Customer Reviews

Epson Artisan 810 Wireless Touchscreen Color Inkjet All-in-One Printer (C11CA52201)

5 star:		(124)
4 star:		(51)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(33)
1 star:		(67)

 

 

When I saw the opportunity to review this Epson 810 All-in-One through the Amazon Vine program, I jumped at it. I've used All-in-ones for almost ten years, sampling a variety of printers from HP, Canon, Brother, etc. I find this printer excels in a number of areas and fails in only one.

Here's my take on it:

PROS:

1. Print quality is as good as Epson claims. Whether these prints will actually last four times longer than drugstore prints is still up for grabs -- who has years to check out this claim? Nevertheless, the text and photos are very nice indeed.

2. Although I may never use it again, the coloring book feature is fun. For families with small children, I'm sure this feature will be appreciated.

3. Being able to charge up my mp3 player from the port on the front of the printer is a nice little extra. Anytime I can avoid powering up the computer for such a small task, I'm happy. And now I have a quick way to do that.

4. I love the bright, easy to read control panel. The menu will easily take you where you need to go, such as a quick check of ink levels (again, without powering up the computer).

5. Ink usage appears to be very conservative. I've gone through a ream of paper without exhausting the standard (not high capacity) black cartridge.

6. This printer actually can use recycled paper. Over the years, I've been limited in my paper to 24 lb paper as 20 recycled paper caused repeated jams with my other printers. This feature alone will mean a reduction in my paper bills.

7. The printer includes an automatic duplexer. You do have to setup this function on printer preferences, but I enjoy using fewer sheets.

8. Included in the box was a single printable dvd. I tried making a color label, and it looks great. I'll be buying printable CDs and DVDs just for the pleasure of having nice looking disks.

9. The printer itself is good-looking and fits in well with the other equipment on my desk. No reason a printer should be ugly, is there?

CONS:

The scanner works only through a USB connection to my computer, although you can save a scan to a memory card. Why is that? Is there something special about wireless that prevents sending a scan to a computer?

UNKNOWN:

I have not used the fax because my VOIP phone service does not currently support faxing.

Overall, I'm a delighted user. This is a good printer for a family network.

Four stars!

UPDATE: November 25, 2009

I reinstalled the software, using the software downloaded from Epson. Voila! Epson Scan now appears on my desktop, and my problem is solved. If it were possible to change the number of stars, I would now award this printer five stars!

UPDATE: December 1, 2009

Here's the trick. You must start the Epson Scan from your computer, rather than from the printer (where you'll be standing when you put the photo on the scanner). Then you'll be able to receive the scan on your computer and without hitching it up to the printer directly.

UPDATE: September 14, 2010

Almost a year has passed since I began using this printer. I am pleased to report that it is working just as well now as the first week I got it. In addition, I want to point out that. in those 11 months, I have experienced only one paper jam. I do use 24 lb rather than 20 lb paper, and I believe this helps avoid jams. However, this is the fourth duplex printer I've owned, and it is by far the best.

I only have the printer for a few days, but so far I am very pleased.
I was a bit nervous before buying because I had read a lot of complaints about an earlier model, Artisan 800, having a lot of paper jams. But the paper handling on my 810 has been flawless, if a tiny bit noisy while it pulls in the paper. The actual printing is quiet, and of great quality. The paper tray feels a bit flimsy, but is easy to remove or insert, and there's no fuss to loading your paper in it. It can expand to hold legal size paper, and has a separate area for smaller sized papers, usually for photo printing paper. The package comes with 3 sheets of Epson high quality 4x6 glossy photo paper, so I printed three photos as a test and I could not be more pleased with the photo print quality. I have been using an HP Wireless printer up until now (model 5850) and the print quality of the Artisan 810 far outstrips that HP, with much deeper blacks and dark tones, and more rich looking color, which is probably due to superior ink quality more than the printer quality. Also, they promise that their inks are acid-free and will last 3 or 4 times longer than drug-store prints. Another pre-purchase worry was that there were complaints about the Artisan 800 being a big ink-hog. Too early to tell, but I've printed those 3 photos and a fourth on plain paper, and about 25 pages of text (some with graphics) and the ink levels have not budged yet. So, so far so good on ink usage. I was surprised and pleased too that the 810 printer comes with an TWO black ink cartridges, so you'll have an extra one when it runs out. Nice! Additionally, the inks provided are the same capacity as the refills, whereas some printers I have seen came with ink cartridges that have a lower capacity. A nice feature is that when you plug in a camera memory card in the front slots, not only can you see and even crop the photos on the printer's screen, but the photos on the card can also be remotely viewed by your computer on the same wifi! Very neat. It warns on the box that this feature may not work with Mac computers, but it worked fine with my IMac. Haven't tried printing from the iPhone as they claim you can do, though I suspect I won't use that feature much. I love the big touch-screen operation too, it is pretty slick. Made a few copies of some simple pencil drawings and they were very good, and it was not obvious to tell which was the original or copy, but I haven't really tested the copier out enough as yet to give a good opinion about its copy qualities.

Updated Review 03/2010
Here's a 6 month update. The printer is getting a lot of work; we print a lot of classroom materials and go through a ream of paper (500 sheets) every 4 or 5 weeks, and the printer is up to the workload. Does its job fast. We use the Epson 24-lb bright white paper and have never had a paper jam. Bought some Kodak 24-lb paper recently and so far no problems with paper jams with the Kodak paper either. I've been a computer programmer for 25 years now and have gone through a lot of hardware, and I'm sure this is the best printer I've ever owned.
About the Copier: We use the copier a lot and it makes a very good copy, and quickly. Set the copy quality to: Best. It still prints fast. I like that it can copy a multi-page single-sided document and output to two-sided copy, either from the document feeder or from the scan bed.
About the Ink Usage: Though we are printing a lot, we don't print many photos at all. It does still seem to use a lot of ink, more than I originally thought. This is the one and only negative that I have for this printer.

I was looking for a quality unit to replace my old seperate laser printer and old laser fax machine. They were both just B&W, and seriously worn out, could only use one page at a time! As well, I just inheriteted a bunch of old photographs that I need to scan soon, which in turn creates the need to create custom CD's and DVD's. I finally settled on the Epson Artisan 810.

I noticed that some units are marketed as "All-In-One" but don't have fax, so buyer beware! Those have only scan, copy, and print. A true all-in-one should also include fax IMHO.

In general, I was looking for the following in a well rounded unit:
-High quality photo scanning
-Printing onto CD's directly (without a label) 4x6 and 8 1/2 x 11 photo paper
-Easy multi-page faxing
-Easily attached to a wireless network so our 6 computers can share
-Quick B&W letter printing
-Seperate ink tanks to reduce wasted cartridges
-Automatic 'duplex printing' to print out on both sides using half the psaper.
-An easy way to scan directly to email.
-Needed to look GOOD, and be usuable in seconds.
- AND to use very little electricity

The Epson 810 is a perfect match!!! It does everything we need, and does it simply and very little human input.

All funtions and interfaces are well conceived. You can be either 'PC Centric' and do everything from your PC, or you could be copier centric, and do almost everything just standing there at the copier, and get almost everything done. Very simpple controls. You even have the option to 'print' your document to the Epson FAX, which bypasses the paper and simply sends a high quality fax. Epson included a few iof these 'nicely done' features you will learn and love. There are only 2 buttons on the command panel, everything else is touch-screen as needed.

The quality is primo, the unit is simple to set up and use, and the breath of features you'll need are surprisingly complete. Well engineereed. Operating costs seem to be normal for ink-jets. The electricity is rated at $2 or less per year.

We're happy with the product.//JIM//

Having owned several All in One ink jet printers, some of them for only 2-4 weeks and then I would return them due to poor performance, design flaws or a defective unit. This Epson Artisan 810 is a keeper for many reasons.

PROS:
-print quality is outstanding and ink dries almost instantly
-printer feels like quality except for output tray
-actual print speed is very fast, noticeably faster than all others I have used
-scan quality is above all others I have tested
-using Epson Event Manager software you can send scans to any PC from the printer panel
-Windows 7 64bit already supported and works great
-Epson tech support is in Canada
-it sounds better..subjective and is quiet
-scanner lid is light and easy to open
-touch control panel works great
-2 year Epson warranty with registration

CONS:
-cost is on high side
-printer locks if one color is empty, can still scan from PC only
-need to remove all paper to print an envelope
-large footprint
-paper output tray feels really cheezy

Epson has really done a nice job on this printer, other manufacturers should take note.

Tip: Do not buy directly from Epson. My first unit had an ADF scanner alignment
problem. Epson offered to send me a replacement unit, but their replacements are
all refurbished and my unit was only 1 week old. Lucky I could exchange it for a brand new one that worked perfect, kudos to Amazon's excellent customer service.

Don't be fooled by the advertising that claims this is a 48-bit (16/channel) scanner. The files produced by their scanning software will be downgraded to 24-bit (8/channel) before being given to you. I bought this unit from somewhere other than Amazon, but am posting this review as a public service.

I submitted this exact problem to Epson's support: "Using the latest version of the scan software (Epson Scan 3.76US) in 'Professional Mode' I do not get a 48-bit color scan option. Under 'Image Type' I get '24-bit Color' only. How do I scan at the advertised 48-bit color depth level?"

EPSON'S RESPONSE (four-day turnaround, fyi)

"Thank you for contacting Epson regarding your Epson Artisan 810. The specification of the scanner can support 48 bit (input) and 24 (output only). That is why on Epson Scan you only have 24 bit option."

MY COMMENTS

I'm not given to hyperbole, but this is downright fraudulent on the part of Epson - nowhere in any of their marketing or support documentation for this product do they reveal the scanner has a lower "output" than "input" bit depth. And to add insult to injury I can see right in their scanning software that 48-bit is supported on at least some of their products, but in my case the 48-bit option was grayed out. (And until now I was completely ignorant of the difference - do a Google search for "scanner input versus output depth"). My recently deceased Canon MP760 all-in-one scanner would output 48-bit (i.e. 16/channel) color depth, and my Photoshop CS2 software handled it just fine. It never occurred to me that a more-expensive and three-year-newer printer would not do the same. You have been warned.

I have owned an Epson Artisan 800 all-in-one printer for roughly a year now, as of October 2009, and I have been extremely impressed with it. I have to admit that I do not use this as my primary, high volume printer. I have a color laser that I use for most of my daily printing needs. However, I have used the Artisan 800 for all of my CD/DVD printing and for most of my 4x6 and 5x7 photo printing needs. The printer has never disappointed me, although I was a little surprised by the somewhat flimsy, plastic construction. I also didn't like the fact that Epson advertised the Artisan 800 as being able to duplex print, yet it did not come with a duplexer (it was sold as an accessory, available for sale only on the Epson website). So after a year of great experience with the Artisan 800 I was thrilled when offered the ability to test the new Artisan 810.

Epson did a great job with packaging this printer. Upon opening the box I came across a long, rectangular inner box that had the words "Open Me First" printed boldly on it. This box contains the printer power cord, a fairly short Ethernet cable, a rather short telephone cable, the software and driver disk, the printer manual and network installation guide, a quick setup poster, 7 ink cartridges (magenta, cyan, yellow, light magenta, light cyan, and 2 high capacity black), and a "You're Invited" folder, which contains some modest paper samples and some offers to save up to $50 on future Epson purchases. Please note, there is no USB cable included in the kit, so if you plan to plug the printer directly into your computer (via USB), you will need to purchase a cable separately. The printer itself is contained is a heavy-duty, clear plastic bag, which includes handles for pulling the printer out of the box. The handles stretched a bit, when I lifted the printer out of the box, but they are definitely strong enough to handle the weight of the printer. After sitting the printer atop the counter in my office, I went about removing the protective plastic wrap and multiple tape strips that are inside and outside of the printer. After powering up the printer for the first time, the touch screen prompted me to select a location and language, and also asked me to setup things like time and date. I was then prompted to install the included ink cartridges. Now here is the part that disappointed me the most. You see, I had just recently replaced several of the cartridges in my Artisan 800 printer, which takes exactly the same cartridges as this new 810 model. Since I was replacing the 800 with the 810, I simply wanted to install the cartridges from the 800 into the 810, so that I didn't have to open the new cartridges that came with the 810. Well to my dismay the Artisan 810 gave me an error, stating that I must install the exact cartridges that came with the 810 printer. This is a very frustrating issue to me since it shouldn't matter what cartridges I use, as long as they are genuine Epson model 98 or 99 units.

Since I wanted to print to this device from every computer in my home, I decided to attach it to my wired network, instead of utilizing the Wi-Fi capabilities of the Artisan 800. I like every device on my network to have a static IP address, and I was easily able to assign static settings to the Artisan 800 via the touch screen interface on the front of the printer. I then popped the Epson software CD into my first PC and started the installation. Installation is pretty straightforward, but the user needs to make sure that they pay attention when prompted to select how you plan to access the new printer (via USB, Ethernet or Wi-Fi). The total installation takes quite a lot of time; just under 30 minutes in my case. Also, if connecting via your network, be sure to either disable or make appropriate changes to your firewall, to allow the needed two-way communication between your computer and printer. At times I thought the software installation had locked up, because the progress bar would remain in the same position for several minutes at a time. Overall the installation completed successfully and without incident.

I configured the fax settings from the touch screen interface, adding my fax number and header information. I then sent a test fax to a friend, after which he sent a fax to me. Everything was working perfectly so far. I wanted to test the scanner, but quickly found that I was not able to scan across my network from the printer itself. However, when I opened Photoshop, I was able to select the Artisan 800 as a TWAIN import source, and it then initiated a scan from the Epson across my network. After looking into the scanning features further, I discovered that direct scanning from the printer itself is only possible when connected directly to a computer via USB. This isn't that big of a deal, as long as you initiate the scan from your networked computer itself. This may be an issue for some people, but it doesn't really bother me at all. The copier function is full-featured and very easy to use. Printing on the Artisan 810 produces very impressive results.

As with the Artisan 800, I tried using a few different types of photo paper, including different papers from Epson and HP. I need to point out that the results from HP Premium and Premium Plus photo paper were very unsatisfactory. The paper didn't seem to absorb the ink properly, and produced a very splotchy looking print. However, the Epson paper produced excellent results. Obviously this printer performs best with only Epson photo papers. For plain paper printing, I didn't notice any difference between HP, Hammermill, or Epson papers. Printing and scanning from any of the computers on my home network works flawlessly. Printing photos directly from a memory card, plugged into the front of the Artisan 810 printer, works very well also. You can scroll through all of your photos, select which ones to print, enhance them, crop them, and even automatically remove redeye before printing. All of this can be done using the touch screen panel and large color display on the front of the printer. My final test was to print directly on a printable DVD+R disk. I printed from a CD/DVD label creation program on my home office PC and sent the artwork across my network to the printer. You have to press the "CD Tray" button, on the front of the printer, which activates a motorized CD/DVD tray to move out so you can clip your disk onto it for printing. Another push of the button retracts the tray so the disk is then inside the printer. The printed results on the DVD were flawless and perfectly aligned. So overall, every feature of my Epson Artisan 810 printer is working as promised. Overall I would say the Artisan 800 and 810 print with equal speed and quality. However, the 810 can automatically print on both sides of a page (duplex printing).

This printer not only performs well, but also looks aesthetically pleasing as well. It is very sleek and stylish, and the piano black finish looks great in a home office setting. The device has pleasing curves, a shiny finish, and a very large color display and touch panel. The paper output tray slides into the printer, to be stored out of sight when not printing, to reduce the overall footprint of the printer. The automatic Document Feeder (ADF), located on the top of the printer, has a fold-up input tray which closes up when not being used. Everything about this printer seems tidy, space saving, sleek and shinny. It is definitely an awesome piece of eye candy for your home or small office. The nice thing is that the Artisan 810 seems to have slightly better build quality than their previous Artisan 800 model. It just feels more solid, with less flexing of the thin plastic parts.

The features of this printer are many, but here are some of the more important product specifications of the Epson Artisan 810 All-in-One Printer:

* Printing Technology: Ultra Hi-Definition Printing / Advanced MicroPiezo inkjet with DX5 technology
* Ink Cartridge Configuration: 6 cartridges (Black, Cyan, Light Cyan, Magenta, Light Magenta, Yellow)
* Ink Type: Claria Hi-Definition Ink (smudge, scratch, water and fade resistant)
* Ink Output Distribution: 5 ink droplet sizes, as small as 1.5 picoliters
* Maximum Resolution: 5760 x 1440 dpi
* Print Speed: Up to 38 ppm / 4" x 6" photos as fast as 10 seconds (in draft print mode)
* Scanner Type: Color flatbed (CIS line sensor)
* Optical Scanner Resolution: 4800 dpi
* Maximum Scanner Resolution: 9600 x 9600 dpi (interpolated)
* Copier Modes: Color, Black/White, Text, Graphics, Photo (up to 99 copies)
* Maximum Copy Size: 8.5" x 14" (Legal)
* Copy Reduction/Enlargement: 25 - 400%
* Front Panel Features: 7.8" touch panel, 3.5" LCD display
* Copier/Scanner/Fax Paper Input: 30-page Auto Document Feeder
* Paper Input: 2 input trays; main tray up to 8.5" x 14", Photo tray 4" x 6" and 5" x 7"
* Borderless Print Capability = YES
* Memory Card Reader Compatibility: SD Memory Card, MiniSD, MicroSD, SDHC, Mini SDHC, Micro SDHC, xD-Picture Card (Types M, M+ and H), Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo, Memory Stick Micro (M2), Memory Stick MagicGate, Compact Flash (Type I & II), Microdrive, MMCplus, MMCmobile, and MMCmicro.
* USB Flash Drive Input = YES
* PictBridge Port = YES
* Fax Model Speed: 33.6 Kbps
* Fax Memory: Up to 180 pages
* Fax Speed Dials: 60 max
* Paper Sizes Supported: 8.5" x 11", 8.5" x 14", A4, B5, A5, A6, Inkjet printable CD/DVDs
* Photo Paper Sizes Supported: 4" x 6", 5" x 7", 8" x 10", 8.5" x 11", 16:9 wide
* Borderless Photo Sizes Supported: 4" x 6", 5" x 7", 8" x 10", 8.5" x 11", 16:9 wide
* Envelope Types Supported: No. 10, DL, C6, plain paper, bond paper, air mail
* Input Paper Capacity: Main Tray = 120 sheets max (10 envelopes) / Photo Tray = 20 sheets premium photo paper
* Dimensions (W x D x H): 18.4" x 15.2" x 7.5" (pull-out paper output extends depth to 23.0")
* Weight: 23.8 lbs.
* Case Color: Black (glossy)
* Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, compatible with 802.11 n, Ethernet - 10/100, USB 2.0
* Supported Operating Systems: Windows Vista, XP (32 and 64-bit), 2000, Mac OS X 10.3.9, 10.4.11 and 10.5.x (requires PowerPC or Intel processor)
* Sound Level: 34.6 dB
* Operating Temperature: 50 to 95 °F (10 to 35 °C)
* Storage Temperature: 4 to 140 °F (-20 to 60 °C)
* Relative Humidity: Operating = 20-80% / Storage = 5-85% (non-condensing)
* Power Requirements: 120 VAC, 50-60 Hz, 0.8 Amp
* Power Consumption: 26 Watts (operation), 5.5 Watts (sleep mode), 0.3 Watts (power off mode)
* Warranty: 2-year limited
* Optional Accessories: Bluetooth photo print adapter

The Epson Artisan 810 All-in-One printer is really a remarkable device for your home or small office. It offers just about any kind of connectivity you could want, including direct USB, 10/100 Ethernet, 802.11 b/g (n compatible) Wi-Fi, and even optional Bluetooth photo printing. It accepts a very wide variety of paper types and sizes, but is not a wide format printer, so 11" x 17" and larger printing is not possible. A 30-page ADF for copying, faxing and scanning is a nice touch as well. The built-in duplexer and the ability to charge portable devices (such as an iPod, iPhone, etc.) from the front panel USB port makes the Artisan 810 a solid improvement from the Artisan 800. It is a great looking, wonderful performing inkjet all-in-one device, with full networkable capabilities and the ability to print directly from a wide variety of flash memory cards, USB flash drives, micro-drives, and even a PictBridge camera connection. I am a bit disappointed with the dependency of using Epson photo paper, for printing decent pictures, and wish it would work just as well with any other popular photo papers. However, Epson photo paper is not any more expensive than HP or Canon papers, and when using the compatible papers this printer really does produce lab quality photos. The ink drying time, on the Premium Epson photo paper, is surprisingly fast; allowing me to touch the printed surface within just a few seconds. The 7.8" touch panel is simply awesome and very high-tech looking, and the 3.5" LCD displays photos with remarkable clarity. For excellent packaging, sleek and stylish design, ease of installation, extremely impressive print quality, and a plethora of useful features and input/output options, I consider this a 5 star product. I am delighted with the improved design of this new Epson printer and I highly recommend it to others. Just keep in mind that you will need to purchase genuine Epson photo paper to print your favorite pictures at the best quality.

I did a lot of research before buying this printer. The printer did everything my HP, the printer I was replacing did, and far more. The wifi is a fantastic feature. I had another printer and a laptop I would bring home ocasionally that were not hooked up to my old printer; now everything is, by wifi.

The cd/dvd printing capability is great. It was the primary reason for my buying the printer. I will no longer have to print labels for the dvds I create for my company; and it works simply and well. The printer comes with software for creating the labels that is (almost) as good as espressit (which in my opinion is the easiest to use and the most professional looking labeling software, and it's free.)

I chose the 810 over the 800 only because it came pre setup with a duplexer, which works wonderfully. If you are looking to save a little money though, get the 800, which is $179 [...] and then purchase their add-on duplexer for $29. The printer is pre-setup for it.

Cnet said that the tray that receives the finished documents is flimsy, and it sort of seems like it is. I'm guessing though that Epson designed it to be durable enough, elsewise they would be getting a lot of defective printers back; so I'm not worried.

One reviewer said that it was a hassle using different kinds of paper because you have to remove the paper tray to do so, and that is also true. You first have to push the document tray in, then remove the paper tray, insert the paper you want, reinstall the paper tray and then pull out the document tray. You would do this to print labels, dvd disk case jackets and labels, large size photos; all of which I do. And I still say that this printer is the best I have ever owned.

I've had the unit for a week and am running it under Windows 7 64-bit. Software installation was event-free. The only issue so far is with my nVidia 9600 GT display card which locks up but recovers in an instant when going to a second page in Print Preview mode.

Print quality is up to Epson's standards (extremely high) for this class. Duplex printing works well but scanning is an issue for office-type uses. It scans (simplex mode only, no duplex scanning!). JPG and PDF formats are supported. Quality-wise, scanning is very good.

I've found a great add-on scanner software that solves the double-sided issue. Softi makes ScanWiz ($50) that will scan directly to pdf, reorder the pages after scanning the front and back sides (just turn the stack over and scan), and automatically eliminates the blank pages! Great stuff.

Cartridge costs are OK, cheaper than my previous Canon MP830. I like the fact that the ink cartridges are fixed and connected to the printhead by tubing. Much less mass to move but initially requires some ink to prime the tubing. Full cartridges are supplied with the unit as well as an extra black one.

Size is quite small, made so by the elimination of the duplex scanning unit I suppose. The print duplexer does protrude from the rear by 3 inches. Noise is extremely low for the scanner but only average for the printer. Paper tray is clever in that it can hold both photo and plain paper.

Overall, I would buy again but may have to invest in more sophisticated scanning software.

This is quite possibly the best printer that I've ever owned. That's saying a lot, considering how many printers I've gone through. Let's go through the various pieces and I'll show you why I like it so much...

Print Quality - It's rather trite, but the number one job of a printer is to print. The print quality of the Artisan 810 is outstanding. Using decent quality paper, the output is sharp and clear. Small point type is very readable and fine lines are clearly defined. Normal single-sided printing is very fast. Two-sided printing is considerably slower, as the printer waits for the ink to dry before printing the second side.

Photo Printing - The Artisan 810 adds two more color cartridges to the standard cyan, magenta, yellow and black mix. By including a light cyan and light magenta cartridge, it's possible to produce prints with subtle shades and smoother color gradation. More expensive, dedicated photo printers (e.g. Epson R1900 or R2880, Canon PRO9000MkII) add in still more ink colors and can produce larger prints, but this printer produces excellent prints for all but the most discerning user. There is one application where I wouldn't recommend this printer - very high quality black and white photo printing. If you plan on producing high resolution B/W prints, you should look at the Epson R2880 or the Canon Pro9500MkII. Those units have light black and other cartridges designed specifically for that application. Outside that, though, prints from the Artisan 810 are truly stunning.

Paper Tray - If you're tired of pulling the paper tray and adjusting the guides every time you want to print a photograph, the Artisan 810 has a solution - the paper tray simultaneously holds both photo and regular paper in two different sections. At my house, I'm keeping 4x6 photo paper loaded in the top section, while the bottom holds standard printer paper...the printer automatically selects the correct paper depending on what's being printed. The downside of this arrangement is that the tray has a fairly small capacity, only holding 120 pages of normal 20lb paper. Note that this printer doesn't have a rear paper feed slot. This prevents its use in applications requiring a straight through paper path.

CD/DVD Printing - I don't use too many CDs and DVDs anymore, but when I did, I used a Black Sharpie marker to label my disks. (Except when I was feeling ambitious and had time to burn. Then I used LightScribe disks) No more. The Artisan 810 has an integrated tray to feed printable CD's into the printer. Just about anything that you can think of - Illustrations, photos and/or text - can be directly printed onto the disk's surface. Even if what you're printing is just a list of file names, it's better than writing them out by hand. One of the included software programs formats text and pictures to fit on the CD's surface. It's nothing fancy, but it works.

Scanning - Direct to PC or USB - Buttons on the touch screen display allow you to select the destination of a scanned document. The scanned image can be sent to any computer that has the Epson drivers installed. The file can be saved in .jpg or PDF format. OCR software (Presto PageManager) is included in the software package to convert scanned documents into editable text. Like most all-in-one units, the scanner only scans one side of the page.

Document Feeder - Swinging the feeder input tray closed also lifts the feeder's output tray to make a smooth top...cosmetically it's nice, but more importantly, it also reduces the chances of paperclips and other office debris falling inside. I've copied a 30 page document without a problem...the maximum thickness of the paper stack is spec'ed at 3mm, or roughly 1/8"

Faxing - It works. There's nothing new or exciting...punch in the number, hit the button and off it goes. You can store up to 60 numbers in a speed dial directory if you frequently send faxes to the same place. You can also assign numbers to various groups, so you can easily send the same fax to multiple locations.

Copier = Scanner + Printer - As I mentioned above, I've copied a 30 page document without a problem. The copier is only a single-sided copier. For duplex coping, you need to flip over the paper stacks and run them through a second time. With CD printing as one of the features, the Artisan also incorporated a CD/DVD copy mode. You put the original CD in the middle of the glass and hit the dedicated "Copy CD/DVD" button. The firmware is smart enough to correct minor centering issues.

Touch screen controls - Between the keypad, function select buttons, various setup and navigation buttons and everything else, most multi-function machines have a ton of buttons on their front panel. By using a touch panel that just displays the necessary buttons, the Artisan 810 considerably simplifies the user interface. The displayed buttons are bright, readable and large enough to easily use. The viewing angle for the panel is not very large; however the assembly can be tilted upwards to make it easy to read when you're standing over the printer. One concern that I have has to do with the tilt mechanism...it can easily move up, but you have to push a release to get it to rotate back down. The latch seems very flimsy and I'm pretty sure that it will break when someone inevitably pushes down on the screen without pushing the release.

Ink consumption - With 6 different ink cartridges, ink can get expensive. As always, your ink usage will depend on what you're printing. Standard business correspondence uses virtually no ink when compared against glossy photos. Single page business letters seem to run in the 10-12 cents per page range; 8x10" color photos might as well have a direct line into your local ATM. There are both standard and high-capacity versions of the cartridges available - I always recommend getting the high capacity version. Cartridges are available individually and in multi-pack boxes. I also recommend that you keep a spare set around at all times. The printer stops printing when any one of the cartridges runs dry and that inevitably happens Thursday at 11:30pm when the kid's trying to print out her homework.

Connectivity - Both wireless and wired networking is supported, although you can only use one at a time. It was very easy to configure the networking and I had the printer up and running inside of ten minutes. It would have been even faster if I'd read the instructions. Even a non-technical user should be able to quickly get it installed and working. If you're going to be using the printer wirelessly, plan on initially use a wired connection to get it configured...you can do it through the front panel, but it's a lot of button pushes. Once the printer is up and running, you can disconnect and move it to wherever it's going to live.

Memory Card + USB port - Nothing too special here. Like any other printer with a display, you stick in the memory card, select the picture you want to print and go. Unusually, the USB port was designed to supply enough power to allow it to be used as a charger for iPods, cell phones and similar devices. You obviously need to supply the correct cable.

Extras - Coloring Page, graph paper and lined paper printing - Not exactly a reason to purchase a printer, but nice extras - The Artisan 810 can print lined notebook paper and graph paper. Since most office supply stores use notebook paper as a loss-leader to get customers in the door, I wouldn't plan on using this to fill up your binder. On the other hand, it's certainly convenient if you need a couple of pieces quickly. The ability to turn a picture into a coloring page is another extra. Kids get bored on a car ride? Print out some pages and have them color them in. Just don't leave crayons on your back seats and park in the sun. Trust me.

So...My Conclusion?
This is a really good, general-purpose, all-in-one printer for a family or home office. Its fast, has excellent print quality and a well designed feature set. It was obviously designed by an experienced engineering team. This is my ninth all-in-one printer, the fourth one that I've reviewed for Amazon, and the first one that warrants five stars. Highly recommended.

This is easily the finest consumer level printer I've ever used with a mac. Snow leopard is a first class citizen with this model, unlike many others. Build quality is a little cheap, but not unusually so for a consumer printer. I chose to buy it from a local retailer I trust with a no hassle drop-off & replace extended warranty ($30).

Everything it promises, it delivers---amazing print quality, convenience, great scanner, fast, no smudges, etc. Read elsewhere for these details.

NOTE: This applies to 10.6.2, Apple may make install truly seamless in the future. The important part to remember is to use Apple provided drivers, not Epson downloadable drivers!

The only major gripe is that the instructions for snow leopard mac install are wrong. It will not work properly if you install Epson's drivers for it. If you make this mistake at first as I did, you will need to delete /Library/Printers, remove the printer from system preferences, insert your Snow Leopard disk, and run the optional installer. Check "All Printer Drivers." Then run system update to get the latest epson drivers from apple. I got this info from AppleCare.

Add this printer with the apple provided "Epson Artisan 800 series" driver. After this, everything will work perfectly. Everything I've tried on it anyways. Apple's "Image Capture" and "Preview" applications will provide all of your scanning needs even over Wifi, and is way nicer than the Epson provided utility.

To wirelessly mount memory cards inserted into your printer, activate it on the printer's settings menu, and make note of the printer's assigned name. You set the name during setup and it is accessible via the menus. To actually mount it in the finder, go to Go > Connect to Server, and enter smb://printername.local (ie smb://epson76d792.local). It doesn't need a password.