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We bought this printer because of the Epson reputation which it lives up to. The color is very good (although the ink is $$$$). The one negative so far is the paper tray. It is very flimsy.
But if you're looking at the 700 as convenient, you may be disappointed, and its operating cost is comparatively high. Instead, you must settle for a less secure setting to complete the wireless link.Once sorted out, the 700 does print excellent photos.
Of course, an all-in-one unit saves space, but at what cost.To get it all into one package, Epson has sacrificed the ability to scan transparencies, and the 700 has a fairly steep learning curve -- especially if you plan to use it wirelessly. If you've used printers and scanners before, you may miss some capabilities with the Artisan 700.
On the Mac side, Apple is remiss in not offering a straight WPA setting. Figure on extra time spent with tech support.
To their credit, Epson offers a special phone number and PIN for the 700.But Epson is remiss in not supporting a current (and backward-compatible) security setting WPA/WPA2. If that's your primary interest, you should be pleased.
Still, it is Energy Star-rated, and by eliminating an extra peripheral, some reduction in cost might be realized.My view is that this is good equipment -- and it could use more technical evolution.
Also, the above description gives the impression that Automatic Duplexer comes with the printer. Their process for return takes 5-10 business days. Amazon got me the printer in 2 days, and is now sending me a replacement that will be here in 2 days. Don't wait. You have to click through a series of buttons to make it happen.Overall, I just can't say enough about how difficult that all-in-one printer is. If you're for example trying to print a back-to-back document, you sometimes have to first set it to standard printing, and then go back and make changes for two-sided printing. So my advice is to keep your packaging when it arrives. I missed reading that part in the manual.
So over-all, the printer seems to be working okay. If you're printing a long document, you might want to just leave the run and come back. 4. I've had five of their printers go out on me, each within three years.
Test out everything when you get the printer. And I'm not talking heavy use of their printers, but I do rely on their printers for my business. After the test, they suggested that I return the printer. The autoduplixer is extremely noisy when printing. Called Epson and had to go through the process of testing out the printer for problems. Now we will see how long it will last.June 16, 2009 Update: Well, while the printer has been working fairly well, I want to add some additional cons to this review:1. There has been more than one complaint about this and other Epson printers.
It's a $29.99 accessory that you must purchase from the Epson store.The print quality of Epson printers are great, but the hardware just doesn't seem stable, at least over the long haul. If you simply use a preset that you created for two-sided printing, it won't always work.3. Just received this printer today, and the photo printing doesn't work. It's very annoying.2. The settings for the autoduplixer don't always work. Forget about using paper with the 3-rings holes already punched in.
Be sure to register the warranty and get it extended for 2 yrs because that's just about long their printers seem to last.Update: Turns out that I needed to insert the photo glossy paper face down (glossy side down) in order for it print correctly. Creating setting for simply copies on the flatbed instead of from the computer seriously demands your patience. Amazon is great; Epson consumer printers I'm no longer sure about. It gets jammed. It doesn't. The Epson support team did not tell me that when I called the first time.
The Artisan 700 can't handle that paper. It's smaller in size that previous all-in-one Epson models, but it's bigger in problems.I'm not sure if there are better printers out there on the market, but I would strongly advise if anyone look into other options.
Also, the printer uses black ink extremely fast. My 10 year old HP Photosmart has considerably better photo quality printing than the Epson Artisan 700. The paper trays do not fit exactly and the printing tray is cheaply made. I print maybe 5-10 pages once a week and have used the printer for about 5 weeks and it is already out of black ink. I do not recommend this printer
I bought this mainly as a CD printer as I have a professional printer for my photography. I have cleaned the heads, wasted ink, but on my 8X10's I still get black pin striped lines all over the photo. This Epson rocks as a CD printer and small prints such as 5X7 and 4X6.but I have not been able to get a decent quality print for anything larger out of it. Very frustrating. I have no idea why. Guess I need to contact Epson, but i am sure I will be told to clean the ink heads again.anyway, this rocks as a CD printer and since that is what I bought it for , I will continue to use it for that.
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