Epson Stylus CX4600 Photo Printer, Copier, Scanner

This is very bad. The printer does not print, I changed the ink, installed it Ok. Scanned ok. Printing and copy do not work. This is used printer

I have had the CX4600 for several years and it has worked well. I just replaced the ink cartridges ( very expensive now over $75) and was in the midst of printing when it suddenly stopped with the message the service life was over and upon going to the FAQ site of Epson I was told that the printer would no longer work and needed to be replaced. So what do I do with $75 worth of new ink? After research I found that no one will repair it I will replace it but never will it be with an Epson. I am a low income elderly lady and cannot afford to lose $75 worth of ink. What a terrible way for Epson to do business. I repeat I will not buy another Epson.

This is my third Epson inkjet printer. We have been using inkjets for home and office use for over ten years so we are used to their intimate parts -- so advice with experience! Unless you have bottomless pockets and like a bit of regular frustration don't rely on an Epson (or any other) inkjet printer as your only means of printing. For every day black and white document printing buy a laser printer. We have not taken the plunge on a colour laser printer yet because black and white is good enough for most internet stuff.

We have two Hewlet Packard 'office' laser printers -- two of the best pieces of computer kit we have ever bought. Rock solid, well made and good for literally thousands of documents. Be warned HP software can be a bit 'quirky' so its better if you have a little knowledge.

If you print just the occasional colour picture any inkjet printer will use a great deal of ink. Try to print in batches. Don't waste expensive coloured inks on ordinary paper, the results will not be justified by the cost as the ink soaks into the paper. Remember the cleaning cycle uses more ink than 20 or 30 colour pictures will so don't use it unless you need to. Switching on the printer will also innitiate a cleaning procedure. Epson now time an automatic 'shut off' on some printers, like this one, so you cannot avoid the start up cleaning cycle by leaving it on. If you change to 'compatible' cartridges you may need to make colour adjustments through your software. Try to stick to the same 'compatible' to avoid clogging.

My Epson prints photos very well and I'm amazed at just how good the A4 prints on matt photo paper are. The scanner also works well and quietly. For the money its a well thought out item. Keep your paper flat and dry. If you issue two many commands to the Epson, like cancelling documents or switching it on and off in mid cycle because it has a limited memory it will lose it's way and start printing a mass of characters, be patient.

This printer is not worth your money. I never review products online, but this printer is so incredibly worthless that I'm strongly motivated to write this review. You're better off investing more in a printer with ink that lasts and is not so expensive! This Epson is ridiculous in that every ink cartridge (4 of them) cannot be empty or else you cannot print ANYTHING. As a college student, I print a lot of papers and articles. All I really need to use is the black ink cartridge. But, somehow, when the yellow, cyan, or magenta is used up, you must by them all to print, even if you just want to print a text document in black. AND recently, the price of these cartridges have gone up to about $75!! (Before I was paying around $60!) AND that's cheaper than buying them all separately! I've had it with this printer (which I only got because it came with my laptop). So, now I'm looking for another printer with cheaper ink cartridges. And that's just the beginning! This printer is prone to paper jams, and just getting the printer to start takes a good 3-4 minutes. Definitely not worth your money - Epson will get you with the costs of the ink cartridges.

CX4800 is excellent! The 4600 had an ink problem, so Epson sent me the 4800 instead for free.