I've done a full 180 degrees about-face on Epson inkjets. I used to be a diehard HP printer guy until HP failed to maintain their driver software compatibility through OS upgrades. HP hardware was excellent; it was painful to throw it in the garbage. My Brother color laser printer had software showstoppers too; I ended up chunking it shortly after a $500+ hardware rebuild.
I bought an Epson WF-3540, which uses the old cartridges. I gave it a 1-star review initially because of the extreme hassle of getting it setup and working. As time went by, I kept going back and adding stars because it turned out to be a stalwart. Back when I bought it, inkjets were more expensive with consumables than lasers. Epson inkjets were more economical as inkjets went, even with the cartridges. One thing I learned was to run the built-in maintenance procedures fairly regularly.
I went with this ET-5170 because it is Epson, it uses cartridge-free replenishable ink, and it spits out its work into an underneath tray rather than an awkward, flip-out tray. It also feeds paper from an underneath drawer. Those two features make it neater and more compact than the cheaper alternatives. Also, I'm not picking up paper off the floor anymore. I'm hoping that it will hold up well, given its higher price and orientation toward groups, rather than individual use. If my old ET-3540 is any indication, it'll probably outlast me!
Epson has solved their setup problems. Setup was literally like falling off a log. I was actual taken aback by how smoothly it went. I did the setup on Windows 11 and then added a Mac. I just did a macOS upgrade (Sequoia 15.3). No hiccups.
The procedure for adding ink is pretty idiot-proof: you can't put the wrong color in the wrong tank, and you can't overfill. (The competition is probably just as good in this regard, but the competition isn't Epson.) When you first turn it on, the ink drops below the full level in the tanks as it self-primes, but you get enough extra ink to more than top it off. Of course, you have to know to have the computers and printer on the same network. I'll be using Epson ink, just out of loyalty.
Print quality is excellent. I haven't tried photo printing on premium paper yet, so I can't promise good results on that. If anything goes wrong, I'll update this review. I'm typing this on 12 Feb 2025.
Manufactured using processes that reduce the risk of negative environmental impact.
As certified by
ECOLOGO
ECOLOGO certified products have reduced environmental impacts at one or more stages of their lifecycle – from raw materials to end of life. ECOLOGO certification indicates that a product has met environmental performance standards, which include criteria in some or all of the following categories: materials, energy, manufacturing and operations, health and environment, product performance and use, and product stewardship and innovation. Products are evaluated on the applicable criteria through testing and auditing.
