Epson Stylus CX5400 All-in-One Printer, Scanner, Copier

• Color printing, copying, and scanning
• Up to 22 ppm print speed, up to 16 copies per minute
• 5,760 x 1,440 optimized dpi maximum print resolution
• 1,200 x 2,400 dpi maximum optical scan resolution, 48-bit color
• USB interface; PC and Mac compatible

Epson Stylus (collective: ink-jet printer) are both 1 stars and 5 stars at the same time.

This is about the BEST printer I have ever had aside from my dye-sub photo printer(true-black). But there is a serious design problem associated with their printer assembly particularly the thinner-then-human-hair nozzle head which gets clog way too easily.

I have had the CX5200 for 14 months now (C80, C82, CX5200, CX5400 all share the same printer block assembly, hence they use the same ink), the nozzles got clog 10 months into it, and Epson was kind enough to ship me a replacement with a set of spare ink inside. However, just 4 months afterwards (today), my new printer''s nozzles are clog again! If you would just run a google search with words like "cx5200 + clog" you would see hundreds of forum with ppl complain about their clogged nozzles and angry consumer wanting a class action suit. I''m rather fused not in the fact that I paid $199 for the CX5200 months ago, but the fact that I have purchased 2+ sets of spare inks costing over $100 which I can''t use, unless I buy another epson with the same "defective" printer block and that, evidently, might not even out last my 2+ sets of ink as both of my other CX5200 didn''t!

Please spend your hard earn money on a better product that would last more then 13 months.

Update 6/1/04. I got a refurb. CX last week from their website for a very good price. The nozzles went out again after 2 weeks. New record! Good luck for the person who disagree with me. I bet you either sale or work for Epson.

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If you''re considering this printer, or any other candidates in the EPSON CX line, there''s something you should know: they all suffer from the same fatal flaw: clogging print heads. Unlike HP or Canon printers, the print heads in the Epson are embedded within the printer itself (not the print cartridge). This means that, irrespective of use, sometime within 1-2 years after you purchase this printer, you WILL have a print head failure which will cost you more to fix than the original purchase price of the printer.

Happened to me after 16th months of occasional (2x per month, about 10 pages per month) use. As with the other reviews below, I changed the ink cartridges, and found the machine simply henceforth spit out blank pages. I cleaned the heads 15 times (incidentally, each time you clean it uses about 2.5% of the ink in the cartridge)...no change.

Read Best Reviews of Epson Stylus CX5400 All-in-One Printer, Scanner, Copier Here

I can say that without a doubt this is the best printer or scanner I''ve ever owned. It prints very quietly and quickly.

Black and white text printing is flawless without any smudges. Borderless photo printing (which it''s predecessor the CX5200 lacked) is an excellent feature. We will get a ton of use out of this for scrapbooking. Epson''s Durabrite inks also have a longer life than other brands (70+ years) so that is an added bonus.

The scanner produces excellent results as well. It scans at high enough resolutions that it will easily copy a photo that is scanned in. You can''t tell the difference between the copied photo and the original from the photomat.

I didn''t buy it for its photocopying capabilities but it works as well as the giant copier in my office at work plus it has very accurate color copying.

For the price, you currently can''t ask for more in an inkjet. Very happy with the purchase so far.

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**Update 04/2006: Like many others on their recent reviews, I''ve run into the nefarious clogged nozzle problem. A small fortune of inkjet cartridges are now rendered useless because of this limitation. Meanwhile, the HP 990 hand-me-down printer I gave to my spouse is still humming along.

There is also a class-action settlement regarding Epson''s reporting ''empty'' printer cartrdiges that still have ink remaining. I am opting for the 25-dollar alternative and WILL NOT be buying any more Epson products.

Back in January 2004 I wrote:

The CX5400 has scanning, copying and printing (but not fax) capability. The lack of faxability was initially a concern the four or five times a year I really need it.

Setup was painless -the large poster walks you through all the bits of packing tape to remove. The cartridges were a little tricky to insert at first, but now that I see how it fits, it''s not a big deal. Driver installation worked well provided you use the supplied CD rather than letting let Windows auto-install. There could be a better explanation on what the four or five components are, though these appear to be related to the scanning option.

Profile: The CX5400 is a larger than I''d like. In particular, the input and output trays project such that I need a 20" x 3'' deep spot to situate the printer. The USB port plugs in the parallel to the back, requiring some clearance to avoid jiggling it out. It''s kind of unfortunate they didn''t have the input and output trays stacked up (like my HP990C) as this was more space efficient.

Capacity: The printer holds about 30-40 sheets. This is disappointing, especially on longer documents. There''s wiggle room in the feeder and my first few tries resulted in jams. Two sided printing is available only by feeding the output back into the tray. The driver''s smart enough to handle this, though I sorta miss the auto-feeding option of the HP990.

Software: As mentioned, there are a few components installed, and no explanation on whether you really need them. The software monitor is rather chirpy and comes up whenever you print. It occasionally tries to be a bit too helpful -a la Windows XP -by popping up the Epson help menu on various topics. On the other hand, the cartridge ink monitor is really cool, a feature I always wanted.

Speed: Pretty good, however the printer will stall on complicated graphs. I have an heart rate monitor chart (2 color, line graph) that took 30 minutes for it to chomp through. When the printer paused, I thought it may have lost its connection or Windows torpedoed itself, however it eventually resumed.

Noise: As other reviewers have noted, the printer is quiet in standby and has a reasonable noise level during printing. It would be cool if they implemented a standby mode where it would power itself on and off between print jobs. I suppose I could manually turn it on and off myself.

Output: Printouts are relatively sharp, as are pictures. They''re not laser-sharp, e.g., I can still see jaggies if I hold it close, but the quality is as expected.

Based on personal experience, a black cartridge lasts about 800-900 pages. Color longevity is going to vary on application.

Overall: great bang for the buck. I''d like a more efficient profile with a higher input capacity. I''m not sure why my HRM graphs are taking so long to print -this is certainly an area for further investigation.

I have only one complaint about this printer. Photos printed with it come out with a brownish-pinkish tinge to them. The manual (and tech support) says to check the calibration of the monitor because the colors may be off, but after extensive testing both with the printer connected to the PC and in standalone mode, I stand by my assessment. I''ve tried every setting under the sun on the printer itself and in the software to try to fix it. I''ve also cleaned the print cartridges and primed them (even though it was brand new at the time). And as a comparison, I printed the exact same at the same time with my HP Photosmart P1100. It came out nearly perfect, with matching colors, etc., and matching what was on the screen.

A coworker of mine also bought the same printer and is having exactly the same problem (by the way, we both work on computers in our jobs so we know how to troubleshoot problems). When he finally gave up and called tech support, he found out from the reluctant technician that there were a lot of calls coming in regarding this issue, and that they knew about it and were looking into it.

I hope Epson can come out with a newer driver or maybe updated firmware that can correct this problem. Otherwise, I can''t use it as a photo printer. They have such a good reputation for their photo printing that I can''t believe they''d let this happen.

Otherwise, this has proven to be a great printer in many other respects. It does an awesome job of scanning, printing both black and white and color documents, and copying. It''s quick, quiet, and is easy to use. I also like the separate ink cartridges--nothings worse than throwing out a $50 multicolor cartridge that feels pretty full, just because it ran out of one color.

Epson, fix your problem!!!