ET-4750

We have owned and constantly use two other Epson Inkjet printers (4640 and 4530). We print an above average number of pages for a typical residential user and opted to try the ecotank series from Epson as we have had almost flawless performance from our 4530 (more than 5 years) and when our 4640 malfunctioned, although it was beyond the warranty period, Epson made it right and replaced the printer with no cost to us (shipping included). While they clearly had some sort of issue with the unit they replaced, we have never experienced that level of customer service on a product that exceeded even the extended warranty period from any tech company. Ever. No hassles and outstanding support from Epson has made us very loyal customers.When we began experiencing color issues with the replacement Epson (which in fairness has abnormally high use for a unit that is not advertised suitable heavy use), we decided to give the ecotank Epson printers a try.The 4750 was easy to set up (we're still using Windows 7 pro) and the wireless connection has worked perfectly during the two months we've used it (constantly) in our office environment.We print more than a thousand pages a month -- sometimes many more -- as part of our 501c3 charity's work providing education and job training materials to incarcerated women in Alabama. We are (so far) impressed with the overall print quality of both text and graphics. And are very impressed that we have not had any paper jams (despite our frequently changing paper stock). Although the print (black and white text) quality is not to the level of a laser printer (costing $5-6,000 or more), it is more than acceptable for our needs.While we were initially concerned about the printer's ability to print on card stock, we are happy with how easily it handles the 60-65lb card stock that we need for report covers. We are not asking it to attempt 80lb or higher thickness papers as that may be a bridge too far, but it pulls the lighter weight card stock with no problem and we leave it on the standard paper setting.Odd sized paper: We are very impressed with the printer's ability to print on regular envelopes (we use the kind with a removable strip and pre-pasted adhesive flap). In the past, we have NOT been pleased with other printer's ability to manage this style of envelope (either because the heat from laser printers seals the flaps during the printing process, or due to constant paper jams due to the envelope's thickness causing and/or mis-aligned printing).In addition to envelopes, we've found that it also handles printing on our firm's card stock thank-you note cards (5.5" x 4.25"). Most, if not all of our other printers (including our expensive color laser printer) balk at printing on such small sized card stock.Printing Speed: While this printer's output speed (especially relevant for duplexing or double-sided printing) is average, we are impressed enough with the overall reliability and economical ink/tank aspects that we are ordering a second unit and for our use -- the lower number of pages-per-minute is a fair trade off for printing reliability and not needing constantly to remove paper jams.We do not use the scanner function as we have (and can highly recommend) a Fujitsu Scansnap. It's faster and more reliable and can scan both sides of a page at once. And in terms of multi-function devices generally, we prefer to have a stand-alone device for services we depend on as in the event the printer goes down -- we don't also also lose the ability to scan.Use for Photocopying: We need the lift-the-lid photocopy feature as we occasionally need to copy something from a book or odd sized paper original. The scanner/photocopy function is one area where we do see reduced quality -- as the color rendition from originals to printed copies is obviously reduced. Again, for our purposes the photocopy output is acceptable, but if it's important to you that photocopies be indistinguishable from the original documents -- you might look for something else.While we maintain a favorable impression of both of our prior Epson Inkjet printers -- this one -- although it's a significantly smaller physical footprint -- it's been very reliable and overall easy to use.Other reviewers complain about the small size of the print-options window screen. And while we can see their point (I have large hands), it's not been an issue for us, However, if it were to become a problem, an easy fix is to keep an inexpensive, small stylus next to the printer to make it easier to more precisely communicate settings and print adjustments.Cons: Our only complaint about the 4750 is that the physical adjustment in the paper tray to increase or decrease the feed slot in order to accommodate different sized paper in the paper tray can stick and be difficult or impossible to adjust with one hand. It's a minor issue, but we're careful with it as we can see that it is not the thickest plastic and might break if forced.Print Quality: While not as crisp as a laser printer -- we are happy to compromise a few levels of print quality for the cost savings in ink. Especially for a color unit, the cost of OEM replacement ink cartridges has been killing us for our laser printers and -- until we discovered compatible ink cartridges -- with our two previous Epson ink jets.Ink Level Viewing: While the Epson 4750 constantly prompts users to check ink levels, it's very easy to do without an onscreen prompt and we love the fact that ink levels are constantly displayed on the front of the unit and we can see how much ink remains in each tank. With our previous color printers -- we had to accept on faith that a cartridge was, in fact, empty -- and there wasn't an easy way to determine that the printer wasn't properly recognizing remaining cartridge ink.Paper Stock: We use a range of paper stock (from 20lb up to 24 and 25lb standard for printing materials and correspondence) and have found that the 4750 has no problem printing on our preferred brand of 60-65lb card stock and has had no difficulty in printing tons of Avery labels (we primarily use the 5160 address labels). We frequently change paper from one weight to another and have had no issues or jams. Note that while our expectations for the printer's ability to print on plastic laser-style labels are low, it may be possible to print on Redi-tag laser tabs -- just make sure to either wait for the printing to dry completely -- or cover the plastic tab with clear tape to prevent smearing.

So we were looking to replace our HP printer which had been reliable for a long time but ate expensive ink cartridges for breakfast and suddenly became very unpredictable. A knowledgeable salesperson at a big box store strongly recommended the ET-4750 which seemed to be perfect for what we wanted.Then I read the negative reviews on Amazon and really hesitated. Finally I just decided to try it and I'm so glad that I did. Of course some people are just going to get a lemon model that breaks immediately and they will be understandably upset. But maybe some of the negativity comes from expecting a more robust, professional grade machine. I will acknowledge for instance that the document feeder seems a little flimsy.But here's the thing -- so far it's worked great and we love it. We've never had an auto document feeder on our home all-in-one before. Being able to put a five page medical document that I need to scan and email to an insurance company in the feeder and have it flawlessly produce a five page scan rather than laboriously opening the machine and putting down one page at a time, hitting scan, doing it again, etc, is wonderful.It's only been a little over a month. I did have some difficulties connecting the wireless (tip: Make sure that your computer is on the same wireless network that the printer gets on; often, routers have dual bands and if the computer is on one band and the printer is on the other they cannot talk to each other. You may have to "un-check" the "connect automatically" box on your computer's wireless system for one of your wireless bands). I had a problem printing photos briefly, but the Epson tech person over their online "chat" assistance line helped me figure out the problem (I was pinching down the paper guides too tight so the paper wasn't feeding smoothly).The printer ink loaded simply and with no mess whatsoever and we are loving the idea that it may be a year before we need more ink (and it came with a second set of ink bottles). I love that the paper tray takes a half ream of paper (our HP took at most 100 pages and I'm not sure it even took that many) and that the paper tray loads from the front.I'm still learning how to print from my phone and my ipad. I've succeeded once and failed another time, but I think that is just about my learning curve. My single complaint compared to our old HP is that there is no separate paper tray for photo paper. If you want to print pictures you have to remove the regular printer paper and put in the glossy photo paper, then take it out again when you are done. A tiny hassle, but I did like that our HP had two trays.OK, so that's pretty much it. Who knows -- it could break tomorrow. I'll try to remember to update in a few months. But so far this all-in-one is printing, scanning and copying beautifully. I don't find it excessively noisy (some people complained about that) and to us it seems very fast. Again, it may be what your expectations are. But for us, for a home all-in-one with ink tanks rather than cartridges, this has been great.Addition: January 2020 — Still love it. Going strong. Have not had to purchase any new ink. Auto-feeder works great.

Printed beautifully, despite the insane difficulty in working with Epson's methodology (I really have to re-enter the paper size every time I fill the tray? seriously? and it gets worse if you do anything more complicated than that).Then, exactly 14 months to the day after we got it, it dies. Suddenly, no black ink will come through the print head. After multiple calls to tech service, and blowing 1/4 tank of ink (each color, no less) on head cleanings and power cleanings, they have declared it has a hardware problem and is dead. I was told I should take it to an authorized service center at my expense, but was then told there are none open near me (I live on the outskirts of a major city, not out in the sticks somewhere).Fortunately, we paid the extra for the Square Trade extended warranty, and they have agreed it is dead and will be reimbursing me the cost of the printer so I can buy something new. Which I guarantee you will not be an Epson.