Customer Reviews

Epson Stylus Photo RX620 All-in-One

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

Before I start, I just want to emphasize that I have been in the IT industry for about 15 years and consider myself to be pretty knowledgeable about PC and PC peripherals. This DOESNT mean that I'm infallible, just simply that I know what to look for in a device. Now onto the review...

It was time to replace my tired HP Photosmart 7260, although still working and doing a great job, I may add, I wanted something, well.... different. So, I decided to delve into the AIO(All In One) category. I initally started with an open box HP 2355 from Sears and was initally pleased as punch. Decent print speeds, wonderful photo and text output and an awe-inspiring design. However my happiness was short-lived. Apparently there was a reason it was an "open box" and priced so cheap. It was defective. Continuous banding, horrible color output after sitting a few hours, etc. So, much to my dismay I took it back and decided to stick with my PS 7260 until I could afford a high-end AIO. Well the time came to purchase and I shopped around, read numerous reviews and finally picked up an Epson AIO cx6600. For those of you who havent tried this printer, its MORE than worth the money!!! Excellent speed, nice look and good print quality. All out of a 4 ink tank system! However, I just could not settle with this device(Nothing really wrong with this AIO except that I could not settle for the 4 color pigmanet-based print engine) and decided to return the 6600 in favor of the 6 color, dye-based RX620. I'm glad I did. Heres why:

1.) Print speeds seem to be on par with the cx6600 (Which has decently high ratings for speed).
2.) Photo quality is among the best I have EVER seen. This AIO is on par with the high dollar, 8 color dedicated photo printers. With Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper and a high-resolution image(i.e 4-5 MP high-end camera), you almost have to have a microscope to detect ANY dithering or banding. I have printed everything from 4x6 prints up to 8.5x11 and continue to be blown away by the quality. And I have a VERY keen eye for imperfections!!!
3.) Contrary to some reviews, text DOES appear sharp and crisp. Print speeds arent super-fast, but will suffice for most applications.
4.) Copy and scan quality are among the best Ive seen from an AIO. This is probably attributed to the excellent print engine and over the top scanner. I copied an older film photo on the photo setting(NOT best photo) and could not believe my eyes. The printer has the ability to restore old photos and I'm here to tell you...IT WORKS!! An adapter is included to scan negatives and slides as well, which I have not had a chance to play with as of yet.
5.) Setup and operation are a breeze! Even printing sans computer could not be easier. The full-color LCD is very informative and easy to use!
6.) Bonus features! You can even scan directly to a memory card, or backup to a Jump Drive/CD-RW directly connected to the printer!!
7.) Its relatively quiet! Much quieter than most of the HP's that I have used.

Everyone complains about the lack of a fax, but I do NOT see this as a fault! It is designed to be a home-based photo center. You CAN scan to fax with the included software, however and I found it to work as advertised.

CONS:
All in all, I have a hard time finding faults in this AIO and I'm REALLY looking. But there are a few irritations(Not really faults)
1.) The USB cable is attached to the machine from INSIDE the lid. You have to raise the lid to install the cable, which is fed to the back via a path notched out. Kind of crazy, but not a big problem.
2.) Epson thought it to be a good idea to put a product sticker on the top, which almost covers the entire lid. This includes the shiny black oval/oblong area that gives the RX620 a handsome look. When the sticker is removed, residue is left on the shiny part and is ridiculously difficult to remove. Solvents that are effective in removing the residue, cause swirl marks on the surface. Again an irritation, but does not take away from the operation.

My Epson Stylus 900 finally gave up the ghost after 5+ years of heavy use and faithful service. When i set out to replace it, i was a bit dismayed to find that dedicated photo printers are a dying breed. Bringing home an AIO seemed like a compromise -- until i plugged in the RX620 and started using it.
First, i made a couple of 4X6 prints directly from a compact-flash card. I was blown away by the ease of operation and the quality of the prints: You'd need a magnifying glass to detect ANY evidence that these prints came off an inkjet! Then, just for fun, i made a couple of color photocopies. Even on plain paper they were clear as a bell and the color fidelity was superb. Next, i printed a Word document, again on plain paper. The text was crisp, even at 4 points. It was pretty speedy, too (I didn't time it, but it was definitely faster than my Stylus 900). Finally, i scanned an old negative. This took a bit of experimentation, but once i figured it out i was again very impressed by the quality of the image.
In retrospect, i don't know how i ever got by without this machine! It offers a ton of features without compromising image quality (in fact, i'd say this is the sharpest printer i've seen yet!). The full-color LCD screen makes it a snap to use and the controls are very intuitive. The interface with my Canon digital camera and iMac is absolutely seamless.
And although this printer's basic operations are very easy to master, i've been very impressed by its advanced and custom settings, too. The color management is particularly good (gone finally are the days of having a print come out with a weird cast!).
In short, the RX620 is packed with features and offers superb image quality at a very affordable price. Even if you just want a printer and think you don't need all the features it offers, i recommend purchasing this model. Even as a standalone printer, it's an excellent value and is well worth the price.

The Epson RX620 is a great printer. I learned my lesson by not doing thorough research before I bought my last printer (a Brother AIO). After my last printer failed to perform like I expected, I did a lot of online research and review of comments left by others before I purchased the Epson RX620. After careful consideration, I bought and tried this printer. In a word, it's great.

Print Quality: The print quality is terrific; including both text and photo print quality. I compared some older photos printed off an HP to the same photo printed on the Epson RX620 and I couldn't believe the difference. The photos printed on my old HP looked "smoky" and dull compared to the Epson. The same exact photo on the Epson came out crystal clear, bright and vivid. I tested several text documents because I read from some others that the text quality wasn't as good, but I found that the quality of text documents to be excellent as well. I printed on plain paper and inkjet papers. Naturally, the better quality paper resulted in better quality prints, but overall the Epson RX620 has excellent print quality.

Print Speed: The printer produces vivid photos in the "normal" mode quickly. This printer works much faster than my older HP printer or my newer (and very sluggish) Brother. Even when printing using the maximum "Best Photo" quality selection, large photos only took a minute to print. For a single 4 x 6 photo printed on my old HP or Brother, I could print 3 or 4 on the Epson in the same time. While all inkjet printers are somewhat slow when printing photos set on "high resolution", the Epson is fairly swift. Black text prints dark, solid and crisp, showing no bleeding or "feathered" edges on resume quality or inkjet papers. Plain paper (cheap photo copier paper) did show some signs of bleeding, but nothing more than any other printer on the market. Again, use better quality paper and get better quality results.

Features: The machine is very easy to set up and use. Within a few minutes of opening the box, I was up and running. The large full color LCD screen on the front of the printer offers the various print/scan/copy options that are easy to understand and select. The scan quality is sharp and is easy to do. You can scan to your computer or directly to a flash memory card. Also, you don't even need to turn on the computer to print photos. Insert your camera's card and print directly from the printer. I was surprised to see in the specifications that this printer also scans 35M negatives and slides. I assumed that the quality wouldn't be a good as with a digital image, but was I wrong! I took some old negatives from a 1980's family reunion and put them into the negative scanner and all I can say is WOW! The images were clean, sharp and vivid. In some cases, the prints off the Epson actually looked better than the Kodak prints I got from the drugstore back in the 1980's! This machine is actually a full featured photo lab. I did find that using the included software to scan and save your prints from negatives worked better than just using the printer as a stand alone. The prints coming off of negatives without using your PC and the included software looked a little grainy, but I didn't print them on "best quality" so I'll have to test that again. The software is simple to use as well. A few clicks and I was scanning negatives. The system automatically brings scanned negatives up on the screen for you to manipulate and are filed in the "My Photos" file so there is no searching for images on your PC!

Ink: The printer uses 5 ink tanks. Black, Cyan, Magenta and Yellow, plus Light Magenta and Light Cyan (for photos). Each ink cartridge is separate, so when you run out of yellow, you replace only the yellow cartridge. Cartridges run around 12 to 16 dollars a piece, but again, because you only replace the color that has run out, you don't waste ink like you do with the tri-color cartridges such as with Lexmark and HP. The Epson ink cartridges each have a smart chip that tells the printer that the ink tank is empty. The drawback of this is of course, that you cannot just refill the tank with a needle and generic ink and then pop the cartridge back into the printer. If you plan to refill the ink cartridges yourself, you'll need to buy a kit with a separate "chip resetter" to reset the smart chip each time you refill it. You can find these online when you do a search for "Epson RX620 ink". Generics ink cartridges are available for around 3 to 5 dollars per color, but I haven't tested the print quality with generic ink so I can't really comment on that just yet. Of course, Epson advises against refilling the ink cartridges or using generics. Naturally, they want you to buy their ink. Genuine Epson ink however is top quality and it didn't run when I poured some water on a sample print.

The Bad: There isn't really anything bad that I can point out, except that this printer isn't really a true "all in one" (AIO) machine. There is no freestanding fax machine on this printer, which means you cannot just walk up, dial a number and fax a document. You have to scan the document and send it through another program on your computer, like Word, Wordperfect or separate fax program. Even with this limitation, this printer is well made, produces quality prints and is very affordable. I would highly recommend the Epson RX620!

I bought this printer, despite a number of negative reviews. My test results confirm my suspicions: Most negative reviews are written by photographer/printer wannabes or simpletons who expect to get a thousand dollar printer/scanner/copier for under two hundred dollars.
MY BACKGROUND: I am a nationally-awarded photographer twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. I have been a pro for three decadess satisfying the most critical demands of graphic artists, designers and other clients. And I build my own computers. [...] I ran a series of initial tests, using my own images, without making any Advanced adjustments to the machine or reading the Owner's Manual. And got excellent prints with fine color and sharpness.
I then downloaded a Printer's Test image (8X10" at 200dpi) and printed it at the printer's "Best Photo" setting. Sharpness was great and color was only about 5% over in magenta... easily corrected in Adobe Photoshop.
I then scanned that print and the results were equally impressive. Sharpness was perfect and, once again, the scanned image was over about 5% in magenta.
I should remind folks that a 5% disparity of any color renditions could easily be caused by an un-calibrated monitor or printer. MY monitor is a brand new LCD,un-calibrated.
And text printed beautifully and fast no matter what type of paper I used.
I then copied the test print and found the copy to be just fine. Copies will usually lose 10% of sharpness so that was factored into my conclusion.
Finally I tried scanning a film negative and had very little trouble get good results.
MY OPINION: One would have to go a long way to find a better multi-function machine for under two hundred dollars. The Epson RX620 should satisfy most all photographers in all respects. Period.
With all due respect to those who have logged objections to this machine, I would suggest you do more studying on printers AND photography OR simply quit expecting a two hundred dollar machine to perform like a thousand dollar unit.
Thank you.......

I have used all the major brands on the market and have found the Epson RX620 the best unit overall. It does a great job of scanning to include old slides and neg. film scans. Some of the slides have come out better than the scans I got back from a professional lab, that's impressive. Printing is some of the best results I have had with photo printers as it uses 6 independent color cartridges allowing you to be able to replace only the ones needing replacement. Some of the other reviews complain of the printer using too much of the color cartridges ink or requiring replacement before being empty. All I can say about that is the manual makes it clear that all cartridges pass ink thru during printing so clogging won't happen if not used for long periods and the remarks of needing to replace the cartridges before it is completely empty is wrong as it also is clearly stated in the manual and on the message that appears on the screen that the cartridge is only 20% remaining as a reminder that you need to purchase replacements before too long.

It offers so much in useful software tools as well and all tools are easy to use and depending on your level of experience it will adjust to your knowledge and proficiency. Some dealers and even Epson's website have been offering big rebates/discounts making this one sweet deal.

This is a great printer. I've had the chance to use it for all types of printing, reading memory cards, and scanning a document. I have not yet used it to scan slides or negatives. That's next on my list of projects. I absolutely love this printer with one exception. The black ink cartridge is the same size and capacity of the color ink cartridges. This means the black ink cartridge needs to be changed a little too frequently for my desires.

I guess more people write in when they are angry. This printer is terrific. It does everything well. The photo quality is fantastic. The machine seems to work perfectly. It installed as promised and went right to work. I spent a great deal of time choosing a printer and my research paid off. This machine is solid and dependable. I just wish it was more compact but I knew its size when I bought it. Don't be swayed by a few disgruntled people, they are the ones who usually write in, it's a great machine.

This is the *best* printer I have ever owned and I am a professional marketing specialist, amateur photographer, and business owner. The color quality is amazing for an inkjet, period end of sentence. I have never had any clogging problems, the slots and USB are so easy to use and so accessible, the menu and how to work the printer is easy to learn and the color LCD screen is awesome. The scanner works better than any scanner I have ever owned, the range of papers you can print on is excellent, and it blows any HP (of which I have owned many) out of the water.

I can't say enough about what a great buy I feel this was for my business. I liked it so much I purchased one for home use as well. Here is some information I feel is important to remember and consider when thinking about purchasing this printer.

First off, this is an all-in-one machine, and while it is listed as a photo all-in-one, it was not built to be the best photo printer out there. If that is what you are looking for, you should consider a stand alone photo printer, not an all-in-one. For an all-in-one, however, there is no question in my mind that this is the best, well rounded all-in-one on the market and the best printer I have ever owned actually. Before now, all my other printers were HP and there have been a lot of them ranging in model and price. Moving to a new company was scary, but I am so happy I took the leap! The 6 jets, in my opinion, make such a big difference, I can't imagine what the 8-jet models are like...

Now about ink... Epson tries to get you to replace the cartridges WAY too early, those sneaky big business people! But I was confused by the information I read in the manual that indicates the printer will stop working and force you to replace the cartridge at some point. The 3 RX620 machines that I have availability to do not do this, while it bugs you and tries to tell you the ink is low or needs replacing, it will keep printing if I keep asking it to, even if I take the cartridge out and then decide it's not empty and put it back in. So, I called Epson directly about this to find out whether I happened to luck out and get the secret research cartridges that *never* run out that were supposed to be kept under lock and key and the big men in black suits would be visiting shortly to "get them back" or what... Well fortunately, it was just a big misunderstanding..... The printer will not allow you to print without a cartridge *in* all the cartridge slots, but the printer does not suddenly decide one day to tell you the cartridge has no more ink in it and stop on it's own if there is a cartridge in the slot that the printer has been saying is low. As long as you keep the cartridge in there, it will keep printing until you decide to replace it.

Epson will further try to tell you that leaving a cartridge in the machine that they are reporting as low can clog the print heads... Well, my cartridge has been in there for a long while, with long bouts of not printing on top of it and never have I had a clog, a blob or so much as a pixel of ink out of place. I believe that is just another way they try to get you scared to replace the cartridges more often than you need to but what do I know...

I have printed SO SO many more pages on what they consider to be a low or empty cartridge it is, well, comical in a way, at least in my opinion it is. I have been laughing at the warning on my home machine now for about 70 to 80 more prints, some high quality photos and some just plain printed pages but it is still going even though it says the black cartridge is completely empty. But boy, the amount of text pages I have printed out of that 'empty' cartridge is amazing hehehe. And, the amount of best quality photo prints I have done on that cartridge also makes me think Epson really needs to re-evaluate this issue and allow the user to keep using the cartridge until it is actually out of ink. All this is doing is giving them a bad name and irritating people. I think enough people learn to keep printing so they can't be making a lot of money off this... At least I hope people figure it out.....As for the cost of the ink, ink is expensive, so is HP ink. Some HP cartridges are more expensive than these. So, Epson is not alone in trying to rip-off the public when it comes to ink cartridges, that is for sure...

I found the documentation that comes with the software you install very helpful and concise. My friend, who is included in the group of 3 Epson RX620's I have access to, happens to be a Mac user. She didn't like the fact that the documentation isn't as concise for the Mac and treats Mac users as an afterthought. This is definitely something they need to improve on. However, she added that if you spend some time reading the pc information and looking at the Smart Panel LCD, it functions the same, you just need to put aside that you are using the printer on a Mac and ignore the windows specific information.

So, in short, for an all-in-one this inkjet is great, with bonus awesome printing. Ink is expensive but so is HP's ink. The low ink warning system sucks but just ignore it and you will get your money's worth. Best of all, the 6 heads render better quality than any other all-in-one ink jet out there.

The only thing I have not done yet is scan slides or film strips. I have read in places they get cut off, are difficult to do and the quality is poor. I couldn't find either one to test this out, but I will make a point of looking through my storage closet and experimenting. Check back in about 3 weeks for an update.

If anyone out there has specific questions they would like to ask or needs assistance with a particular function they can't get to work, I am more than happy to try and help.

Happy Shopping!

after only a short period of time, I began running out of colored inks (magenta, cyan, etc.) I changed my printer settings to 'print black ink only'. this slowed the color ink drainage down, but did NOT stop it. even printing black ink only YOUR COLORED INKS WILL RUN OUT.

also, the printer will not print at all (including 'black ink only') if ANY of the inks are empty. (even if they aren't going to be used.)

you will find this terribly annoying. and at 12 dollars a cartridge, you will soon feel cheated.

To begin with, I'm very computer literate and an experienced photographer. This does a great job on all of my various types of work: photo printing, word processing, etc. You have to realize that the printer doesn't come with a cable for the PC, so go to the Epson web site, check the model you need & order it from them.

It does use up the ink, but at $12/cartridge it's a lot cheaper than many of the other printers I've had.

If you follow the installation instructions closely, you'll have no problem getting this going very quickly.

For the price, I don't think you can beat this for overall performance.