[L Berle Participant Posts: 26]

Epson Printers

on: May 18, 2021 at 10:13 am

Hi Kevin

I noted your article about the new Epson ECO Tank printers and will look forward to your review with interest for these primary reasons.

1) we need to be more environmentally aware of the waste plastics we are throwing into landfill

2) The ongoing costs of disposable inkjet cartridges

NB I rarely print photos on my thirsty Canon TS 8250 because of the high cost per print but even with my very modest usage I have spent since Feb 2020 £238.00 on ink (this includes my recent purchase of as yet unused inks).  That combined with the printer cost means I have already paid about £350……………so the UK cost of the ET8500 A4 printer with its full set of inks included @ £650 is not as expensive longer term as it at first might appear?  I see that the ink bottles are 70ml for £15.99 and for the same money I can buy only 11.2ml in the Canon XXL size carts!!!!!

Oh, I note these printers use Claria Premium inks in use and quality of output how much difference ‘in real terms’ is there when compared to Claria Photo HD inks?

Thanks in advance for your review 🙂

[Greg Scott Participant Posts: 25]

Re: Kevins’ review of the Epson ET8550…..

Reply #1 on: May 18, 2021 at 4:57 pm

Kevin, I too look forward to your hands on review.  My wife does most of the color printing in our house so I will be monitoring your update for her.  As L Berle has noted, this is a smart environmental shift but I suspect the cost savings for consumers will drive a good deal of the consumer decisions.  What ever the consumer motivation, this is a good decision by Epson.

On the road less traveled....

[Kevin Raber Silver Member Posts: 1311]

Re: Kevins’ review of the Epson ET8550…..

Reply #2 on: May 18, 2021 at 9:03 pm

A quick update.  I set the printer up today.  It was the easiest printer setup I have ever done and I have done a lot.  There is a guide that works on your iPhone or iPad that walks you through things and communicates with the printer via Blue-tooth.  It’s very cool.  Loading the tanks and charging the printer was all done in less than ten minutes.  It logged onto my wifi network effortlessly.  I loaded the paper in the cassette and rear tray.  I opened up the Epson print layout on my iPad.  It found the printer right away.  I selected the paper I was using and selected an image from my camera roll and sent it to the printer.  I couldn’t believe how fast it printed and how good it looked.

 

Before dinner, I made 4 color reference prints on the P700 and the ET-8550.  They were super close in color match.  I asked my wife (who is very good with color) to select the prints she liked best.  In all cases, she picked the ET-8550.  Wow, that is pretty impressive.  What this printer accomplishes with 5 inks is really impressive.  Especially how fast it is.

I have some more things I want to try but so far I am impressed.  I’ll have a more in-depth report soon.  Had to share this though as it was better than I had expected.

Kevin Raber
Owner and Publisher of photoPXL

[Greg Scott Participant Posts: 25]

Re: Kevins’ review of the Epson ET8550…..

Reply #3 on: May 18, 2021 at 9:18 pm

Kevin, your report is very encouraging.  Nan’s first response was:

OOOOOO!!!  This is what I have been waiting for.  Keep me informed.

Looks like we are going to have a new printer fairly soon.  Appreciate your quick test update.  The ET8550 does look like a game changer.

On the road less traveled....

[Srdjan Mitrovic Silver Member Posts: 14]

Re: Kevins’ review of the Epson ET8550…..

Reply #4 on: May 19, 2021 at 9:04 pm

Kevin, thank you for the article about the printer and the early comments. Would like to know how it fares for B&W when compared to P700. I assume that will be part of your in-depth report.

[Kevin Raber Silver Member Posts: 1311]

Re: Kevins’ review of the Epson ET8550…..

Reply #5 on: May 19, 2021 at 10:03 pm

I did a few BW today and they are very good.  I need to run the same images on the P700.  It will all be part of my report.

Kevin Raber
Owner and Publisher of photoPXL

[Frank Loehner Participant Posts: 96]

Re: Kevins’ review of the Epson ET8550…..

Reply #6 on: May 21, 2021 at 3:42 pm

Hi Kevin, cannot wait for your test report! This does look like a game changer. I have so far been put off from printing “properly” by the high cost of ink, esp for occasional use. This printer might finally get me over the line and it might at last replace my ancient HPDeskJet/cheapo inks combo with some 21st century technology!

Please keep us posted

All the Best and stay safe!
Frank

[Alessandro Bi Participant Posts: 4]

Re: Kevins’ review of the Epson ET8550…..

Reply #7 on: May 23, 2021 at 2:07 am

Hi Kevin, I remember your great article about the Epson PictureMate PM-400. How do you compare the prints from the ET8550 vs. the PM-400? Would you keep them both, or does the ET8550 make the PM-400 obsolete and/or not necessary?

Thank you
Alessandro

[L Berle Participant Posts: 26]

Re: Kevins’ review of the Epson ET8550…..

Reply #8 on: May 27, 2021 at 7:16 pm

Hi Kevin

I surmise that you will include any thoughts about paper choice(s) especially as I have noted elsewhere that for the longevity criteria of the inks the ‘advice’ seems to be must ‘use Epson Inks & Epson Papers’!

TIA 🙂

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