Customer Reviews

Epson WorkForce 310 Color Inkjet All-in-One Printer (C11CA49201)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Update 3/2/10 - Felt it only fair to update to say that while this is still an excellent machine for the price, I have already moved on to another. I purchased the 310 in August 2009, and would've loved to have had the Artisan 800, but the price (around 300), issues (a large number of quality complaints, jams, errors, etc) and lack of some features (no scan to pc unless it was hooked up via USB, no fax memory, no fax from pc) - made the 800 a bad choice and something I didn't want to get when there was this 80 dollar AIO that had those features, even it was lacking in the photo print quality. Fast forward to 2010 and we now have an updated Artisan 810 that has improved quality and the features I want, and I caught it at a great price (reduced further with my amazon visa points). The best way to get what you want for the price on amazon is to put it in your cart and visit your cart daily - it'll tell you of any price changes.

Again, this is a great, low cost, AIO, with lower ink costs than the one I now have, and I never had the first issue with it. My primary printout consisted of recipes, pages from the internet, and greeting cards, and making copies of various items. Great for the home user, or low volume small office.

*** Original Review - Sept 2009 ***
Overview of my setup - Cradlepoint MBR1000 WiFi router (for mobile broadband) with 2 laptops and 1 netbook connecting via WiFi, all WinXP. I have one Vista pc but it's currently comatose so I won't be able to review the Vista compatibility (and more than likely when I fix it rather than reinstalling Vista I'll go to Win7). Epson 310 is connected via ethernet to the router, giving me a WiFi network printer without the price of a WiFi printer.

I don't expect an All-In-One to be perfect at any one thing. For the feature where I need something more perfect, I have a machine just for that (like my Epson V500 scanner for archiving old photos). If you want a high quality, suitable for framing, photo printer, this probably is not your machine.

What was important to me for an AIO -

Price - I'm not a heavy duty user, photo prints I like to order (it's cheaper, I don't care what kind of photo printer you have!), and just couldn't justify a $300 AIO.

Easy to use once it's setup - I have a tech-challenged husband. I'm a computer nerd and a programmer so I wasn't worried if the initial setup was difficult (but I'll say now, it wasn't, I could probably talk my husband through it even).

Scanner - not for archiving photos, I have a good scanner for that, but be acceptable for making copies of documents, faxing, scanning in documents, recipes, receipts, etc. I also sometimes need to scan in notes and email them to coworkers (for this I also required a scan to pdf option).

Print quality - again, not necessarily for printing pictures I'd want to frame (I have an R300 that does a decent job of that) but good enough for documents, including some with pictures, clear text, and true colors. I also want to be able to print decent greeting cards. I have a subscription with AG and print most of my cards.

Fax - fax memory, ability to fax from the AIO or from the computer, and again easy enough for hubby to use. He was never able to figure the fax software on the computer.

Copy - easy to use, quality should be the same as if I scan it, and reprint from the computer

I can probably get a better quality printing from something like the Artisan 800 or even the Workforce 600. The incident rate of issues, errors, jams, with the 800 though was too high, no fax memory, and it's expensive to take that chance. The 600 was also missing features I wanted.

What I found:
Installation - I had no problems installing the Epson software on any of my machines, and even installed some of the bundled software that I wouldn't normally. Installation on the very first one took longer than the others, I assume due to initializing all the settings, but it was first installed on my slowest machine too - my 4 yr old HP, then my Asus Eee 1000, then my work laptop, a brand new Dell.

Fax - I have set the fax up but have not used it yet - it was simple, can set the headers up either through the printer screen or on any of the connected pc's. Faxing can be done from the AIO itself or you can fax from a computer - this was a key reason I purchased this over other AIO's. I have a phone line running to the fax, then a line from that to my main phone (4 handset cordless). I set it up to answer automatically on the 5th ring, as my answering system is set to answer on the 4th (this was recommended). Setting it up for automatic allows it to receive the fax even if a handset is picked up and hung up.

Printing - Noisy. When it first pulls the paper in it sounds "grindy". It startled me the first time I printed. There is a quiet mode, and it is definitely quieter (more normal) but also slower. The noise level is not enough for me to send it back and I'm used to it now, but could be a deal breaker for some. The quality - while I saw initial reviews on other websites by editors that the print quality was not as good as the 600, and said "buy the 600 instead", it's fine for me and I don't think the text quality is any worse than my R300. I would not buy this to print professional looking high quality brochures, for that type of work I'd buy something geared more to photo printing anyway. Speed overall is slower than my Epson R300 but acceptable.

Copy - I printed an article that had a picture of Lou Holtz on it. The quality was good, including the picture, on plain paper. I then put it in the ADF, and hit copy, hit "Color" and the copy was almost as good as what I printed. The only noticeable difference was it cut the header/footer off a tad on the copy (not the print output) but I have my margins on print output set pretty small (< .25"). So, I don't believe you'll get borderless out of copies. Notice I said I hit the "Color" button - to make a copy, once you hit the Copy button, you hit either the "B&W" or "Color" button. These are "Start" buttons that tell it to copy in either black & white or color. There are also options to reduce/enlarge.

Scan - Here's what I love that even my husband can handle. He's never attempted to use a scanner. I can put the item to scan either on the glass or in the ADF. I hit scan, and I have the option of scanning directly to a computer on the network (that has Epson drivers installed). The pc names that are on show up on the AIO, you choose the one to scan to, and it saves the scanned image automatically to that pc. I did notice that this requires a reboot of the pc for it to show up, after first installing the Epson drivers. You can change from that pc, the destination folder, and whether you want it to also automatically open a particular software (if you do, the default is Presto PageManager, one of the bundled software titles). I do have that setup on one laptop. Because we're always collecting recipes and I like keeping them on the computer, I especially like this so that when my husband sees one he likes, he doesn't stick it in a drawer where it's forgotten - he can go over to the AIO, scan it in and trash the paper one. It's also easy to scan using other software. Ex - I have MS Digital Image Suite on one of mine, and like I always did with the regular scanner, I choose the option to use my scanner software instead of the automatic scan. This allows me to tweak settings like resolution and not scan the entire screen. Scan quality is better than my old Epson scanner (it was a good one in its time but is worn out) but not as good as my new Epson V500 and I didn't expect it to be, otherwise I wouldn't have bought the V500. The V500 is what I'm using to archive old photos, some 100 yrs old. I personally wouldn't do that with the scanner on the AIO but the quality is still surprisingly good and I have scanned a couple of photos to quickly post on fb. Oh yeh, and the scan speed - also much faster than the older Epson, again surprised at how fast!

Ink - Whenever researching printers, always research the ink too, and its cost. People always seem surprised at how much ink costs the first time they have to replace cartridges. Yes, you can pay more for ink than the printer! The ink, because of the 2 black tanks, will wind up being a little cheaper in the long run than my other printer (6 color including black, cheapest was ~ 60). I print black-only when I can. I was a little surprised though that the 3 colors, plus the 2 high cap blacks, will run about the same as my 6 color printer. I don't know yet how long that ink will last me. I don't buy those refillable cartridges, or the substitutes from other companies - quality is never as good and you can ruin a printer that way so this is based only on Epson inks.

Overall - Good value for the money especially at less than 100. When I bought, amazon still had it higher but an office supply store had it for 90 and I got it there. I couldn't wait for it to go to 80 like it is at the time I'm writing this review! It is definitely worth 80 or 90, but depending on your feature requirements, any higher than that and you may want to look at the 600 instead. I am very pleased with this AIO and happy with it. I couldn't really give it 5 stars though I think the value factor is a 5.

Pros:

Fast, inexpensive, individual inks, networked, quality feel, good print quality.

New genuine Epson ink is relatively cheap (best value is 68 high capacity two-pack).

Cons:

Not an ink miser, but you can print draft/economy. Average ink usage.

Loud startup/paper feed, but it has a "quiet" mode setting that helps some.


Had it about a month now, no issues.

Be sure to not overfill paper input tray. Too much paper = paperjam

This Epson's not what I thought it would be after all. Whenever only "one" ink cartridge runs out, it stops printing all together, which is stupid. At least it could give me the option of printing in plain b&w, but it doesn't. It just shuts down ALL printing functions from ONE cartridge.

So for instance, right now the Magenta cartridge is empty. Well, ya don't need Magenta to print in black only, right? So what's the deal? Nope, can't default it over to just black. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

The features of this product make it enticing until you find out after owning it that it seems to "inhale" ink! After using approximately 4 reams of paper, not printing ANY pictures (printer is used for office/basic data use) I have gone through over 30 cartridges of ink! Yes...over 30! Now, I am dealing with a new problem: the replacement cartridges that you can buy from distributors will not work because Epson has done something so that it can READ whether or not it is one of theirs or a replacement! Their cartridges are EXTREMELY expensive...and...they show "empty" when they are STILL FULL! They have been sued for this and I plan on filing a complaint with my state attorney general, also. They will not respond to this problem and instead, deceptively come up with ways to force the computer to "put up and shut-up." I would NEVER recommend ANYTHING that has the name "EPSON" attached to it! They deceptively sell their products so that the consumer is locked into continuously buying expensive ink from them...forever! I have owned several BROTHER printer and fax products and am going back to them. I only bought this because I thought the reviews looked good and that the price was really reasonable. Boy, was I hooked! Never again! This thing is great if you want to spend endlessly on printer ink! One other thing...they have an annoying pop-up that you can't get rid of from them that wants you to order ink DIRECTLY from their website! You can only get rid of it with the task manager. What an annoying, irritating, product! Deceptive business practices...that's all I can say. Thank you!

PROS
Prints at a good speed
Some options are intuitive
Quality is acceptable for low-end printing

CONS
Drinks expensive ink (expensive because even the "high capacity" cartridges are teeny-tiny)
Even with high capacity ink cartridges, if you do any printing there is a "low on ink, buy more Epson ink" popup commerical ALWAYS in your face!
Paper has to be inserted "just so" and works best if you only put in small bundles at a time
Paper jams are difficult to remove
Replacing cartridges could be made much easier
Pain-in-the-neck to turn off or to reset
Lots of other quirks that we thought would be taken care of by 1995

This printer is a basic, all-in-one printer. It can do what you need it to do, as long as you have very little to do at a time. It is a little pricy for what you get, and very expensive if you add in the cost of the cartridges. By the way, why aren't ink cartridges in 2-liter bottles and $0.70 each by now? I would not recommend it for a small office or business because it is not a serious machine.

I have had many different Epson printers, and they were pretty good, for the most part, but, with the exception of speed in low-quality print, it amazes me how both the hardware and software quality on this machine is lagging over a decade behind. Epsons used to hold up well to punishment, one used to be able to keep them printing 24/7.

Make sure to only buy "high capacity" ink cartridges. You are forced to use two black cartridges at a time, but I have found that I use them up way before any one of the color cartridges. Get used to buying in bulk, not only to save money, but to save time on constantly buying more.

First off don't fall for it when they say this, its a load of crock: "Individual ink cartridges give you control over ink usage. Replace only the cartridge you need! There are even high-capacity cartridges available. And, with dual Black cartridges, you get about two times more prints.5 So, you can print more and change cartridges less often."

Why? Well, the biggest problem with this printer is that if you run out of ink for ONE cartridge it wont let you print in say just black & white. The cartridge you will need is the one that is out of ink, otherwise you can't print anything. Crafty bastards. Especially when its [...] to replace all your ink cartridges at once.

Save you time, there are cheaper printers with cheaper ink in the long run.

Oh, and also my keypad hasn't functioned since I set it up. Is a piece of junk printer, at least the scanner is good for something though.

The only positive thing about this printer is the price. Otherwise, I am quite disappointed with it.

As I expected, this printer shipped with starter ink cartridges. Well they're not kidding about having very little ink... the starter cartridges lasted a week, at best! Then, when we tried to get replacement cartridges, we of course found that the Epson brand cartridges were very expensive. So instead, we bought generic cartridges. They did not work - the printer threw errors. Putting in the original OEM cartridges fixed the errors, but of course, they were out of ink. We tried refilling the OEM cartridges and were told this was not possible with this type of cartridge. So with no other choice, we were forced to buy the expensive Epson brand cartridges.

Network installation was frustrating as you had to have the printer connected to the network in order to install the driver on the computer. This was a hassle for us because we were trying to configure laptops off-site and then deliver them to the employees. With other network printers, you can usually give the printer a static IP manually, install the driver separately on the computer, and then just point the computer to the printer's IP. But not in this case... it wouldn't even let us install the driver if the printer wasn't present! I presume the same would be the case for a USB local installation.

The document feeder can't seem to feed pages straight.

The scanner driver often just flat out stops working and needs to be reinstalled. I kept downloading the driver from Epson as needed but it happened so often (about once a month) that I finally just saved a copy of the driver on the desktop for easy re-installation.

Beyond that, I can't comment, as I am not the end user of the printer. I am just the IT tech so I'm telling you my experience. I am not impressed. The reports I have gotten from my end users also reflect the same sentiment. My suggestion is: Look for a different printer.

After my experience with this I will never buy any Epson printer ever again. I don't care how good the future models are, I don't care if they fixed each and every defect and produce the perfect all in one, I will never buy Epson again.

First, the fax function. Every other manufacturer in the world knows that you build it so that if the fax hears a fax tone it will pick up. Epson doesn't. Either it always picks up, or it never picks up. I have to tell people to call me before they send a fax so that I can stand by the printer and be ready to receive the fax. That is the most absurd way to do faxes.

Second, the scan, which impact both the fax and the scanner. It jams far too easily. If the paper has been folded, such as a letter or a bill, then it will jam every time. You have to do flatbed scanning, which is fine if you are only doing a scan but is not feasible if you are doing a fax.

Third, the inks. This is the only think I like about it, that it has five ink cartridges. It has red, yellow, blue, and two blacks. But if any of them are empty, there goes your ability to print. "I'm sorry, I cannot print your black and white document, you are out of blue ink." Say what? Plus the inks are above average in price.

Fourth, the alignment. God help you if you need to align this printer. The test pages don't help you. Itty bitty dots that you have to use a magnifying glass to determine where are the alignment lines. The vertical can almost be aligned. If you need to align the horizontal it is easier to just pop out and reinsert the ink cartridges because they simply don't align.

This simply is one of the worst printers I ever had the misfortune to purchase, and I will never buy another Epson product again.

This was purchsed to replace my scanner and fax. It's use as color printer is secondary so I can't rate that. Scanner is awful. If any error occurs, the whole thing freezes and I cannot get the blasted thing to work again without unplugging it. Neither the "Stop/Clear Settings" nor the "On" button are effective. Hard reboot only. It can also be very tempermental going from one function to another despite the button pushed. Often, I hit "copy" and the thing wants a fax number. Same thing. "Stop/Clear Settings" not effective. It's an OK machine given the price. I like it's fairly low profile. At least I don't have some behemoth of an AIO taking up tons of space on my desk. 07/11 -- another complaint. After LIGHT use, the auto doc feed no longer works. Don't think I'll get another Epson AIO.

Good Lord, what a piece of junk this thing is. Print quality is poor. Scan function keeps producing error messages. The thing won't accept clone cartridges. All the tech support is in Manila. Previous Epson lasted 5 years with heavy service. I've only had this one for a few months and I'm ready to pitch it out the window. Constantly needs "head cleaning" and "nozzle checks" and all sorts of resets. One star is over-rating this thing. "Workforce" should become an oxymoron when applied to this printer it's more like "Brokeforce".