Awesome printer if you need an AIO unit...

[hellraiseruk]

Recently my old Epson R220 was starting to play up - after 5 years and numerous strip-down and refurbs it was starting to get a little tired, so I decided to see what was available. Primary concerns were the ability to print on CDs, as well as to use cheap compatible inks and be good at photo printing.

Enter the Epson PX720WD.

Found this on the Epson website and did some sniffing around - eventually got one from Amazon for 85 quid delivered. Specs of this printer? Well, it's an all-in-one unit, so has a built in scanner, does photo printing, has memory card slots on the front and a small LCD screen for previewing photos. Will print on CDs and unlike my R220 the tray is actually contained within the printer. Compatible inks cost buttons on Ebay - I bought 3 full sets (18 carts, this is a 6-ink printer) plus an additional 3 blacks for a tenner delivered.

What other goodies does it have? Can be networked both wired or wirelessly, has a duplexer so can print double sided. Scans across the network too without issue. Paper tray sits underneath meaning it takes up very little room, it prints fast and is quite simply awesome.

If you're in the market for a new printer, it is definitely worth checking out.

Hellraiser.............>

[UseItNow]

Whats the output like in terms of print quality and roughly how many prints do you get to a set?

My last couple of Epsons have drunk like crazy! One was a lower spec model, the other around the £100 mark.

[hellraiseruk]

Print quality is excellent - they reckon better than lab quality for photo output, and on proper photo paper it does look stunning. Not sure how many prints I would normally get to a set of inks as I am still on my first set which tends to not last very long due to initially priming the printhead, plus I've been doing a lot of full page 10x8" photos - considering the cost of compatibles though, I'm not overly concerned about ink costs.

Hellraiser...........>

[GoNz0]

treat it with care that cd tray has a habit of breaking inside the unit, i have been to enough houses to exchange them!

[UseItNow]

Print quality is excellent - they reckon better than lab quality for photo output, and on proper photo paper it does look stunning. Not sure how many prints I would normally get to a set of inks as I am still on my first set which tends to not last very long due to initially priming the printhead, plus I've been doing a lot of full page 10x8" photos - considering the cost of compatibles though, I'm not overly concerned about ink costs.

Hellraiser...........>

Good to hear mate!

[hellraiseruk]

treat it with care that cd tray has a habit of breaking inside the unit, i have been to enough houses to exchange them!

Hmm, is that an easy fix? As I use compatibles I would imagine Epson would try and wriggle out of any warranty claims, although strictly speaking I don't see how they could legally do that - it would be like buying a Toyota then having the warranty voided because you used Mobil 1 instead of Toyota's own branded oil

Hellraiser...........>

[Flash477]

Whats the output like in terms of print quality and roughly how many prints do you get to a set?

My last couple of Epsons have drunk like crazy! One was a lower spec model, the other around the £100 mark.

I'm not sure of the current models, but certainly the last Epson I had (DX4400) used to go through a lot of ink for the amount printed, until I realised that everytime it was switched on the warmup routine was using ink. So I just left it turned on and the ink lasted so much longer!

[MarcLister]

Thanks for the useful post. I'm in the market for a decent printer that can do duplex but is also wired or wirelessly networkable so Mum and brother can print to it if needs be. I want an all in one printer and then a mono laser printer for printing plain text. The Epson PX720WD looks to be good for the all in one option but I still need to find a decent, relatively inexpensive, networkable, duplexing mono laser printer.

[wildgoose1uk]

In May 2009 I bought an Epson PX700W. I have just had the 'ink pads are at the end of their life' message and advised to contact Epson Support.

What advice does the Epson Support website give me?..... Buy a new printer!

I don't expect to have to junk a printer I paid £170 that has only had light use after 2.5 years!

I don't think I will ever buy Epson again.

[spoon_]

InkJet printer? No thanks.

[GoNz0]

In May 2009 I bought an Epson PX700W. I have just had the 'ink pads are at the end of their life' message and advised to contact Epson Support.

What advice does the Epson Support website give me?..... Buy a new printer!

I don't expect to have to junk a printer I paid £170 that has only had light use after 2.5 years!

I don't think I will ever buy Epson again.

reset the pads once with the utility http://www.tomforth.co.uk/epsonreset/ (bottom of the page)

dont do it again without replacing the waste pads. (or place something under the printer to catch leaks.)

and FYI all printers without a waste ink tank will reach end of life so its not just epson its low end inkjets in general.

borderless printing will cause it to end of life 3 times faster than printing with a border.

[wildgoose1uk]

I guess I did not consider it a low end printer. It has only had light domestic use.

Could it be anything to do with using cheap ink refills?

And is it likely to happen on any inkjet printer in that timescale?

[GoNz0]

it will happen on any inkjet, more so if you use bordeless printing and even more so with cheap inks that require lots of head cleans as each head print will take up to 1% of its life cycle.

to me any all in one is low end unless over a few hundred quid with a removable waste tank, same applies to inkjets, no removable waste tank and it will EOL itself in time.

all in one units tend to have less space for wate pads unlike a inkjet only unit that often has a lot more pad space in the base.

when my epson R360 EOL's i will simply buy cheap felt pads off ebay (unless work can sell me some cheap) and cut to shape then download the tool to reset it, being an epson engineer has its perks

[wildgoose1uk]

Or what about the Epson Workforce. Looks reasonable value and low print cost....

[GoNz0]

indeed, epsons new line of inbetween inkjet and laser printers, removable waste ink tanks always a bonus & off head inks allow a huge cartridge. epson are pushing this one at the moment so any support requests are dealt with double quick.

my advice, take the 3 year onsite warranty ( i get no kickback b4 anyone asks.)