Customer Reviews

Epson WorkForce 30 Color Printer (Black) (C11CA19201)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

This order was received on time and intact. After installing the software and printing a "test page", we selected a digital picture of multi-colored reef on the ocean floor and printed on hi-glossy photo paper. The printed image looked as if we had the picture developed from a professional photo print shop.

The only issue has been in finding replacement printer cartridges from internet supply shops at discount prices. If we have to buy these cartridges (2 black, one magenta, one yellow, and one blue) from Epson, that could be the downside to the selection of this particular printer.

This thing is worthless - I first bought this printer after reading a few reviews that seemed decent. It did a nice job printing, but I realized it sucked up the ink like a vacuum. Ok I just was careful about how much stuff I printed. I recently had to replace a cartridge (just one mind you) so I did. The printer told me the same cartridge replaced was still out of ink. Since there were two black cartridges, I bought another - still no go. Now it is telling me the yellow is out too - I replaced ALL the color cartridges too - still the same result. I have gone thru all the standard troubleshooting, cleaning of printheads and everything else I can think of.

This thing is a piece of junk and it makes me sick that I not only wasted money on the printer, but on several brand new cartridges in an effort to make it work. This thing lasted less than 3 months from the time I walked out of the store til it crapped out on me. I would avoid this printer like the plague.

I have been buying Epson products for years and have generally been very happy. When I bought the C88 (the old name for this printer), after a month it started spewing ink all over the place. A long distance call to Epson resulted in them sending me a new one. Two weeks into using the new one, my color cartridges were half full. I found this extremely odd as I only printed black text. Now, 4 weeks later, several of my color cartridges are empty, and I still haven't printed anything in color! Makes you wonder where the ink is going. Well, it isn't going anywhere. Removal of the cartridges proved that they were still full. Blowing the printer heads was no help. My black cartridges are still almost full, but I can't get the printer to print correctly, I keep getting inkless bands across my text. Blew the heads several times but it didn't help. I wrote to Epson, they answered back with their standard formatted reply: call us. Long distance, no 800 number, so we can tell you once again we will replace the printer. No thanks! You can keep this piece of junk. I am now looking into HP and Cannon printers...........

The first printer was dead out of the box. Epson sent me a second one and wants me to recycle the original.
It needs heads realignment at almost every use. I am also recharging the inks almost daily. It is so loud and shakes so much I can't use it on my desk or talk on the phone if the printer is too close.

The first printer sent to us printed about 10 large pics and then started banding terribly. Amazon exchanged it for us and the second did not do that. However, it while it does make some nice prints, but needs a lot of adjustment to print the colors that are truly on the screen. Epson did not do well with this product. We went back to an R340.

For the last 10 years I've only owned HP printers--both all-in-one styles (printer/scanner/copier) and stand alone styles. This is my first Epson, and so far, it's par for the course.

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PROS
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-- Basic- unlike some other Epson (and other brand) models, this doesn't have some of the supposedly high-end frills like a memory card reader or a LCD touchscreen. These features are interesting in theory, but I don't have the desire to print directly from a memory card. I'd rather upload them onto my computer, edit them in photoshop (or GIMP) then print them.

-- Fast- The printing speed for text documents on this printer is on the faster end of what I've seen. The Epson spec sheet for this printer quotes 38ppm (pages per minute) in black text in Draft mode, and 27 ppm in black text in Laser quality text mode. I find the quality of draft mode to be almost unreadable (tolerable for editing a draft, I suppose), so the laser quality text is what I generally use. For the black text printing I've done so far, the speed was closer to 15-20 ppm vs. the quoted 27ppm. As far as being "laser quality"--the text appeared to be as sharp as that from a laser printer, but defiantly not as durable. The Epson DuraBrite inks are smudge-resistant when compared to other inkjet printers, but not when compared to the virtually smudge proof text from laser printers. With a little bit of water and some rubbing, the DuraBrite did smudge.

-- Included Inks- In the past, some of the printers I've purchased came with "starter" ink cartridges. It appears as though this printer came with full-capacity cartridges (the spec sheet says they are "standard capacity"). This includes 3 color cartridges (C/M/Y) and 2 black ink cartridges.

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CONS
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-- No USB Cord included. Like most all printers, this printer did not come with the required USB (A/B) cord to connect to a computer. At most brick and mortar Office superstores this USB cord would set you back $20-40 (depending on length and if the salesperson suckered you into buying a gold plated one). The AmazonBasics USB 2.0 A-Male to B-Male Cable is a good low priced option.

-- Replacement Ink Price. It appears this printer comes with standard-capacity ink cartridges, which is a great deal considering the price of the replacement set (3 color and 2 black). Currently on Amazon, the 3 color ink set costs about $32 and each black cartridge costs about $16--a total of $64. Considering this printer goes for about $60 brand new, it'd be more economical to re-buy the printer (which comes with full ink cartridges) than buying replacement ink.

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Note
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I have not used this printer to print photos on glossy paper. I did a test print of a photo on standard inkjet paper, and the results were decent. I've always found it more economical (and higher quality) to print my photos at Costco or another professional photo developer that uses a dye-sublimination printer.

Many have already said the same thing, but I'll add my voice -- DO NOT BUY THIS PRINTER. It gobbles ink, and generic replacement cartridges "aren't recognized" by printer. (The US government has weighed in on whether a printer can require only OEM parts, and has said no.)

Now my *authorized Epson* repair guy says the chips in the cartridges tell you they are empty when they are down to 20% full, and that after a certain time period, the printer will tell you to replace them even if they are perfectly operational and full of ink. The chips embedded in them may even disable themselves after any warning message, so that the chip resetters sold by third parties to restore the factory settings to the cartridges may not work. (I haven't tried using a chip resetter, so some skepticism is in order.)

He advised buying an older model that uses less ink and actually warns you only when the ink is nearly out. They are expensive to repair, but when you add up the headache and the cost of a new printer every year and your time, this strategy wins hands down. This is the authorized repair guy.

That is enough for me; I am going to switch to another manufacturer.

I got this printer for free with a camera. Even free, this thing is not worth the money. No. 1, the ink runs out way too quickly. Typical razor/blades rip off. No. 2, if you run out of ONE of the FIVE ink cartridges IT WILL NOT PRINT. There are some tricks online on how to reset the ink cartridges. But who needs that kind of grief? No. 3, along those same lines, you can't just run black ink and ignore the color as the manufacturer claims the color is necessary. BS! No. 4, the ink is expensive, especially if you have to replace all five cartridges. No. 5, the paper trays are way too short. Paper in the feed tray curls over the top ruining your paper. And the output tray is so small paper just falls on the floor. No. 6, no scanner. Who even makes a printer with no scanner these days? I knew this thing would be a POS when it came free. Thank God I kept my old Lexmark with flatbed scanner and ONE ink cartridge. DO NOT BUY THIS PRINTER FOR ANY PRICE! I will say one good thing about it. It does print quickly. So it's got that going for it.

I have owned this printer for nearly a year. It still functions, which is a plus I guess, but this printer is extremely frustrating. It constantly jams and every other print job I have to open it up and rip out mutilated sheets of paper. It takes FIVE INK CARTRIDGES (2 black, 3 color) and sucks up ink like a black hole. It's extremely expensive and annoying to have to buy a new set of cartridges ALL THE TIME.

But the most frustrating thing is if one cartridge is empty, the printer REFUSES TO PRINT. PERIOD. I have 2 black ink cartridges that are half full but I am out of magenta ink. All I wanted to do was print out a resume with black ink only. Even if you specify "Black Ink Only" in the printing preferences the machine will refuse to print because one cartridge is empty, EVEN IF YOU WONT BE USING THAT CARTRIDGE AT ALL. It is so frustrating to have a black text document with plenty of black ink that you can't print because one of the color cartridges is empty.

Buy something else. Your blood pressure will thank you.

I hate this printer. So. Much.

The good news is that Epson has great warranty replacement service, and is even a bit flexible about expiration dates. The bad news is that you are almost certain to need it. I have used every version from the C80 through the C88+, and every one failed within a year. The problem was always color print head failure, despite regular, but not excessive use. Too bad, because these printers work with everything from Win98 through Linux.