I have watched with interest how users tend to accept each new generation of consumer grade printer. Of late each generation seems to be cheaper than the last but with associated reductions in quality.
If you look at the reviews of the Artisan series, the older printers in the series almost universally received better reviews. In the XP series it seems that problems that plague the original in the series continue to be problems throughout the series.
In my case, I bought an Artisan 837, have used it regularly but at relatively low output. I just don't need to do a great deal of printing. Just recently and about a year into the purchase the first problems have appeared. It started smearing light magenta and the printer would not recognize the Epson light magenta cart. I have always used Epson carts. So there was no reason for it to not recognize carts.
I performed a head cleaning and the light magenta problem cleared up. So far it has not come back. However I suspect it is only a matter of time.
I almost bought an XP-800 because there are a few left that can be purchased and they are relatively cheap compared to when they were a new model. The XP series seems to be following the same path of each generation being cheaper and less reliable than the one before it. Complaints in the Amazon review section are legion and all in the same two or three categories, a clear indication that there are two or three problem areas that just plague the printer to death. I did buy a refurbished 837 mainly because the one I bought new has performed reasonably well and in truth I just do not know what I would buy to replace it.
So where is all this going? I used to buy HP printers and grew so tired of their breakdowns, always in about a year or so that I had to try something else. On a surface at least Canon does not appear to be an answer. As for jumping into the higher end printer world of $750-$1,000 printers, not only do I not want to pay that much for a printer, but the way the printer industry appears to be going, I am not convinced that it makes sense for a home/small home office user to do something like that.
Are we headed toward truly disposable printers at less than $100 new that maybe last about 500 prints before they just die? What do you folks think?
If you look at the reviews of the Artisan series, the older printers in the series almost universally received better reviews. In the XP series it seems that problems that plague the original in the series continue to be problems throughout the series.
In my case, I bought an Artisan 837, have used it regularly but at relatively low output. I just don't need to do a great deal of printing. Just recently and about a year into the purchase the first problems have appeared. It started smearing light magenta and the printer would not recognize the Epson light magenta cart. I have always used Epson carts. So there was no reason for it to not recognize carts.
I performed a head cleaning and the light magenta problem cleared up. So far it has not come back. However I suspect it is only a matter of time.
I almost bought an XP-800 because there are a few left that can be purchased and they are relatively cheap compared to when they were a new model. The XP series seems to be following the same path of each generation being cheaper and less reliable than the one before it. Complaints in the Amazon review section are legion and all in the same two or three categories, a clear indication that there are two or three problem areas that just plague the printer to death. I did buy a refurbished 837 mainly because the one I bought new has performed reasonably well and in truth I just do not know what I would buy to replace it.
So where is all this going? I used to buy HP printers and grew so tired of their breakdowns, always in about a year or so that I had to try something else. On a surface at least Canon does not appear to be an answer. As for jumping into the higher end printer world of $750-$1,000 printers, not only do I not want to pay that much for a printer, but the way the printer industry appears to be going, I am not convinced that it makes sense for a home/small home office user to do something like that.
Are we headed toward truly disposable printers at less than $100 new that maybe last about 500 prints before they just die? What do you folks think?
