I own this printer, i bought it from the manufacturer's site directly since it wasn't available at amazon at the time i wanted it.
This printer is awesome in every imaginable way you can think of. And it can help you save a lot of money of you really want the all in one capabilty. Read on and i'll explain how an why.
First things first, the printer is way smaller than the HP Laserjet 2840 i own too, it's not heavy at all, and it looks great. The text printing on this Epson truly looks like a laser printer. The color is fantastic to, i even print photos on glossy photo paper and they look amazing. The scanner is fast and very good too. It allows you to scan and print both sides of docs at once, no manual interference needed.
I was looking for a printer that would give me great photo printouts as well as it could be used as a work printer since i do print lots of documents as well. I also wanted to buy a Fujitsu Scansnap 1500 for fast double sided multisize document scanning capabilities, Well this epson gives me all that and much more, and for less than half what the scansnap costs. I use adobe acrobat pro to scan docs to PDF directly from the epson scanner(could not do this with the scansnap) and all that is done wirelessly, i can also fax any document right from my computer just like i print them.
Bottom line, for $200 you're getting a very fast high quality printer scanner fax and both-sides copy machine as well as the card readers and a lot more, the ink seems to last, and this printer comes with the highest capacity cartridges, which seem to yield a lot. So now i solved my scanning, pc faxing and photo printing needs all in one small very good a nice machine. And i saved whatever a photo printer costs, plus the $430 for the scansnap s1500, and i get laser quality text as well as (N) wireless conectivity from my printer. What else could i ask for?
Note: My comparison with the scansnap s1500 are not based on web reviews, i actually bought a scansnap which i later returned since i get the same if not better results with this printer.
Also, i've owned canon photo printers and i still have a huge HP color laserjet 2840. So my comparisons and references are based on actual usage of all equipment mentioned.
My recommendation, buy this one and you'll be very pleased. Epson WorkForce 840 Color Ink Jet Wireless All-in-One with Fax (C11CA97201)
Just purchased this Espson Workforce 840 printer for my wife's new business after looking at tons of them on the web.
The reason that we decided on this one is NOT because it has the cheapest printing costs....it doesn't per page (it appears that Kodak printers may). However, after reading reviews on tons of printers, we decided on the Epson because.
1. The reviews/satisfaction were great.
2. It printed on both sides (We won't buy another printer that won't).
3. It is Mac compatible.
4. The print speed is fast, fast, fast.
5. The print quality is outstanding for my needs (see very bottom of this review for more on this), and my two initial printouts (of my wife's flights) were great.
6. Set up easy was beyond belief. This needs to be highlighted. We are installing this printer upstairs, in my wife's home office (for her long arm quilting business) so that she can print out brochures, etc. right at her computer. We have a total of four printers (two laser Brother HL-2170W...wireless printers, the EPSON and a new Brother). We love all of the other printers BUT the Brothers require you to hook up a USB cable to your router BEFORE you can get a wireless connection. (Don't know about the Brother, haven't hooked it up wirelessly yet). Our router however, is located on top of bookcases in our downstairs library and with the Brother HL-2170w's the ONLY way to hook them up wirelessly is to first hook them up to the wireless router. Only after doing that will they work on a wireless network. This is almost an impossibility, for I don't have 10' long USB cables to do, so I gave up and both of my HL-2170W's 'aren't'. They are simply wired due to the difficulty of setting them up. (Note: again, the HL-2170's are stupendous printers BUT they are black and white only and they don't print on both sides of the page(s) and they are not 'all-in-one' printers however, for lots of pages, single sided, just great workhorses and very, very cheap to run.
My expectations on ease of setting up the new Epson Workforce 840 then was slim to none, especially on a Mac and, even after opening the box the instructions said a USB cable was needed, I groaned. However, after I loaded the software (it didn't auto-show but I got through it via downloading the latest software/drivers from Epson... a very easy process), lo and behold, the new Workforce 840 was recognized instantly on my network, with NO further connection needed. This folks, to me, was like 'Wow! Wow! Wow! As I write this, I am blown away at how easy it was/is to set this printer up.
7. Compared to my old Lexmark, that just died (the reason for the Epson), the 840 is like comparing a Ferrari to a Yugo. Simply no comparison. The screen is just wonderful. It tilts out for easy seeing, it is intuitive, 'knows' what to do/ask so set up and operation was a breeze, so we are happy, happy campers.
8. The most important feature I've saved for last. MY WIFE WILL BE ABLE TO USE THIS PRINTER! For me, this might be the GREATEST thing about the 840, IT IS SO INTUITIVE.
Final thoughts. I am worried about the cost of ink however,our main use for the 840 will be using this for printing ads, brochures, flyers, etc. as well as using it as a fax, copier, etc. I commend EPSON for offering a short video on how their ink is made in a 'clean room' and the extent of how they view their inks for BUSINESS uses and high quality output. Normally, for home use, 99.9% of my printing is black and white, BUT for my wife's new business, 'Quality Counts' for customers to see her brochures so (and I hate to say this) I will probably purchase their replacement cartridges when she needs them.
Summary: The Epson Workforce is simply the BEST printer (so far) that we have ever owned. We could not be happier. If you need a two-sided, very fast printer, that is so, so, SO easy to set up and use, has outstanding ease of use, has two trays (great for envelopes in one, paper in the other) and many other features at a 'home business' affordable price, consider the Epson 840.
P.S. I called EPSON and they advised that there is an android app for wirelessly printing from your smartphone. Its called 'Cypria'. Haven't tried to install it yet but, while searching for wireless apps, etc. there is another app as well called 'Cortado' at [...] You might want to check these out.
P.P.S. In reading a review from PC magazine, their review stated that the 840 had 'average' print quality. However, in another review, I noticed that if you want 'outstanding' print quality, you can't use 'average' paper (which I use by the way). Instead, you must use a 'premium' paper from EPSON or wherever. - Multifunction Printer - Epson - All In One Printer - All-in-one'
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