Hi
I have had a long history with Epson. At one time for my tour participants I even recommended them.

Now it’s been one issue after another

First was the 2200. This printer uses an excessive amount of ink and the status showed the ink was gone even though there was still ink left in the cartridge. Epson ended up being sued for this. Please check the following link

http://www.pcworld.com/article/113112/epson_faces_consumer_suits.html

Then I purchased the Artisan. This printer I was using for general office letters etc (not photographs). This printer uses an incredible amount of ink. The paper does not feed properly so you constantly have to load and reload printer. The feed mechanism is incredibly sensitive. Whenever you purchase a printer please consider the cost per ml. I have to replace a cartridge on this printer approx every 20 pages i print.

I also purchased the 7880. This printer has had problems since day one.

a.) Epson serviced it once under warranty.

b.) The design is terrible. Why when I switch ink from Photo Black to Photo Matte does it have to drain all my cartridges? I understand the black. Guess why Profit.

c.) The printer wastes paper like crazy sometimes it feeds an extra 6 or 7 inches before it starts printing even though I lined it up properly.

d.) I was printing canvas paper. My roll size is 24 inches. I printed some images successfully that was 24 inches wide by 10 inches long. When I tried printing canvas that was more than 10 inches i get paper Skew Error. It would print a first few images then stop. I would make adjustments it would look fine then again Skew Error. I called Epson Tech Support after one hour they were unable to resolve problem. They suggested I get a service rep to visit my house. Cost $100 evaluation then $149 hour plus multiple parts for additional money.

I don’t feel I should pay for a defective printer repair. I called Epson Corporate office John Lang is the President his office refused to talk to me.

Their office sent me to another department who I spoke with a manager Colleen.

She stated I should have purchased the extended warranty if I remember correctly was around $500 but I am not honestly sure. She also stated if I don’t want to pay for the repair I should consider a new printer. She stated that I was talking in circles and that she doesn’t want to talk to me and if I call again it will be just her I will speak to.


I will Canon.

I am really disappointed in Epson. I am just one consumer but they odiously don’t care. I also feel their printers are designed to maximize profit so you waste excessive ink and paper. I also feel you need to trust and like a company before investing in their products. This company has proven that they don’t care about their customers which disappointing. I the future I will look for a company with good corporate ethics.


Sorry for the long post

John Slonina
Slonina Photography Tours

Wow, John that does not sound like a good experience. I do have to say that it is exactly opposite of my experience with Epson. I have owned 11or 12 epson printers now and while some have been better than others they have all been pretty good. MUCH better than Canon (especially customer service) in my experience.

I too have the 7880 and get a few of the errors you talked about and have found work arounds to all of them. The printer does have quirks there is no doubt but I haven't found one yet that doesn't. The one thing I have found with Epson printers is that they like to be used ALOT. if you let them sit they are more prone to give you problems. My 7880 runs nearly non-stop so that can be a big reason why I am not having as many issues. Also, it will start printing at times giving a huge border at the end if I don't reel the canvas (paper) back in a ways before lowering the lever. Basically once I align the paper I roll it back in again until I can no longer see the end of the paper behind the black screen (door). Once I started doing that I have cured that issue almost entirely.
Occasionally I will get the paper skew error most often when I don't have one of the end caps on the bar all the way and it lets the paper wander...canvas seems to be worse at it. Keeping the caps tight has seemed to help. If it does do it, I just release the paper release hanfle and let the paper fall into place and let it find its own alingment. Once I do that it usually fixes it.

I don't know if you were looking for possible solutions to your problems or not but maybe those tips can maybe help to eleviate some of your frustration. Good luck and hope you have a better experience.

Cheers!

Second what Les said. I have had the 2400 and it really has been running like a charm. It does use a lot of ink, but I am hoping to upgrade to the 3880. It too seems to like to be run a lot. I usually let the cartridges run down pretty low, it usually brings up a message like, "you can print 20 pages like the last one", but I just generally do cards and smaller prints, so maybe I am just lucky so far. In 4 years I have only had to have it cleaned once.

I have a 4880 and will agree it can be a real pain, my problem is with clogged heads, I live in a very dry area and do not even consider printing without a nozzle check print. as for the paper size issue it can be turned off,its in the manual or you can google it and it works I think this will help with the skew error also, I found this on youtube and they have lots of tips for maintenance, Now after every time I finish printing for a while I wet down the capping station like they suggest, so far its much better, note my printer is out of warranty so your mileage may vary! always turn power off before you wet anything !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNlYR1SKONI&feature=plcp&context=C3649257UDOEgsToPDskKXjtB0sUjZNbfIBpa-rz02

I would be happy to find even a small printer that could handle an occasional 8x10 and some business cards that would last more than a year. The amount of printers that I have had single handedly fill our local land fill. They either become obsolete with the 'current' OS, they simply don't support something they advertise (networking, wireless etc.), the carraige freezes, and my current Epson, the yellow ink is plugged up in the nozzle (happened during a multi-print job). After researching Epson printer problems, I've found that eventually all Epson printers will plug up, given enough time. Since the carraige is permanent it can't be removed and cleaned. So the printer continues to not print yellow, but now the ink level says it's low (though it hasn't printed a drop on a new cartridge). It's a well known fact that printer companies make thier money on the ink. They've put chips in the cartridges that make it impossible to refill, and every other conceivable scam to cause you to buy thier proparitary ink. Just spend a few moments on Amazon.com and read the negative reviews for any of the printers. They read like a broken record. Ink,ink,ink,paper, no support. Believe it or not Epson printers have the best reviews. You just have to print color every day, turn the printer off after each use (it purges the ink nozzles every time it's turned on) sponge it, bathe it and feed it a lot of ink. If you don't it'll die. It's like having a baby. I'd rather spend the money and support a local printing service for my prints, and not live with the guilt of throwing away another 30 lbs of plasctic and mercury into the land fill.