Epson Artisan 800

I purchased an Epson Artisan 800 printer and have had problems with the printer constantly needing to clean the print heads. When it prints, the results are beautiful and I have been able to print on Costco… Kirkland brand photo paper with great results, if that helps anyone. The printer is sucking up ink like no other, however. I have gone through three sets of cartridges and now the printer is giving a "waste ink pads have reached the end of their life cycle and must be replaced" error message. The printer is only 6 months old. I have been unable to print much because it is always asking me to clean the print heads and then running out of ink. Epson said that I could ship it back to them at my cost and they would send me a replacement printer, but I would have to give them a credit card number to pay for the replacement printer until they receive the old printer back. Fortunately, I paid for Geek Squad Black Tie protection with Best Buy when I bought the printer (sorry Amazon). This printer is going back tomorrow. Please think carefully before purchasing the Artisan 800. I think you can probably find a more reliable printer.

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Out of the box, I loved this printer. I'd always been skeptical about all-in-ones, assuming they'd give you second-best quality at best in each of their functions. But this one prints beautifully, including… photos (not the best I've seen, but darn close), and scans/copies/faxes very nicely. Setup was a breeze, including Wifi. Then the bad news started to set in. As others have noted, this thing EATS ink in a major way. And while the inks are undeniably of high quality, resulting in above-average printing, they are EXPENSIVE. I could live with that, but then the really bad news became apparent. The feed mechanism on this printer is by far the hokiest I have EVER encountered. And that's saying something, given that I have owned numerous printers over the past 20 years or so, and I worked in IT for a medium-sized company purchasing and supporting printers that ran the gamut in price, brand, and features for nearly a decade. This one is THE WORST in terms of feeding, hands down. Sometimes it works fine. Other times, it won't feed at all. And I've tried every trick in the book--and then some--to make it happy. It simply doesn't matter. Sometimes, it wants to feed paper, while other times--usually when it's critical or time-sensitive, it seems--it won't feed no matter what. After owning the printer for a year and once again out of ink in several cartridges, I'm strongly leaning toward dumping it on eBay for whatever I can get for it. If it was just the ink cost or just the feed issue, I might feel otherwise. But together, those two factors far outweigh the printer's positives, which is a shame.

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I purchased an Epson Artisan 800 printer from Best Buy on July 28, 2009. I checked everything on the printer when I set it up and it worked fine. During the first week of October, 2009, I attempted to use… the automatic document feeder and it would not feed any paper. (I tried several types, starting with plain.) The plastic feeder gears would not turn at all when there was any paper in the feeder. I RMA'd the printer to Epson. (It carries a one-year warranty in all states, except California, where I live. In California the printer carries a two-year warranty.) The printer I returned was less than three-months old and was in pristine condition. I had kept it covered and the printer looked like brand new. The refurbished printer I received in exchange was in horrible condition. It worked. However, the case was very scratched, with marks all over the surface. The Claria ink sticker was heavily worn, with the markings severely obscured, indicating that it had been rubbed extensively by something. The automatic feeder tray was bent and did not close properly. I immediately called Epson. They told me that they would not exchange the printer unless there was something mechanically wrong with it. After arguing with customer service for several minutes, I eventually told them that, if they did not exchange the device, I would post negative feedback on every forum and social site that I could. I was then allowed to talk to second tier customer support. I again argued that the printer I had sent in was in perfect physical condition and that the unit I had received was not in equivalent shape. After several minutes, the customer service rep agreed to RMA the exchange unit. Today (November 6, after almost a month of dealing with this,) I received the second exchange unit. The case on this unit is in similar shape to the first exchange unit. There are physical dents on the front edge of the lid. There are several scratch marks all around the surface of the unit and it is not close to the condition of the first unit I sent in. At this point, it seems to work correctly, however, I can't believe that this is the impression that Epson wants to give their customers. This is my eighth primary printer since I began computing in the early 1990's. My first three were Epsons and I have been a loyal Epson customer. I only switched to HP's due to compatibility issues with programs I use for work several years ago. I will never buy an Epson product again and I highly recommend that everyone avoid Epson products. Since purchasing this printer, I have read several negative reviews of the Artisan 800 and of Epson customer service. I wish that I had read these and heeded them prior to buying this product. I would have a nice Hewlett Packard printer on my desk right now. Please save yourself some grief and avoid Epson. They don't care about their customers and they produce and sell garbage. Their photo printing quality is rated as the best, but their text and office documents are not rated that highly. Further the printer goes through ink like mad and you can't get OEM high capacity color cartridges unless you get them directly from Epson and pay a premium. Sorry Epson, you suck.

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