Customer Ratings & Reviews

I launched my own small marketing consulting business 2 years ago and I've been boot-strapping it the whole way and it was no different that when it came to my printer. I inherited an older Epson model and was happy to develop my presentation and proposal materials as needed, but given the demand of managing clients, time quickly became the most important commodity in my life. Even with Amazon as my ink delivery support, I found myself scrambling to find a backup when I ran out of ink one too many times. So when I began reading about the EcoTank innovation I was intrigued and reached out to Epson directly. They provided me early access to the product in exchange for my impartial review. I'm happy to report that while it's still early goings, I'm thrilled with my new printer. Setup for the software and the WiFi connection was easy and the print quality and speed is solid, but most importantly the peace of mind that I won't have to waste anymore time replacing cartridges or scrambling for a back up before a big pitch. Positives: Quality prints Reliability Quick set up No regularly switching at ink cartridges Negatives: Transitioning the new ink bottles can be a bit tricky so make sure to take your time The printer menu user experience is a little clunky

Overall, this printer is a fantastic value if you're willing to front the huge upfront cost for the initial investment. The printer right away looks a lot like a cheaper version from Epson - but WITHOUT the Eco-Tank functionality, and it appears the bulk of your initial investment is from the ink that comes in the box. Right away, it's obvious that there is a LOT and I do mean a LOT of ink. You get your "initial" setup bottles, which fill all of your tanks to the very top on the side. Be careful - it's very easy to get this on your fingers. Fortunately for me, I have nitrile gloves at home, but not everyone will! Be careful not to confuse which bottle goes in which tank. Although the reservoirs are clearly marked, somebody who does not pay attention could spill the wrong color - and if you do, you're legitimately screwed because the mixed color will have "contaminated" the ink supply for that specific color reservoir and tank. Now, alas, let's go to the nitty gritty. Overall, for double sided printing, it's pretty snappy for a home or home office use. If you're in a higher volume setting like a doctor's office, this could be an issue, because of the print speeds. Obviously this is an inkjet printer, and therefore you will be waiting on the printhead to print, line by line, your documents. This has a SINGLE SIDED scanner, and the ability to double side scan does not exist. It's also slow - and although acceptable for a home user or home office user, it's nothing speed wise to write about. Network connectivity is easy, and setting up the printer is fairly straightforward. After removing your usual packing materials, you load the ink into the reservoirs on the side and when you turn the printer on for the first time, you're supported to hold the "OK" to let the printer know you're ready for the 1st time priming. This process is initially very loud and lasts about 20 minutes or less. It should be noted that during this time, the printer will start siphoning ink from each reservoir to prime the lines for the first time. One important thing you should keep in mind is that there is a small paper tray. I believe it holds only 100-150 sheets of paper, and although I did not pay attention to the exact number, know that this is a lower volume unit and if placed into any office capacity, you will refill the paper often. THE IMPORTANT CAVEAT.... Epson does not make this initially obvious - but like their older generation printers, this printer does have an "END OF LIFE" internal counter inside that will eventually render the printer virtually useless. Unlike the newer Epson printers with a "Maintenance Box" that is replaceable in the back, this printer DOES NOT have one. Why is this important? If you are somebody who likes to hang onto a printer for a long time, it should be noted that there is an internal absorbent pad that absorbs waste ink for thinks like routine printer maintenance, borderless printing, printhead cleanings, etc. This pad does eventually get saturated and unlike Epson's newer Workforce printers Non EcoTank series (w/ exception to the RX Model) - they have a maintenance box that is replaceable when saturated and your can continue to print. This specific printer ET-4550 will eventually warn you down the road that the printer has reached its end of usable service life and will basically require you to junk the machine or have Epson assist you with a "reset" utility - which you can find via a search engine. This also means that you would need the internal pads to be replaced, and most people won't go thru this process. Other than this very important caveat, this printer is still a great buy based on cost of ownership. I have prehistorically had print-head issues with former Epson machines, and I suspect it was because all of their inks have traditionally been Pigmented based ink but in the EcoTank series (NOT INCLUDING RX VERSION) - the Colors are dye based EXCEPT for the black ink in the printer. This is important because the fade resistance and water resistant qualities in TRADITIONAL, non EcoTank inks you do not get the same results with this machine. So, they sacrifice the ink to be dye based for the colors - which save them money and you have to be careful about not getting your prints moist. Although this won't be an issue for many people but if you print signage with this printer, this ink WILL fade when exposed to the UV rays of the sun in a window over time versus the formerly traditional pigmented based Epson inks.

I was so excited when I got this printer. No more ink cartridges!!! The set up was extremely basic. I love that I can print without an Internet connection straight from my iPad or iPhone. The clarity of the copier is even impressive. I am so glad I have this in my office.

Had to send 1st one back, not enough paper storage, wish I had my $ back would buy something proven, many issues just doesn't work well

Functional printer, not to the quality that thought it would be. Constant filling of the ink wells is an issue.

It does have a grate economy when it comes to ink but printing quality doesn't have what I expected

the ink is not predictably bright and even. The next printer i buy would have ink cartages.

Read the ink fill procedures and decided to avoid the potential mess and stick with a laser printer

color printing is not what I expected, had to clean head and still not good quaility

Easy to set up and use this printer. Fax is great. However, print quality is poor for color.

It is like working with for matrix it is extremely slow and went through a lot of ink.

Not user friendly, sorry I bought this, were good reviews on line though

I expected the print quality to be much better, considering the high price tag..

Great idea, save lots on inks but poor print quality. Banding on full color prints. Did all recommended alignment calibrations however can not get rid if horizontal banding, (lines across the prints). Many reviews with similar complaints.

previous epsoni all-in-one printer was quieter and easier to use

I tried to print pics from my phone and the ink ran together.

It is awful for printing photos. All the ink runs together.

Thus far it seems to work adequately, but it's had some issues that seem ridiculous for a $500 printer. In no particular order: -The paper tray doesn't slide into the printer easily. You have to jimmy it and push down on it - makes it feel like you'll break it. It should have some sort of wheeled track which enables it to slide in and out. -The print heads clog up too easily and the "clean" function doesn't work as well as it should. After all three color nozzles clogged up completely, I had to run the clean function four times to unclog them. -The printer always makes you select a paper type after you pull the paper tray out and push it back in, which is not acceptable because it doesn't show all possible paper types. If you don't at least press "OK", it will not print. I've never had a printer that did that - you put in paper, tell your computer to print, and it prints. -The wireless functionality is finicky. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, for no apparent reason. -The paper feed system sometimes grabs several sheets at once. This is a common problem for printers but at the $500 price point, even if that extra price is due to how you won't be buying expensive ink cartridges for the life of the printer, it shouldn't be an issue. That said, it does seem to do its job of printing quickly and economically. I've put out over 1,000 pages from mine thus far and the ink levels haven't fallen much. I'm not yet ready to say that I regret having bought it. However, one would think, by now, that these piddly little problems would have been engineered out of printers.

First let me say: I did NOT get this printer FOR FREE I paid $499 for it. My reference points are: HP 8100 all in one (Purchased 8 years ago for $275 from Costco), Xerox 520 Documate scanner (purchased 10 years ago), and a basic HP entry level laser printer purchased 15 years ago for $550 (I no longer own) HP 8100 broke two weeks ago and I am in desperate needs for a printer/scanner. I use my home printer to print about 300 pages a month some in color but most in black and white. And I also use it to scan receipts, home photos, and my kids papers from school. When I heard about the echo printers I was ecstatic, and honestly when my printer broke on week later, I was happy that I had the opportunity to purchase this printer. Here is my honest review: Pros: Ink price (cheap), initial setup (easy), and size (small) Cons: 1- Scanning speed at 300 dpi is at 2 pages per minute, 600 dpi is 1 page per minute, and at 1200 dpi was 4 minutes per page. Compared to the HP at 10 pages per minute and the Xerox at 20 pages per minute (at 300 dpi) 2- The software (I know this is subjective) Xerox used mostly windows native software. HP was pretty good for a system that’s 8 years old. Epson feels very basic and outdated: you cannot change any settings from the printer. If you need to scan or email a document you need to start the computer with the software installed and do all your settings there. Furthermore there are no quick ways to change the dpi of the scan, and if you need to set up scanning to the cloud you can only do it on Epson’s website. 3- No USB or SD card slots 4- Compared to my 15 year old entry level laser printer or the 8 year old HP printer the Epson is Slow: $500 for a printer that prints at 7 pages per minute. For the same price most printers are printing at 20-40 ppm 5- Quality: The print quality is the same as my HP printer from 8 years ago. Text looks fine but nowhere near the quality of a laser printer as they claim. 6- The Tray is too small: They claim 150 pages but for the rest of the mortal world you are lucky if you can put 100 blank pages in the tray. (as a reference the HP 8100 can load 550 pages and the laser 400 pages. Conclusion: This is an $80 printer they are selling for $499. It you are like me and print about 300 pages a month it will take you about 4 years to break even and by then who knows what printers and options will be available.

But i preferre laser this printer is a bit slow for me