It’s time for new home printer. I’ve been looking at the Epson Eco-Tank printers. For years I’ve been wishing someone would make a printer with refillable ink tanks instead of having to buy the ink cartridges. And now they’re here. It looks like Brother and Canon also have similar printers.
The Eco-Tank printers get pretty decent reviews, but about three quarters of the reviews I look at online end with a disclaimer that they were provided with a free printer in exchange for beta testing and review. It’s hard for me to believe these reviews are completely unbiased, so I turn to my fellow Dopers who I trust more than some online randos who got free goodies. Does anyone here have any experience with these printers? Would you recommend one? (The one I’m looking at specifically is the model 3710, if that makes any difference.)
Side question: how do I get Epson to send me a free printer in exchange for a review?
I picked up an Epson ET-3710 earlier this year, replacing a 10+ year old HP Colour LaserJet that was not printing well anymore. I’m still on my first fill, all is good so far.
Printing directly from iOS is a nice feature and the photos look pretty good. Amazon seems to have 3rd party refills at a substantial discount to OEM ink. I may give it a try when the time comes.
I wasn’t considering a color laser printer. I had briefly looked at B&W laser printers but we’d really like to be able to print in color. I’d have to do some research on color laser printers but between the cost of the printer and consumables, I’m afraid it might be beyond my budget. Also, can color lasers print on glossy paper like photo paper?
The biggest problem I have always had with inkjet printers is not the cost of the ink (shamefully high) but the fact that you need to be printing all the time in order to avoid clogged nozzles.
I think that wouldn’t be a problem for a printer that is in use daily for office printing, but it is the Achilles heel of fancy photo printers.
I had a sweet Epson photo printer that made amazing prints, but if you didn’t print photos every week the nozzles would dry up and clog, requiring much effort and a mild application of profanity in order to get back to normal.
I finally tossed the Epson and went with a nice HP network LaserJet printer that we can all print to from our i-devices. Anytime I need to print something in color I go to Staples for docs and Walgreens for photos.
A color laser will be a higher initial investment, but unless you print a lot the color toner cartridges should last you a very long time. I’ve had an Oki and HP color laser. The color quality on lasers doesn’t seem as good, the colors aren’t as vibrant and certain colors just don’t seem to print the right tone. But if your color needs are minor, like logos or some colored text rather than full photos, I’d still recommend a color laser over an inkjet.
If you print a lot on a color laser you will eventually find yourself in a situation where the cost of replacing several toner/drums at once exceeds the cost of a new printer. We went through several Oki printers because of that, but the HP at least as the drums integrated into the toner cartridges.
One thing you might consider if you only occasionally need to print color photos is printing them somewhere like Walgreens or CVS. They have do-it-yourself machines that print photos very cheaply, IIRC about 20 cents each. Of course with COVID-19 that complicates things a little.
