Epson Expression Premium XP-600 Small-in-One® Printer - Epson C11CC47201

I've had this printer for about 2 months and am pleased with it so far. I started using Epson printers when I got a free one with a computer about 10 years ago and have always liked their output. I should note that I use it primarily for general home office printing, not for photos or fancy brochures, so my comments are based on general use. I use it with an iMac running OS X 10.6 and a MacBook Pro running OS X 10.7, both connected wirelessly with an Apple Airport Extreme Base Station. Set up was fairly simple. The only minor frustration was the process of inputting the password for my wireless network. As others have noted, if you make a mistake on the small and sensitive keypad, you have to start all over. I think it took me about 6 tries before I got it right, but once I did, the printer "found" and connected to the network quickly. And unlike an HP PhotoSmart that I used for a while after my previous Epson quit, the Epson has never suddenly dropped the connection. My impression is that it is also somewhat faster than the HP but I can't quantify that. For my purposes the print output has been great. We used it for our Christmas letters and even on regular paper the color photos were fine. For everyday use (file copies of invoices, etc) even the fast draft setting produces clear readable print. The copier function also works well, though there are so many options that making a simple b&w single page is cumbersome at first. Once you have it at that setting it is easy. I like having the option of two-sided printing, though it took a couple of tries to figure out how to use the duplexer. I haven't tried scanning anything yet but I expect that, like the printing, it will work well once I have figured out how to do it. I was disappointed to find that it has only three color cartridges instead of five like my older model but (unlike the HP) it does give you individual cartridges so that you don't have to replace all the colors when you run out of one. Epson is known for the cost of its ink, and from what I have read, they now prevent you from using any but their own. (In the past I have used cheaper third-party cartridges successfully.) But they offer high capacity cartridges which last longer, and it is possible to find even those for less than Epson's own prices. My only quibble (and it's a small one) is that the paper tray is hidden underneath the body of the printer. This is what makes the unit so compact, but I'm used to being able to see how much paper I have left and to being able to switch out types of paper quickly. With this unit you have to pull the paper tray out to see it. The capacity is also a bit small considering that it isn't easy to monitor how much is there. Overall this is a great little printer for the price. For now I highly recommend it.

My primary reason for purchasing the XP-600 was printing art I had commissioned in digital formats. As such, I needed bright, accurate color and sharp lines. As long as the printer is filled with good quality photo paper, it delivers absolutely excellent results--better than some I've seen come out of Kinkos and similar. Text is not as magnificent, but it's still quite good when the printer is set to print at fine quality. It's an inkjet, after all, not a laser printer, and limitations exist. Bold text, in particular, can look a bit indistinct. In no situation has a printout been hard to read, however. For any day to day purpose, the XP-600 should be more than adequate. If printing a resume, or business document where first impressions could mean making or losing a deal, one should probably opt for a laser printer. Among the nicer features of the XP-600 is Google's "Cloud Print." While this service is still in beta, it works well, and in my experience, reliably, allowing me to print from my smartphone or computer at work, and come home to find my documents ready and waiting. The copier function works well, and the scanner has provided sharp, accurate results. Though I've not used them, the printer also features a multi-card slot (SD/MS) for printing directly from a camera's media, and a USB port, for printing from a thumb drive, both of which are mapped as drives on your PC during printer installation, for easy access. Automatic duplexing is also a boon, allowing both sides of a page to be printed without the user having to deal with them, or figure out which way to orient the page. Functioning via wifi makes connection much more flexible than printers lacking that feature: I can place the XP-600 basically anywhere in range of my router and an outlet, without having to worry about reaching my computer. In small apartments, where one uses space where one can, this is no small blessing. The only complaint I've had with this printer is that more often than I feel it should, it has trouble feeding paper. Not once has it ever jammed, but on four or five occasions, it's seemed to realize the tray had paper in it, but been unable to grab a page. Cancelling a print job takes an incomprehensibly long time while the printer rattles and re-adjusts itself for no apparent reason. This issue is the only thing keeping me from rating the Epson XP-600 a full five stars. At a $100 price point, even with this nuisance, the printer is an excellent value.