Customer Reviews

Epson Artisan 50 Inkjet Printer

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is my second review, and in fairness, it does a wonderful job when it is done screwing you. That means, after a two week session with 123 Injets, trying to figure out why their cartridges did not work as replacements, I come to find out that Epson has been playing games---even after the got away cheap on their last class action suit with supposedly "near empty" cartridges.

Their Artisan 50 recognises that you just refilled an old cartridge, and will say "no, No No! Buy our cartridges or else!" I just spent almost an hour and a half for it to recognise a new Epson Cartridge I just placed in it. Even when you play by the rules, you are feisting you.

I looked for a printer that could economically do short run DVD's. This is about it. HP is already known as "Printer Ink Bandido", so my next step up will be with a system that doesn't fleece me and screw with me every time I need a new cartridge.
If you jump thru a thousand hoops the way they tell you, your new legit cartridge is a clunker.

SCREW YOU THEIVES AT EPSON! MAKE YOUR MONEY HONESTLY, OR YOU WILL BE OUT BUSINESS!
THERE ARE PEOPLE LIKE ME WHO READ THE INTERNET. YOU KNOW, THE BLOGS! lIKE THIS ONE. YOUR LABEL MAKER HAS LABELED YOU! Lawsuit time again.......

I picked this printer up this summer to print CDs and DVDs (also as a backup to my Canon). I've been nothing but happy with it. Very easy to use, and the cartridges included actually printed quite a few CDs and documents before they started to dry up. I purchased a CISS (Continuous Ink Supply System) for it, and it's all working GREAT together. The ink cartridges from Epson are very expensive, so the CISS and this great little printer will save us a fortune!

Used this printer for 2 months and it stopped working. I have $80.00 worth of ink I bought and I can't use. Will print test page but not a document. Cheap Junk.

I researched an inexpensive method to print labels on CD's and create beautiful jewel case labels. Stick-on labels were out. I tried a lightscribe system from HP and was unhappy with the results. It took 25 minutes per disk and the jewel case labeling software left alot to be desired...took it back. I found an Epson printer in a Discmaker's catalogue for $100 and called about it but they said they didn't carry it anymore. I called Epson and they said it is out-of-production but the replacement is the Artisan 50, however, they were out-of-stock. I found it on Amazon and ordered it. WOW! I've printed on over 100 disks and a couple of dozen full-color master labels and haven't even used up half the ink. I print master labels on photo paper and take them to a print shop for copying. The software for creating jewel case labels is amazingly easy to learn & use and the results are phenomenal. The claim of being able to print 20 disks-per-hour is no exageration and the resulting product is more strikingly beautiful than most professionally printed disks that I've ever seen. My concern with an inkjet printer is the risk of water damage should the label or disk get wet. I poured water on one of the labels and it wasn't affected at all. My only complaint about the software is the limited selection of font styles, but with the distortion effect, some interesting possibilities exist. I purchased ink cartridges that are not official Epson replacements and I haven't tried them yet so I can neither deny nor confirm the assertion of another reviewer for whom this was an issue, but given the efficiency of the ink consumption of this printer, I feel it well worth the investment in Epson cartridges. I would highly recommend this printer to anyone, especially those looking for an economical way to create beautiful artwork for CD's and DVD's.

I just received this printer today and am already giving it a "1", not for the printer itself but for the company. Here's why:

I bought this printer because I had a perfectly good Epson Stylus Photo R380 that suddenly would not work because it would not "recognize" an ink cartridge. Thinking I had a defective cartridge, I bought another one and got the same error message. After checking the contacts on the cartridge and printer, and fiddling around with the printer, I could never make it recognize the new cartridge and the printer does not work without all cartridges recognized. An internet search revealed this is a reported problem with Epson printers. So, a fine printer is trashed for a seemingly minor problem, and I wasted $12 on an ink cartridge.

Stupidly, I purchased another Epson (Artisan 50) primarily (like the R380), for it's CD/DVD printing capabilities. OK, so I had almost new cartridges on my non-working Epson R380 which are exactly the same cartridges as for the new one. Trying to save the packaged ones that came with the new printer for later, I just transferred the Epson cartridges from the old Epson to the new one. Guess what......THE NEW PRINTER WILL NOT RECOGNIZE PERFECTLY GOOD, AND ALMOST FULL, EPSON CARTRIDGES FROM THE OTHER PRINTER. This, combined with the $12 I wasted trying to fix the old printer with a new cartridge, means Epson made me waste almost $100 in the cost of ink cartridges (plus over $100 for this new printer) just so they can suck customers dry with their "smart" ink cartridges.

Be aware that to force you to buy only new Epson ink cartridges, without very special knowledge, these cartridges will not allow you to refill them, and obviously they "know" when you are trying to use an "old", but perfectly good, cartridge from their own company. I think this could be termed "engineered waste" which our world certainly does not need.

This is so poor, so extraordinarily rude and inconsiderate of customers, a total rip-off, a waste of money, ink and other resources just so Epson can gouge customers on buying more printer cartridges. Go with another company. Epson is not the only printer company in the world. I will NEVER buy another Epson product.