EPSON Artisan 810 - worth buying or not??

[speedracer]

I am thinking of purchasing a printer to replace my current one that is pretty worn out. I was looking at the Artisan 810 model. I can get it at several places even though it seems to be discontinued. I was also looking at it because I wanted to attach a CISS to it and it appears this model is readily adaptable for this. The crux comes after reading several reviews which state the printing on regular paper (which is predominately what I use) is pretty abysmal. So, the questions to be asked are: if you are using this printer and printing on plain white paper is the printing lousy in quality (would you send it to someone or submit a report to your boss), is it dependable, is the printing on cd/dvd's of good quality and lastly, IF you wouldn't buy this model which one (EPSON first for CISS) would you buy and if NOT Epson which brand and model would YOU buy (CISS adaptable)?? Sorry to ask so many questions but I don't want to spend good money on a printer that is not going to do the job - Print and at a Quality that is acceptable. THANKS for ALL replies...

 

[jtoolman]

OK. I have the 725 and so far i do like it a lot. Printing on regular paper, you must use the Normal and not the Economy setting. Photo printing is outstanding. CD printing is also outstanding with its built in integral CD /DVD tray. No more aligning the tray by hand.

Scanner is medium to good quality.

Wi Fi is great!

Are you sure you really want a CISS? Will you be doing that much printing?After starting on the OEM carts I switched to refillables that can be serviced/refilled on the printer without removal.

Is you insist on a CISS and you want it to operate without any interference from the ink tubing system and the printer lid, you may have to do a bit of work. At this time I am running a CISS for my Artisan from Precision Colors. There is a way to unhook the left hinge on the lid, so you can feed the flat ink ribbon through the back of the printer and so, you can close it so the lid sensor will let the printer run. You can also rig the sensor so you can print with the lid open but there's really no real advantage unless you enjoy watching ink being laid down.

The waste ink pad is owner replacable. There is a metal door under the printer held by one screw. It hinges out to expose the pads. You can also choose to feed the waste tube out to an external waste bottle if you choose to do so.
Is you buy a USA Model you can get the Epson waste ink pad reset tool from Epson.

Overall I do love this printer. Hope this helped.

 

[speedracer]

You have helped immensely. Just a couple more thoughts if you don't mind ... Has the printer changed that much (print quality/workmanship/etc.) from the 725 to the 810? This way I can have some hope that the pluses you have enjoyed I should enjoy. I have read a lot of consumer remarks about POOR paper handling. They have reported that it misfeeds by either grabbing 2~6 pieces of 'regular' paper at one time or it cocks the paper causing a jam. Have you experienced this? While I can use refillable cartridges should my printing usage increase I wanted to have the option of utilizing a CISS if I so desired. THANKS again for your response and I await your next one.

 

[samurusawyer]

The basics
The Epson Artisan 810 is a Wi-Fi enabled All-in-One printer/scanner/fax with a whole bunch of premium features, aimed at a sophisticated and creative home or small business user.


Street prices
MSRP $299.99, as low as $199.98 on Amazon.com


The ups and downs
Theres an old quip about the jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none. With the Artisan 810, Epson has provided a strong exception to that rule.

The Artisan 810 is not the typical all-in-one; usually these types of devices are targeted at home office users and small businesses, most of which would not be interested in separate, individual inkjet printers, scanners, fax machines, etc. Theyre usually intended for printing out school reports, Google Maps directions, or notes for PowerPoint presentations. Color reproduction and photo printing quality usually isnt paramount. Epsons Artisan 810 turns a lot of these assumptions around, and theyve produced a device which is more like a desk space saver for creatives.

 

[fish]

I have one and very much like it. Wi-Fi is great with the family able to print from all locations. CD/DVD printing is a breeze. Paper handling could be better - sometimes feeds multiple sheets. Only downside to text printing is that the 810 has 6 dye inks (no pigment) and the ink can run. I have a Brother laser for text so not a problem for me. Photo printing is very good and refill carts with auto reset chips are available.

 

[Fenrir Enterprises]

I have a friend who swears up and down his OEM Artisan 800 ink is waterproof. He lives in another state so I have yet to see proof of this, but I have my doubts. If he had a Durabrite printer then maybe. But not a dyebased photo printer...

 

[jtoolman]

I have had a few feed problems with mine but they are usually related to the feed rollers not grabbing a sheet of paper. Opening the drawer and re closing seems to solve the problem. It can not handle thick stock. If you stick to the papers listed on the driver you will be fine. The paper drawer can only hold either letter size plain paper and either one of three sizes of photo paper. OR,,, some letter size photo paper and one other smaller photo paper. I have the duplexer which I use once in a while. It have worked perfectly for me. Copy to print function is pretty good as well. One my favorite functions if scanning a commercial CD or DVD directly to a printable disc. You can basically place the disc being copied any where on the scanner surface and it will automatically align and center the resulting printed image on the printed disc.

Photo quality? As good as the 725. I believe they are the 1st multipurpose printer that utilizes stationary ink tanks which feed the moving printhead through a ink ribbon flt tubing. This method of ink transport is usually reserved fro PRO level printers. The negative is that when initially priming, you will really go though about 30% of your initial ink. The indicator will SHOW a full amount but it's not an accurate report. After your 1st set of carts are exchanged, it will correctly display your ink levels.

I am not sure about the claim about the resulting prints are water proof. Haven't really tested that. The inks are similar to the earlier Claria onks such as those used on the Epson 1400. I believe these are supposed to be more resistant to UV.