Epson Stylus CX4700

Planned Failure – I have an Epson CX4700 printer. It has worked ok over the years. Now an 'End of Life' message appears, all lights flashing and it can't be operated. Epson have programmed it to stop working. An Epson service centre will 'unlock' the program for AUD $80, although it may require additional work which would incur an additional charge. So my take on it, is Epson has deliberately stopped my printer from working (any reason is unacceptable) and will restart it if I pay a fee. I just bought replacement cartridges because it was still working. The link on the Epson website which allows the printer to keep working did not connect to anything. Have tried online programs that do not work either. It all has to go in the bin, which I believe was Epson's intention, to force me to replace a perfectly operating printer with a new one. Other brands may or may not contain this programming, but I now know Epson's do.

Grab if you see one!!! – I first purchased this printer in 2005... It is now been over 10yrs and it is still producing quality printouts (I even use non-gen ink). If you see one floating around your second hand dealer, it would be a cheap bargain and you can benefit from using non-gen inks, easy install and usability features (including maintenance). My mother is now on her third printer in the same amount of time... And she's opted for a modern Epson now (so far so good)

Excellent – What i enjoy most about this epson printer is that how small the ink cartridges are. I also like the feature where you can put a memory stick into the printer. The paper holder is easy and convienient to put the paper in and the easy ink cartride chande is easy to do. I also like how you can choose many different options with the printer like turning the printer to print a draft, text, photo's or even best photo option. What i like about this epson printer is that i enjoy how fast the printer can print. I also like the style and shape of the printer. I also like how it comes with a scanner and all. I have notting i really dislike about this epson CX400 printer.

Good – The paper feeding is easy when the tab in the paper input is moved so it is against the paper. The CX4700 can print good photos and it can also do envelopes and other special paper prints. Paper input and output trays can be closed to save space when not needed. When printing, preferences can be chosen to increase the speed of the printing, these preferences include: Draft (Economical, high speed printing), Text (Medium quality, medium speed, standard text printing), Text & Image (High quality, slow speed, text and graphics printing), Photo (High quality, slower speed, photographic printing), Best Photo (Top quality, slowest speed photographic printing). The maintenance tab provided in the printing options (When printing) allows the user to keep the printer functioning correctly and efficiently. The scanner on the printer is good and the application used to make a scan is very user-friendly. The printer is very good and never jams, I think the CX4700 is a very good printer for what I pay for it. Small easy to replace ink cartridges, All-in-one printer is space saving, Stylish design and it has a memory card reader and USB port. It is also very easy to use overall.

OK – Apart from the paper feeding issues and the slower than normal printing times, the CX4700 does print quality photos. Also ink affordability is a good thing about this printer. Another good thing about the CX4700 is the separate colour ink tanks which saves wasting ink and money. My next Epson printer is going to be a much more expensive one. Basically... you pay for what you get! Individual colour ink tanks, stylish finish and ink is reasonably priced. Also the memory card reader comes in handy. Prints slowly and after minimal use, the paper feeder doesn't work like it should.