Epson C11CE22301BX SureColor SC-P800 A2 Colour Photo Inkjet Printer

Epson XP-8500 photo printer scanner copier, using Windows 10This is a good compact multi-function photo printer. It produces vibrant colour photos (on Epson Photo Paper Glossy) using 6 separate ink colours. The printer also produces good, clear text documents and scans / photocopies.Printer operations are straightforward. You can use the computer’s print dialogue as found in the menus of programmes such as PhotoShop and others. Alternatively, you can use the touch screen controls on the printer’s LCD panel. Plain paper or photo quality gloss paper can be loaded into one of the 2 front cassettes, or - for card thickness paper - into the rear feed. CD printing is also available from a tray underneath Cassette #2.An SD card (mini or microSD card using an adapter), or a USB memory stick can be inserted into the front of the printer for printing photos or documents directly from those sources, without using a computer. Also, after each device has been set up with the Epson software, it's possible to send photos or documents to the printer from a Smartphone, tablet, laptop, or computer - all via Wi-Fi.All in all, the XP-8500 is a very good multi-function device, although not as solidly built as Epson's older models. However, with this model, printed photos are superior in colour range and vibrancy. Ink cartridges are expensive, but I wouldn't risk losing photo or print quality by using 'compatibles'.*Setting Up the Printer Initially *Setup of the XP-8500 printer is fairly straightforward; but it can take between 20 and 50 minutes, depending on whether or not updates are included. I started by loading the setup CD into my computer's DVD drive. (If there’s no CD/DVD drive, the setup programme can be downloaded directly to a PC or laptop from the Epson website.) Then, I placed some A4 paper in Cassette #2 before starting the setup process.The step-by-step instructions on the computer setup Wizard includes switching the printer on then installing the 6 colour cartridges; ink charging; printing various test pages and responding to questions regarding quality, alignment, etc, and connecting the printer to the Wi-Fi router.In my case, the setup Wizard recognised that my PC was connected to the router via an Ethernet cable rather than by Wi-Fi. However, I just set the printer up for a Wi-Fi connection (as recommended by the software) and everything worked perfectly. The printer connected directly to the router via Wi-Fi, and then communicated with the PC via the Ethernet cable. (Wi-Fi / router SSID and password were required.)Most of the installation procedure is carried out either via the setup Wizard on the computer, and /or by pressing the appropriate icons on the printer’s LCD touch screen, when instructed to do so by the Wizard dialogue or by LCD screen messages. After completing the basic setup, the setup Wizard may suggest installing firmware and software updates. Hence, the prolonged setup/installation time of about 50 minutes in total.

I've long said I wouldn't have a printer in the home as I tend not to get on with them and when they break they love to do it at the worst moment. However, the need for it was starting to creep in and I was sick of calling in favours, and given I also wanted to dabble in printing my photos I took the plunge and went for this.I decided to give the bottom of the barrel junk a miss (the buy cheap, buy twice rule) and bought this when it was on offer. I paired it with some 120gsm copier paper and 210gsm gloss photo paper - none of that rubbish 70gsm toilet paper. Prints come out wonderful on the gloss photo paper - easily on par with something you'd pay through the nose for at your local chemists or print shop, and even after not using it for a month or so the ink did not dry up. It's also perfectly capable as a document printer, and fast too.I believe the inks for this are fairly expensive but the quality is more than worth it particularly when paired with decent paper. Colours are bang on. The scanning and copying functionality works well too. I can't speak for how well it works on Windows (though I can't see it being any different) as I'm on a Mac and it all just fell into place seamlessly.One thing worth mentioning is while this does have dual paper trays, they aren't both A4. One is for specific (smaller) "photo paper" which because I had bought A4 gloss photo paper I just assumed it was a second dedicated tray for such, given it is marketed as a photo paper. If like me you have multiple types of A4 you just have to load a sheet of the other stuff manually when needed, which is no hardship.Honestly I hate printers (working in IT does that to you) but this one has been a breath of fresh air and all was forgiven on seeing the amazing print quality. As it's an inkjet it may be worth running off a single sheet of something random once every couple of months just to stop the inks drying up - in my experience they're pretty good at staying liquid though, which surprised me at first.

My trusty Canon iP4850 died suddenly so I set about researching for a replacement with a rear-feed (I like to use thicker card/paper for some projects) - very few available. Finally went back to Epson (loved my old R300 but lost its 'support') and got this XP-960 at a good price from Amazon.Reviewers said it could handle 300gsm card so this put me onto it.It's going to be a bit of a learning curve I'm thinking, this baby likes to do things in a certain order and you can't just leap in! Must press 'print' BEFORE loading the rear-feed, which beeps when you've placed it correctly, then the output tray whirs out and all sorts of noises issue forth as your print emerges! Changing ink cartridges is also a 'do it THIS way' procedure and I received a lecture on the touch screen about using non-Epson cartridges (well, there's no way I can afford originals and compatibles seem fine so far.)I guess with use I'll get more familiar with the basic functions - I can't let it beat me! The results so far are very pleasing, haven't tried the scanner/copier yet (already have a good Canon one) and I doubt I'll use it wirelessly, but at least it has these capabilities and luckily it just fits my under-desk sliding shelf and looks very neat, considering it can print up to A3.