[xdarkfluxx]

I am looking for a new printer right now. One that caught my eye was the epson artisan 700. However after reading reviews it was mentioned that initial startup will drain 1/2 of the ink it comes with (is this an exaggeration by the reviewer?). Is this normal for printers now? Also is 500 pages per 5 ml cartridges good? I know I wont get anywhere close to that in real life, reviews have also said 40-50 4x6 prints per cartridges.

I am also interested in your other thoughts on this printer.



Also if anyone else have any recomendation for a compact network All in one inkjet printer for under $200 please feel free to tell me.

Thanks

[OldOnliner]

xdarkfluxx said:

initial startup will drain 1/2 of the ink it comes with.
Is this normal for printers now?

That sounds like a bit of hyperbole. But it is pretty much "normal" for printers to come with some pretty minuscule cartridges these days. Call them "setup cartridges" or "test cartridges," but some are as little as 3ml in a tricolor tank! That's the case for the cheap printers, with the higher priced models being more generous on initial ink or regular ink tanks.

The cart that come with the printer will need to "charge" the print head (built into the printer itself on the Epson), and perform the various alignment tests and cleaning cycles that are part of initial setup.

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Also is 500 pages per 5 ml cartridges good? I know I wont get anywhere close to that in real life, reviews have also said 40-50 4x6 prints per cartridges.

BLACK printer cartridge document volumes should be based on 5% coverage, on letter size plain paper, at "normal" quality printing mode. COLOR printer cartridges are based on 15% coverage, on letter size plain paper, at "normal" quality printing mode. NOTE! That's how it used to be for all printers. Last year HP started labeling their ink cartridges with number of pages produced in the printer's FASTEST print mode! Now, in HP'd defense, their printers will produce some very good quality at fast settings (like Epson, but unlike Canon, Lexmark, Dell (LexmarkII), Brother). I'm pretty sure those manufacturers that weren't before are all stating numbers based on similar fast print settings now.

No way! A 5ml cartridge is usually around 125 pages at 5% coverage. The 40-50 4x6 prints per set sounds reasonable... at least with the included carts.

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I am also interested in your other thoughts on this printer.

Be it known - the Artisan series printers are primarily PHOTO printers and their use in more normal document printing, while high quality, will be very, very wasteful of ink.

That printer has EXTREMELY small tanks and Epson's technology is pretty wasteful of ink. (People who buy Epson inkjets are looking for quality and don't care how much it costs or how much trouble they are to maintain. Is that you?)

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Also if anyone else have any recomendation for a compact network All in one inkjet printer for under $200 please feel free to tell me.

I'd look at the Canon MP620 if you need the good photo printing. If you don't need the good photo quality, get the Canon MX700 ($129.99 after 50 rebate). At least the Canon comes with reasonably priced ink, isn't as wasteful as Epson, and has a small footprint.

Also consider the HP D6380 if you can find it on sale for $150 (instead of its usual $200 list). Printing technology is same as Canon's MP620 (but Canon's printer prints smaller dots and so prints slightly better photos), but HP is always an easier to use printer system than just about anyone. Unlike Canon, the HP comes with very small ink tanks, but, unlike Canon, have a larger (and more expensive) document BLACK ink tank available. (Yes, these printers run TWO black tanks at a time - 1 photo black and 1 text black.) Also, HP printers, like Epson (but unlike Canon) tend to be a little more efficient at laying ink on the paper and are therefore more forgiving of the media (paper etc.) being printed on, producing better results on a wider range of printed material.

I'd also tell you to get two printers as soon as feasible - at same time if it makes sense!

Have a decent AIO for photos and the occasional color printing and get the cheap B&W laser for the bulk of your B&W document printing tasks. Or flip that -- Get a good laser AIO for copying, faxing and printing B&W, and get a cheap (but good!) color inkjet photo printer for occasional color and photo printing. Depends on how you plan to use the printers or what you need the AIO for - mostly. Example: Last week at Staples there was a Network ready Brother Laser for 89 dollars (HL2150). Unfortunately the Canon MP620 wasn't on sale last week at its regular price of 150 dollars.

That's the direction you need to go when it comes to printing with your network PCs.

(Disclosure: This is what I do at my day job.)

Message edited for typos by OldOnliner
Edited by OldOnliner to add a bit about ink volume standard changes based on FAST print quality.

[xdarkfluxx]

Thank you so much for such a thorough response.