most HP's are still a good bet, but avoid the low-priced ones, they use lower-capacity ink carts which, while costing less on the shelf, have much less ink so the cost per page is actually higher.

IMHO the best HP inkjets were the machines that used the #45 black and #78 color (like my old 932c, or a 960c), or the subsequent lines that used the #56 black, #57 color, and #58 photo cartridges (5550, 5650, etc). I'd buy a clean used one of those before a new HP, myself. I had a Deskjet 5550 for a long time, I ran the hell out of it. I sold it to a vet clinic (it was one of the few still-available printers that would work with a medical testing machine they had) and it's still plugging away. My old 932c lives with my sister-in-law where it endures torture by a 5-year-old. Just feed it paper and ink and it runs.

Still, I still think the worst inkjets are Brother and Lexmark (and Dell, which are crippled Lexmarks that only take Dell ink, you can't buy ink locally). When they work, their output is mediocre. I used to be struck with how flimsily they were made when I sold printers...I mostly pushed HP beacuse you can for the most part depend on them. And you totally can't beat laser printers with Canon-built print engines (like HP LaserJets or the old Apple LaserWriters), they run forever.

Todd in Cheesecurdistan

[ironflange]

11. I like my HP

It can sit for a couple of weeks and still print like new. I admit, though, that after a month or more of idleness I have to clean the heads.

[bullwinkle428]

12. Wow, I had big problems this past weekend with my Epson printer too!

Trying to print out a bunch of tax forms for the IRS!! :grr: I'm filing electronically, but still want to have hard copies of everything for my records. I did at least a dozen head cleanings, and completely ran out of the black ink cartridge. The black ink was printing out in a semi-acceptable fashion before I ran out, but it would make do if I had enough. The colors weren't coming out for crap, even though their tanks are at least half full. My old PC runs on Windows 98, and even though I'm planning on replacing the pC very shortly, I still need to print out the forms on this old PC. I'll probably have to break down and spend the $33 for a new black ink cartridge, just to get these damn forms printed...

[Maddy McCall]

13. I've never had a bit of problem with the two HPs I've owned.

One I bought in 1998, and it finally gave up the ghost in 2003. I bought my second HP in 2003, and it's still going strong.