Epson Stylus CX4800 All-in-One Printer, Copier, Scanner

• Color prints, copies, and scans
• Up to 20 ppm print speed and 5,760 dpi resolution
• Prints directly from memory cards and PictBridge-enabled cameras
• 2,400 dpi scan resolution, 48-bit color
• Built-in USB and PictBridge interfaces; PC and Mac compatible

I am very pleased with this printer and I think it offers tremendous value.

One of the first things I liked about this printer is that it prints at a normal speed with decent quality, which is sometimes hard to get when you are buying an entry level printer. The printer offers 5 levels of quality, although the draft mode is useless because the printouts are too light and dotty.

The next level of printout (2nd out of 5 levels) is an enormous improvement from the draft mode and is actually quite good. In fact, I will probably use this mode exclusively other than when making photos. To print a full color web page on this mode takes less than 25 seconds, which is not bad.

The highest quality mode on matte photo paper still prints at a decent speed with very good, bright, brilliant quality. I showed some people at work some tulip photos I took and they were really impressed with the quality and could not believe an entry level printer could do that.

The manufacturer claims their ink is smudge resistant and resists water. Based on some crude tests I did, I would say that they have accomplished that goal in spades. I ran some color printouts under running water and the paper gave way without the ink running. This is important for those of you who want to make mailing labels and are concerned about exposure to the weather and also about the durability of the photos you print.

I also like the fact that this printer comes with 4 separate ink cartridges (the full version) and that I can replace the colors as they run out. The HP inkjet I had before this used an all in one color cartridge and I always felt that I was wasting money because I am sure that 2 of the 3 colors still had life in them. With this printer, that is not an issue.

This printer comes with software that has some excellent features. I''ve always had a problem in printing web pages because the right side always gets cut off, and I end up using landscape. This printer comes with the Epson Web-to-Page toolbar that will compress the image so that the web page fits in the portrait format. I have noticed that at times that a character might get cut off from the right, but overall this tool is very handy.

The printer also allows you to make copies (color or black & white) without requiring you to turn on the computer.

The printer comes with two memory card slots that can accommodate most types of camera memory cards. I was somewhat disappointed with this feature because you can not import the information on the card into your computer. In fact, the memory card feature is a stand alone device that doesn''t use your computer. I was hoping to be able to import the images into my computer from the printer, but that is not possible.

The way the card slot works is that it will print an index of all the images on that card, 30 thumbnails to a page. Below each thumbnail is a scantron type bubble form with (1)(2)(3) as your choices. You fill in each bubble that you want images of by choosing whether you want 1 to 3 copies of that image (hence the (1)(2)(3) choice). If you don''t want a thumbnail, you don''t feel in any bubbles. You then scan in the form, put some photo paper into the machine, and it will print the images you want.

I personally feel this violates the whole reason why I use digital photos, I want to edit them first on the computer before printing them, so I probably will not use the card feature. For this reason, I lowered my rating on the printer to 4 stars instead of 5.

Another thing I did not like is the photo software that came with the printer. It was stripped down and of little use (better off using whatever software that came with your digital camera of some other device).

I have a basic gripe with all manufacturers who label their machines all in ones when they do not have a fax function. I agree with other people in that there needs to be an industry standard definition for an all in one device. The problem is that a fax machine requires a document feeder, which most machines do not have. On the downside, without a document feeder, you will be limited to letter sized scans (A4 is the largest). This printer will not scan legal size documents. I did not lower my rating for this because it is an entry level machine.

Just so that you know, this printer replaced my high end HP D-135 all-in-one. I decided in the future to purchase entry level machines because you will end up with print heads needing replacement that are so costly that it''s worth buying a new machine. With an entry level printer, I am not too worried if I have to replace it every 18 months to 2 years. I also use an HP LaserJet 4si for major print jobs too keep costs down (inkjets in general are expensive).

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There are two problems with this printer and the other Epson CX models. First, the printer will not operate if any ink cartridge is empty. If the black cartridge is full, and any other cartridge is empty it will not operate even if you want to print in black only.

Second, these models have a tendency to clog from ink residue if you don''t run cleaning cycles after each use, which exhaust your ink supply. This is a complete waste of ink and an expensive maintenance issue.

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I purchased this printer to replace an aging printer and seperate (equally aging) scanner. I am impressed up to this point, setup was extremely simple and the basic printing functions produce good-quality documents with no detectable problems.

My only real frustration so far is the lack of documentation on setup and orientation for glossy 4X6 printing, I had to waste about 4 sheets in order to get the settings correct.

The "Arcsoft Photoimpression 5" software is next to useless, it made horrible prints. Stick with whatever picture software you normally use, I printed directly from Windows XP and it looked fantastic in comparison.

I have scanned some papers as well, and I like the software-based auto-detection, it saves me quite a bit of time when I an scanning multiple pages.

All in all I would say getting a decent quality printer with card readers (SD/XD/SM,CF) and pictbridge support for this kind of price really is a good deal. We generally are light users and don''t require a great deal of "finesse" from our printer, so I would say if you are a light-duty user and looking for a decent budget multifunction unit, this could be a good fit.

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I have had this printer for about a year now. It was wonderful at first. Not fast, but good enough quality for what I needed. Then I started buying Ink cartridges. The ink doesn''t last long at all. I got real irritated at how quickly the ink seemed to magically drain. It has a black ink cartridge, but unless you dig deep in the preferences, you find out that it uses all the ink cartridges, including black, to make a black and white page. So, even if you using only black your color cartridges will drain also. It turns out that there is a class-action lawsuit regarding this printer. The ink cartridges actually never run out. Once they get below a certain percentage, they will stop your print job until you replace whatever ink cartridge it thinks is empty. The problem was bad enough that Epson lost the suit. (or at least settled) I got a whopping $45.00 certificate at the Epson Store. I bought ink, but it, of course, did not last long. This printer has been a monumental money drain. I tried refilling the cartridges. I paid a $100 for a kit specifically for this printer. But the ink drains quicker and I am constantly having to "clean" the heads. Everytime I do a print job, I have to clean the heads two or three times then it works for a while and then runs out of ink again. I have never been more frustrated with a printer in all my life. It has cost me more time and money than any printer I have ever owned. I normally like Epson, but this printer is forcing me to think twice about a company that would build a monster such as this one.

We were a little disappointed when we bought this because it was a good deal slower than our old hp, but it seemed all right for awhile. Then it ran out of ink. Ever since, it has been one huge headache. After we replaced the black cartridge, it has periodically left white streaks that make the page unreadable. Troubleshooter said to clean the printheads, so we did. Repeatedly. We still had the problem, and head cleaning uses up all your ink.

Speaking of ink, that is the biggest ripoff of this printer. The separate cartridges supposedly save you money, since you only replace the one that''s out, but our colors ALL ran out on the same print job. Can you say IMPOSSIBLE???? We have discovered that these cartridges have a "smart" chip that tells the computer when the ink is low. It was still printing very blackly, and we weren''t using ANY colored ink, but suddenly the whole thing shuts down, and you can''t print at all, because the "smart" chip has decided it''s out of color. We couldn''t print until we got new cartridges.

I am really disappointed that a company like Epson would stoop so low as to purposely engineer a product that costs its customers money, time, and frustration, but that''s exactly what it''s looking like to me.

Today we went and bought three color cartridges so that we could complete our _black and white print_ job, and now it won''t print readably at all--just streaks. We have spent a good bit of time with tech support, but it doesn''t sound as if we''re ever going to get any satisfaction. None of them have a clue.

We are wishing like crazy we''d bought another hp, and not given in to the siren song of separate ink cartridges and wasted our money on this one!

Take my advice and DON''T buy one. We''ve heard that there''s been a lawsuit over this printer, and I believe it was appropriate!