Printer Reviews

Being a typical college student, I typically work right up to the deadline for projects.

So when it's time to print out that research paper and jolt to class, it's really annoying to be delayed five minutes to wait for endless buzzing and grinding to stop and actual printing to begin. I've finally learned to restart the printer when I sit down at my computer to work.

Another thing... When printing text at normal resolution it sometimes comes out distorted and kind of smudged. I end up using the higher quality resolution, but that takes more time and ink.

Compared to my old Epson Stylus Color, this printer is only marginally improved. I do have a number of complaints, but until somebody makes the "perfect printer," I'll just stick with the relatively superior Epson printer series.

if you are a print-fanatic like me, and like to work with graphics or photography [from the digital camera, scanners, etc], this the the MUST-HAVE printer!

the EPSON 850, i have two of them, is in use daily. from printing posters, to documents, to catalogues, to photographs and labels, etc. i do use alot of ink, but you definitely get what you pay for! i use up more than 40 ink cartridges a year, and have not had a problem with the printer! i only recommend buying the epson brand ink and paper! you get the best results this way! the price of the printer is nothing compared to the costs you will be spending for the supplies [paper/ink]!!!

this printer will not let you down when it comes to printing results. the SOFTWARE [status monitor] is great! it tells you when you are out of paper/ink or have some other problem and gives you the help faqs. the hardware itself is easy to set up, and lightweight enough to carry around to another computer if you need to [i do from home to dorm to work].

the paper tray/holder are detachable and easy to attach, although the paper tray is a bit fragile if you do hit hard against it. mine broke, but easily fixed and works fine now. i do wish the paper holder was larger, maybe hold 200 sheets of paper so i wouldnt have to refill it when i'm printing alot.

the NOISE factor is the most criticized about this printer. i understand, but you get used to it; and you can always leave the room if you are printing hundreds of sheets [like me]. the noise level is fine in a room once you close the door. it is a bit hard to fall asleep to though! be sure to set the printer on a stable surface, if the printer is on a shaky foundation, the printing may suffer!

also, it's best to just leave the printer on most of the time - shutting it off daily does no good [or harm], but the printer does have to readjust itself when it's shut on/off and also when you have not printed for awhile, maybe during an entire day or two. it's just calibrating itself for the best results - that's what you want!!! other than that it's FAST! enough!

the printer driver sometimes crashes if i load too much for it to print, for example a 50 meg PSD file or 10 meg catalogue file with tons of images. this rarely happens, and after it does a few times, you will know how much your computer printer spool can handle before it freaks out and doesn't print.

overall, the EPSON 850 will win your devotion to Epson printers and ink and paper and everything related to printing after you try it. you will be printing everything soon!

Those who gave 5 stars to this printer were right. This is (WAS) one heck of a printer that handled practically anything you wanted it to do. I had used my 850 with great results for about five years without a single day's problem. Unfortunately age has caught up with it, as it has with you and me, and even more unfortunately, I cannot replace it because Epson has discontinued it. Too bad. I have bought an Epson 1280- an excellent product--but it ravishes ink. I am told that to replace my 850 as a secondary printer the C84 will do well.

This is an excellent solution to several small office/home office needs: outstanding print quality, occasional copying, and plain paper faxing. The fax functions are particularly well thought out -- I am not sure how I lived without the machine's large fax memory (100 pages), multitasking ability (receive a fax while you're copying or printing), and so forth. The scanning is nothing to cheer about, but works fine for getting a document into the computer quickly for OCR. (A flatbed scanner is a much better choice, though.) Printing produces the fantastic quality that HP is well-known for.

Why only 3 stars, then? Because you cannot -- repeat, CAN NOT -- share this printer on a network. That's bad enough, in this day and age, but worse still, NOWHERE in HP's product literature or even the instructions is this limitation mentioned! (According to HP's customer support, some people have made it work using Win98's device sharing, but it's not reliable, and they don't support it.)

If you keep this limitation in mind and only need it as a fax/copier and occasional printer, it's the perfect choice. Just don't plan on making it your workgroup laser printer.

This printer is a home office dream! I print a lot, and the print is outstanding. The 6 ppm is plenty for me. Most of my documents are under 20 pages. But a hundred pages is no problem! I use the copy function a lot - I didn't expect to. LazerJet is permanent ink - no smudges, no runs. Lazer printing is a must for any kind of business correspondence. I bought a HP 1120C for my color needs. The software that comes with the printer is very complete and easy. I have had no problems with any of the functions -print, fax, copy, scan.

If you do a lot of envelops - this is not the printer for you - one at a time (pain).

Space is a premium in our home office. This machine does everything we need it to do in a smaller footprint than our older laser printer. Easy hookup and flawless printing, faxing, copying and scanning. I highly recommend this machine for your home office needs.

Using my Canon i560s printer, Kodak's recommended printer driver settings, and Kodak's free software for printing, this paper produces near flawless photos. They are semi-gloss (not high-gloss like Canon's Photo Paper Plus Glossy that comes with the printer). This paper has been reformulated recently (according to the packaging) and I will continue to use it for all photos. I have been unable to get Canon's software to print accurate colors on this paper - so use Kodak's! Canon's software (Easy Photo Print) won't print accurate colors even on their own Photo Paper Plus Glossy paper (and there is no way to manually tinker with the color settings in Easy Photo Print - you can in the Kodak software via the Canon print driver). If you run a comparison, you will see that Kodak has got the color thing nailed cold and Canon does not, regardless of paper type.

The only detectable flaw I've seen in any print on Kodak's Premium Picture Paper is on photos with very dark/black areas. If you hold the print at a sharp angle in bright light (you never would unless looking for this flaw) you can see a slight decrease in the reflectivness of these really dark areas that you don't see using the Canon Photo Paper Plus Glossy paper.

Nobody who has looked at my prints (except me) has noticed this flaw - so don't worry about it. By the way, I much prefer the semi-glossy nature of this paper to Canon's Photo Paper Plus Glossy which truly is so glossy it can be annoying in some lighting conditions.

The Canon i560s uses dye-based ink for printing photos. I think pigment-based ink will have different results (Canon mixes the 3 dye-based colors to produce black when printing photos, as the black cartridge is pigment based in this printer).

This paper does what it is intended to do. It provides an affordable, quality option for printing snap shots. Would I use it to reproduce images to present in a gallery? No. But for images that require the highest quality prints I upload and print at a professional digital lab. However for printing snap shots to be sent to relatives and for my wife to use for scrapbooking this paper has proven to be the best. I have tried several papers on my Canon S520 printer, including canon's own line. I like this Kodak paper the best. With this paper I always get a reliable reproduction of my images. I would caution that it is important to follow Kodak's advandced settings recommendations to get the best prints. These are available in the package and at Kodak's web site. Kodak also offers free software to assist with the printing that will optimize the printer settings for the paper automatically. My wife (who is not computer savy) has found this program to be helpful in printing photos. I have found it helpful in that I no longer am needed to assist her every time she wants to print.

This excellent quality high gloss photo paper would be my absolute Number ONE choice for printing home-photo's!! Without a doubt, the best I have ever used!!!!!!!!

Good grief! I have owned many printers and purchased many ink cartridges, but NEVER has one been this small! Before you buy the cannon printer that goes with these, please look into the size and cost of ink! I have an i550 cannon and it has the largest ink tanks and you can grab generic cartridges for under 5 bucks a piece! These things run out weekly!

Good grief! I have owned many printers and purchased many ink cartridges, but NEVER has one been this small! Before you buy the cannon printer that goes with these, please look into the size and cost of ink! I have an i550 cannon and it has the largest ink tanks and you can grab generic cartridges for under 5 bucks a piece! These cartridges run out weekly!!!!

I make only infrequent use of my Canon Multipass printer, sometimes letting it stand idle for several weeks. For whatever reason, the black ink tanks clog the printhead after prolonged disuse whereas the color ones keep functioning. Although more likely to happen with a clone, the same has occurred with Canon originals. Before throwing out the printer (and I've come close), run it through the cleaning cycle at least 5 successive times and try printing again. If it's still not working right, do another 5 cleaning cycles. So far, that's done the trick for me, but if 10 times doesn't produce the desired result, you'll need to do some invasive surgery on the printhead itself.

As for using cartridges from clone manufacturers, my experience has been that they often require far more "priming" than the original manufacturer's product. As a result, you're wasting ink and saving less money than you may have thought.

Also, when ordering Canon ink supplies, beware the manufacturer's confusing and inconsistent use of the terms "ink cartridge" and "ink tank." It's led to my receiving the wrong item on more than one occasion.

Good grief! I have owned many printers and purchased many ink cartridges, but NEVER has one been this small! Before you buy the cannon printer that goes with these, please look into the size and cost of ink! I have an i550 cannon and it has the largest ink tanks and you can grab generic cartridges for under 5 bucks a piece! These things run out weekly!

Good grief! I have owned many printers and purchased many ink cartridges, but NEVER has one been this small! Before you buy the cannon printer that goes with these, please look into the size and cost of ink! I have an i550 cannon and it has the largest ink tanks and you can grab generic cartridges for under 5 bucks a piece! These cartridges run out weekly!!!!

I make only infrequent use of my Canon Multipass printer, sometimes letting it stand idle for several weeks. For whatever reason, the black ink tanks clog the printhead after prolonged disuse whereas the color ones keep functioning. Although more likely to happen with a clone, the same has occurred with Canon originals. Before throwing out the printer (and I've come close), run it through the cleaning cycle at least 5 successive times and try printing again. If it's still not working right, do another 5 cleaning cycles. So far, that's done the trick for me, but if 10 times doesn't produce the desired result, you'll need to do some invasive surgery on the printhead itself.

As for using cartridges from clone manufacturers, my experience has been that they often require far more "priming" than the original manufacturer's product. As a result, you're wasting ink and saving less money than you may have thought.

Also, when ordering Canon ink supplies, beware the manufacturer's confusing and inconsistent use of the terms "ink cartridge" and "ink tank." It's led to my receiving the wrong item on more than one occasion.

I was surprised to see so many high ratings for this dreadful printer. It was relatively inexpensive, but you get what you pay for. The cartridges for it cost around thirty dollars and then magically dry up in a couple of months, with the printer task bar being completely inaccurate in telling you when they will dry up. The printer itself has a tendency to jam at inopportune times. For some reason unbeknownst to the mortal world, this printer always tries to pull all the pieces of paper in the paper dispensing container and then get jammed. So be prepared to abort print jobs and grab twenty pieces of paper from the printer's maw. Considering how often this happens, it just isn't worth the hassle; do yourself a favor, spend a little more money and get a better printer than this piece.

i have had this printer for 4yrs and it has finally died. i had the same problems as another review --- always jamming, taking a pad of paper and not one at a time, the ink cartridges went fast and are expensive to replace,and right now it has a chainsaw sound to it. and for the cost of the printer it isn't worth fixing and getting new ink.its done and now i must move on........

I bought the lexmark 3200 to replace my 2050. I really loved the 2050 and the software that came with it. I don't like the 3200 as much. I think it is a bit loud and slow. The quality of the printing is very good but it doesn't include a software package. Good print quality for the price. A nice gift for a teen with his own computer or a first printer purchase. The ink is very expensive but I have checked ink prices for other printers and they are all over priced.

One and one half years old and only prints black. When I set it up the test page had color.I only printed letters and didn't know
it dosen't print color until a few days ago. Informton and help
seem non existence. Few stores stock a black cartridge.

I actually have a P2200 inkjet by Apollo, a close cousin this printer. I have found it work reliably and consistantly. Just what this colloege student needs. The best part was, is that it was affordable. Keep up the good work Apollo.

The quality of this printer is phenomenal, I was truly impressed. The only downfall is the 6ppm, I am used to faster printers than that. This has been my absolute favorite printer.

My wife has a Macintosh that that we hooked this printer up too. She is very satisfied with the color quality, and speed, and she even boasts about the speed it scans documents with.
I had to contact HP support once because I messed up the all-in-one software (I should have read the documentation better).
HP's support set me on the right path, and sent me an updated CD with the latest drivers on it.
I think this printer was a wise purchase for us, and I would recommend it to a friend.

I did a LOT of research before settling in on this product by HP. Some of the crucial things I looked at were macintosh OS X support, support reliability, color print quality, black text quality, scan speed, size, and how obvious the controls are. The HP came out great in almost all of these catagories-- but I have to admit, the things that really got me was the color print quality. I stuck a piece of photo paper in the store demo and slapped down a vivid color print I took in Wales, and I was blown away-- I thought it looked great, and was very true to the original image. And that was the COLOR COPY option-- in other words, no software interface or scanning.

Since I've had it a couple months now, I have to say the thing I use it for the most and that has been consistantly the most valuable is the black copy option. I took 5 minutes to get used to the top control panel and now I regularly run off 5-10 copies of important things for my business, lectures, etc.. Any *major* copy job I still take to Kinkos, but it's so convenient to get a couple more copies when you just need one or two-- which for me, is a lot.

The scanning software works very well, generally. It's not as great as I would like, but it does do scans quickly and efficiently to Photoshop, Mail in OS X, or Preview. Just the fact that HP put some real EFFORT into OS X support makes me on their side. I'd like to be able to do better work with the images and cropping before scanning, though.

The OCR only seems to work using OS 9 software.[...]

The creative copying option-- right there on the top of the machine-- is a brilliant design. With a few selections I can have a color copy of a photo automatically fit to the page I'm printing to. That's pretty cool.

All in all, I'm really pretty happy with my purchase. The software went buggy once and did some weird things, but I uninstalled and reinstalled it and it seems to be fine. If you can find a good price on the black refills it seems to really work as a cost-efficient option as well. I've seen reviews that seem to dog the PSC series as not being up to the OfficeJet standards-- maybe, but they work great as a home business/cost-efficient option and really pack in a lot of the whallop of the OfficeJet. I wish there was a direct FAX option-- surely that's only another $15 at this point? But still, I haven't needed to use the FAX option yet, and I use everything else every day.

I love it. Good Job, HP.

What surprised me was that this product was easy to use. The software took a while to install and to make it work. When I got it working, it prints real smoothly and the quality is great! It is definitely worth the money.

I thought I would be quite happy with this printer when I found it at a reasonable price. But with its splotchy printing, low drum capacity, and expensive drums, I found it cheaper to buy a HP 1012 than to keep this one running. Even the starter drum on the HP 1012 last longer than the DCP 1000 drums.

When I first started using this printer/copier/scanner, I thought it was a wonderful machine at a great price. But by the time I had almost used up my first toner cartridge, my printed pages contained white stripes, so I needed to replace the drum. Oh, Brother! The drum costs over half of what the entire printer does. Since the drum is considered a consumable, it is not covered under warranty. Maybe it would be cheaper to only use this machine as a copier/scanner, and get a separate laser printer to do my printing from the computer...

I've had this copier/printer for several months now and I find it to be a really cool and useful tool in my office. I can get really cheap compatible toner on the internet for it, so the cost of using it is therefore....cheap! Haven't had any problems with the drum. But the way I see it, I'm saving a lot with the cheap toner, so when the drum goes out, oh well. The machine functions really nicely. I love the document feeder. In fact, I like the whole package so much that I just ordered another via the web for $245.00 shipped. Drums can be found at databazaar.com for just $118.00. My opinion on the naysayers....you just got yours from a bad batch.

This printer is not worth the hastle. It eats ink cartridges like there is no tomorrow, breaks often, and does not have 1/8th the print quality of the newer inkjet printers on the market. My advice: spend the extra money to get a newer, higher quality printer in the first place rather than spending your money on this cheaper one now and then having to buy the newer one anyway when this one breaks.

I have had Hp printers, they are real workhorses, printing sharp text but when I decided to try color printers 2 years ago. I read about the Color printers available and choose Epson because of the 1400x720 resolution, though I rarely use that high a rez. I usually use 720x720 dpi and the pictures come out pretty good. I have not had any problems that can't be resolved by maintenance/cleaning the heads. It has fair prints text output, it could be a lone printer but I won't say its Laser quailty. I end by saying that it is a good printer and has resulted in me buying other Epson, printers. Even though the sells person recommend HP or even now Canon. I bought the Epson photo printer and It is the best printer for the money. I saved two hundred dollars or more, and I am very satisfied with my choice of all three Epson printers. I do own a Laser printer for the heavy b/w printing. The Epson would do, but it doesn't have to.

This si the best printer for home-office in one time... It's very economy... Very samll and light so that you can carry it easly and put it any where... The quality of the printing is the best... The black and white printing is the same quality as a (mono)laser printer.... Also the software included with it (corel print house, corel photo house and the corel friend reminder) are very good... The media pack (trial not full) is also good. The only one bad thing is that it doesn't support the connection cable with it... THE BEST PRINTER I THINK... If you want more info e-mail me...