- Rated No1 in photo quality by consumers photographers
- World''s Fastest 4 x 6 inch photo printer 10 seconds
- Epson Connect to print from mobile devices
- Touch panel with 2.5 inch LCD
I''ve had Epson printers for about 10 years. They can provide years of brilliant photo quality prints, but can also be painfully frustrating. Time will tell how this new printer fits on that continuum.
This thing is huge. It takes up almost twice as much real estate as my Brother 2270 laser. The duplexer hanging off the back adds about 4 inches to the depth.
It has lots of surprising bells and whistles. Whether you need all that is up to you. More on that later.
The wireless setup was the best I''ve seen. Turn it on, it detects the network. Enter your SSID right on the panel, and your done. After that, setup on both XP and W7 machines went without a hitch.
The color printing by Epson is excellent. It makes Dye Sub printers just about obsolete. These''Claria'' inks are dye based, but are supposed to have great UV resistance. I''ll leave a photo in the Sun and let you know in 20 years.
Initial tests on photo printing are astounding. I use Kirkland Glossy Photo paper, best photo print mode, high-speed turned off. I compared it with a print (same photo) from Winkflash on Fuji paper. It was as sharp, or sharper. The blacks are blacker with more pop. It could use a little more saturation in the yellow and magenta. But without any tweaking, the profile is pretty much dead on.
I haven''t said anything bad yet. What''s not to like?
The only negative specific to this printer so far is the paper tray. It seems flimsy and complex. There appears to be no way to manually feed paper, so card stock probably won''t work. Also, if you want to run a couple of sheets of full size photo paper, you have to replace all the paper. Or, put in 1 more sheet than you need on top of your regular stock. Otherwise it will snag on the last one and double feed, with disastrous results.
My general beef with Epson is their notorious ink costs. Epson has spent a lot of time and money in courts trying to make sure you can only buy their ink cartridges, with limited success. Instead of selling at competitive prices, they would rather sue. To me that''s like Ford saying you can only buy Ford gasoline.
If you do a lot of printing, you can spend a lot on ink. However, I''ve found inksupply.com to be a great source to ease that pain.
If you don''t use the colors regularly, the head can clog. They don''t make cleaning the print head easy for you. They could make it pop out for easy cleaning and replacement, if they wanted to. A basic head cleaning cycle wastes a lot of ink and doesn''t always work. That''s when you start looking for the 2 lb sledge. I''m hoping these dye based inks are less likely to clog due to their smaller particle size.
Now for all those features. They really designed this printer as ''family-friendly''. They don''t seem to be marketing it that way, though.
Duplex: Pretty handy if you do a lot of plain text printing. It is cool the way it prints the top side, then slurps the page back in to do the other side.
Scanner: The scanner is very accurate, and I''ve always liked the EpsonScan software. It''s powerful, yet simple. You can mess with the settings, or just pop it in and do a quick scan to your desktop.
Copier: Really impressive copies. I couldn''t distinguish between a print and a copy of the print. Try copying something with colored tape or similar on the original. You''ll think you can peel the tape off the copy!
SD card slot: Print without the computer. I would never want to do that, but you can.
Print from your smart phone: There''s an app for that. Reviews on the Android app are mixed so far. I haven''t tried it yet, but it will useful, I''m sure.
Now for the family stuff:
CD printing: That could come in handy if your distributing wedding photos or something. You can also print a jewel case for your bootleg REM CD.
Coloring Book: Strange thing to build into a printer, instead of the software. You can only do it from an SD card or the scanner. But it will be fun for the kiddies.
Lines and Graphs: Make your own notebook paper and graph paper. Why no built in 3 hole punch?
Greeting card: Again, it seems this would be a software feature, but it''s firmware on the printer.
I''m sure there''s more features too numerous to tell.
I can''t give it 5 stars yet until we see how it fares over time. But the engineering and design seem solid (if a little weird as noted). This printer does a lot, and it does it extremely well.
I will post some photos, and if I can find a way to make this review even longer, I will at a later date.
Edit 10/22/11: I''ve done a couple more full size photo prints. I''m almost out of 2 colors. But ohhh the sweet reproduction of color. I did a collage of some old photos using the copier function. One photo has a red ink mark. Another has a pushpin hole. For a second I thought the copy had a hole in it! The red ink mark looks like someone just swiped a pen across it. Also, I did borderless 8.5 x 11 and there was no smearing at the edges. Amazing reproduction. I was also pleased at the speed increase over the old EpsonScan software. Everything worked flawlessly.
Gotta go buy some ink...
EDIT 4/10/12: Apparently Epson did a firmware update that totally prevents you from using 3rd party ink cartridges. The error message says: "Cartridge not Recognized". It''s hard to imagine that that''s legal. It''s also just rude. So although Epson says they recommend using only their own ink, what they really mean is the printer will only work with their own ink now.
I''ll be looking for a Canon before Epson gets any more of my money. I can''t believe their arrogance.
Buy Epson Artisan 730 Wireless All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer (C11CB18201) Now
TRUE AIRPRINT COMPATIBILITY:
Bought this printer today. So far so GREAT! Opened the box to find a yellow sheet titled: "Attention AirPrint Users". It then explains that to enable AirPrint capability install the latest firmware available from Epson''s website. My first though was "WOW", I thought only HP printers had this capability. So OK, I''ll bite. I installed the printer on MAC OSX Lion without any problems at all. Flawless. So then the firmware upgrade. This part always makes me a little nervous but the Epson step-by-step instructions were very clear. Firmware upgrade take about 10-15 minutes and remember DON''T turn it off or unplug it during this process. Once the firmware was upgraded I went to an email on my iPhone, clicked the AirPrint button, then Print, and EPSON Airtisan 730 shows up, along with a selector for the number of copies, and single/double sided (on/off). I hit Print and sure enough out comes my complete email. I then check Safari and iBooks and yes, it will print from those natively as well. No EPSON or third party app required. So, you ask what''s the big deal? Well the deal is that nowhere on the Epson website or on the box does it mention printing compatibility with AirPrint. I even went to Apple''s official list of AirPrint printers and it''s not yet listed there either, just HP.
Artisan 725 VS 730
I had been looking at the Artisan 725 and couldn''t find much product information on the differences on this newer model. Here''s what I''ve come up with so far:
1. Very slightly high print speeds, but not enough for anyone to notice.
2. Difference in droplet size. Fixed size on the 725, 5 sizes on the 730.
3. Front panel. 725 has a bit of a clunky button arrangement to hold/release the front panel up at an angle. The 730 does away with that and replaces it with a nice, smooth friction-type design.
4. Appearance. 725 is all black. 730 has some dark blue accents around the top.
Printing
I''ve printed a few pages and a few photos. So far, faster than my old HP C6380 and better quality.
Scanning
Nice, high resolution at much higher speeds than my old HP as well.
I''ll update this review as I get more time on this printer. But until then it gets two thumbs up.
Read Best Reviews of Epson Artisan 730 Wireless All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer (C11CB18201) Here
Advisory: I did not test every feature of this printer. I will update review when I have tested printing from an SD card and a USB drive. I do not have Smart Phone so will not be testing Airprint feature. Not sure if I will be testing the CD printing feature.
Pros:
*Set-up was a piece of cake. I had to use the printer''s interface to set up the wireless as I did not have the right size USB cable, but printer found my network without a problem. I have a Netgear router & Dell Inspiron Laptop running Vista.) Entering the password was somewhat like texting on my mobile phone but I had no issues. I was printing within 30 minutes after I began opening the box.
*Black text printing looks good. Very fast.
*Scanner worked fine; no problem.
*Photos were astounding!!! Printer uses 6 ink cartridges which probably accounts for the vivid colors. I printed 3 photos right after set-up using glossy photo paper. One photo was from a low-resolution file. All came out great.
*Paper tray holds both regular paper & photo paper. You don''t have to change the paper out.
Cons:
*Depending on your needs, this printer might be a bit bulky. It weighs more than 20 lbs. so will not fit where my other printer was. However, it is geared for light commercial usage such as a home business so bulk/wgt. is probably appropriate for that class.
*Will not print at all if any one of the ink cartridges is empty. This, for me, is one of the serious drawbacks to Epson printers. My other Epson is the same way & it''s really inconvenient as I do a lot more text printing than color printing.
*Unless you need high-quality color prints or other color materials like brochures, six ink cartridges is hard on the budget. But, if money is not a concern and you want to be able to print your photos when you want, then this printer is top-drawer.
*Paper tray is light-weight plastic that feels flimsy. You have to be very careful when pulling it out or in.
*No fax capability. Not a problem for me but might be for some.
I will update this review when I have had the printer a few more months and have tested the SD & USB features.
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I started off by loving this printer. It prints fast and the colors look good on high quality paper.
... Then I let Epson "Upgrade" the firmware ...
Now I constantly get "Cannot recognize the following cartridge(s). Try installing them again.". Everytime I get this error the page that is printing gets ejected and the next page gets the second half of the picture printed at the top of the page wasting two sheets.
I am using a CISS system and can''t imagine using an inkjet printer without one. It turns out the only reason for the firmware update is to disable CISS systems and prevent anyone from using competitors ink cartridges.
I contacted Epson and got this reply back. "Thank you for contacting Epson regarding your Epson Artisan 730. It is my pleasure to respond to your inquiry. However, there is no option to put the printer back to it''s original firmware."
Now I have to decide between Canon and HP. Can anyone recommend a good Canon and matching CISS?
Save 27% off
I love Epson products, and have owned Epson printers for many years. My last Epson printer worked for me for at least five years, but lately began to have color and streaking issues, so I was in need of a replacement. I''m so glad I did replace it because the Epson Artisan 730 is literally the best printer I''ve ever owned!
First, the setup. It was really very easy. I took the Epson Artisan 730 out of the box, installed it''s software on my computer, then plugged the printer in. Because of the printer''s Wi-Fi capabilities, it recognized my home network right away. The handy color touch screen lifts up to allow you to see it more easily, and seems very responsive. Using the touch screen, I entered in the password for my home network, and the printer was connected! I sent a test print from my computer to the printer, and it not only printed right away, it was freaking fast!
One of the features I was most excited about trying out was the Epson Artisan 730''s ability to use Apple''s AirPrint technology. We have a two-story house, and the printer is on the second floor. So, for my next test, I went downstairs to another part of the house and pulled out my iPhone. One review I read here said that they needed to upgrade the firmware for the printer in order to use Apple''s AirPrint technology, but that problem must have already been solved in later models, because without any firmware upgrade, my iPhone recognized the Epson Artisan 730 right away. I pulled up an email on my iPhone, pushed the print button, selected Epson Artisan 730 and pushed print. By the time I made my way upstairs to where the printer was, the email was printed. I tried the same thing with a photo. I had no problems whatsoever. Plus, the printer knew I was printing a photo, so therefore automatically chose photo paper! I even tried walking out to the very back corner of my back yard, taking a picture of a flower with my iPhone, and printing it. Again, by the time I reached the printer, I had a gorgeous print! The Wi-Fi technology is one of my favorite aspects of this printer!
In the time we''ve had it, we''ve printed all kinds of things from 8x10 color photos to simple black and white copies to printable CDs. The printer is fast, and the quality is excellent. Photos are amazing, and you would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between an Epson print and a print from a photo developer. Dot pattern is practically non existent. Everyone I showed my photo prints to was amazed.
As far as ink usage goes, after about a month of slightly above normal usage, I got a message on my computer that some of my inks were running low. So, it does seem like this printer uses ink quickly. It could become expensive if I have to replace inks every month. But like I said, we''ve been using it more than normal this month so, hopefully, with normal usage, the ink won''t run out so fast.
Bottom line is: as I said previously, the Epson Artisan 730 is the best ink jet printer I''ve owned to date, and I would have no problem recommending it.
