Ab Work Outs: Epson Stylus CX4800 All-in-One Printer, Copier, Scanner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)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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Product Description:
Stylus CX4800 All In One