Epson WorkForce 545 Wireless All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer, Copier, Scanner, Fax, iOS/Tablet/Smartphone/AirPrint Compatible (C11CB88201)

I received this printer from Amazon a couple of days ago. My old HP All-in-One died the same day I ordered it so I was fortunate to find this one on sale. I always have some trepidation about installing peripherals but this went so smoothly that I was happily surprised. I followed the quick set-up instructions and had no troubles, no error messages, no problems at all. Even the wireless set up was a breeze. I was up and running in abut 10 minutes. I then installed the Epson software that came with the unit. This is where I usually run into problems. But all the software installed without a problem, all the drivers, utility software and a program called Abbyy FineReader which I am not familiar with and have not yet used.Loading paper and installing the ink cartridges are simple tasks. The unit is prints very fast compared to previous printers I have owned and the text and graphics are amazingly clear and precise. This unit uses four separate ink cartridges; black, yellow, cyan and blue. I assume that this printer has the printhead built into the machine instead of on the cartridge but I may be wrong about that. I have researched this and can't find a definitive answer. In any event it works great. Very professional looking, dark black finish and the control panel is easily accessible with a color display screen.The scanner works great and I could import the scans into Photoshop Essentials 7 with no problems.I really like the fact that the paper tray holds 250 sheets which keeps me from having to refill very often.I have only two negative comments: The noise level when printing is quite high. Since it is wireless I can move it across the room to alleviate the noise level. Also the documentation is a bit slim. The best thing to do is to download the PDF manual from the Epson website for more detailed information about how to use the printer. But these are minor problems compared to the overall high quality of this printer.I have always been a user of HP printers but all the negative reviews I have seen I decided to go with a new vendor and I think I made a good decision.

I am using Windows 7 so I cannot comment about difficulties associated with the use of a Mac. I bought this printer to replace an HP printer that was almost identical in size with less functionality. The scanner on the HP died after about a year and wasn't worth the time or expense to fix. If you have previously setup a wireless printer then you will find that removing the packaging and tape strips requires nearly as much time as getting the printer online and printing. It does not come with any USB cable but such is not necessary for setup with a wireless router. I visually scanned the quick start guide and found that setup was very intuitive. I did need to view the picture that shows the proper orientation of the ink cartridges. Be careful to read and follow the instructions for unpacking the ink cartridges and make sure that you only remove the one strip and not the little plastic cover where the ink exits the cartridge. This will be pierced while inserting the cartridges into the printer. Installing the software was easy and I quickly had both of ours laptops connected to the printer and properly functioning. The total time to install the printer, install the software on two laptops, and configure everything was less than 60 minutes.All of the features are as specified by the manufacturer. I like the 30-page document feeder. I also like the feature that allows you to remotely enable and disable FAX auto-answer mode. This may be accomplished from any enabled network printer. You may also send a FAX directly from any enabled, network connected PC.Pros:* Quick and easy setup* Versatile 30-page document feeder* Fully compatible with Windows 7* Ability to wirelessly setup and control all functions.* I find that the color LCD, keypad, and menu structure are very useful and intuitive.* I have had no issues remotely printing even when the printer is in "sleep mode." The printer recovers faster than the HP predecessor that it replaced.Neutral:* The printer is not as noisier as the HP printer it replaced. I wouldn't install either in my bedroom.Cons:* I agree with others that the paper tray is flimsy but, with care, it may last as long as the printer's useful lifetime.

I have my own business and printing is a necessity. I have historically used HP printers but thought Epson would be an all around upgrade (ease of use, print speed, quality and cost). In April 2012 we bought a WorkForce Pro-4540 to be the office's primary printer and model to be our primary fax/secondary or emergency printer - both from Amazon. Out of the box....I found my initial assessment was correct. Both were great. Set-up was simple. Print quality was awesome. Cost to print was MUCH better than with HP and I loved the XL ink cartridges. The WP-4540 was a horse and the 545 was up to the task. However.......only 3 years in, I have lost BOTH printers to defects. The yellow print head seems to have failed the WP-4540. Yellow ink cartridges leak into the unit and smear anything that comes out of the printer. As planned for, we switched over to the 545. The unit failed 5 pages in to a 7 page black and white document. Can't get to the set-up screen. No power at all. I called customer support. They acknowledged the WP-4540 issue and sent a refurbished unit at no cost to address the problem. The refurbished unit was basically DOA. Same issue with the same print head. No yellow in printed documents and ink leaking into the unit. I am awaiting refurbished unit #2. They did NOTHING to address the 545 problem. So today....I have 2 expensive paperweights while I wait delivery of the 3rd. In the meantime, I purchased the WP-4640 and am wondering if I will regret that decision. I never had these problems with HP. All of the Epson's features mean nothing if the unit dies. I hope to have a better experience with the WP-4640 and second refurbished WP-4540 but will have to see. Not sure if I would recommend this or the 545 at this point.