Update 10/14/20 - how to fix the ink pad issue: th-cam.com/video/QoicIB5pbPY/w-d-xo.html Update 09/12/2022: A lot of folks have asked what printer they should buy. In my opinion, this can go one of two ways. You should either spend very little, or a lot, depending on the outcome you desire. Printer companies will sell you their $99 printer at a loss (to them) with the idea that they will more than make up the difference by gouging you on ink. I find that these cheapo printers are no less of a printer reliability wise than mid-tier printers (like the EcoTank I just talked about). Only difference is, when it does crap out, you'll only be out $100 instead of $300 (AND you can buy off-brand ink and save a bundle that way). The opposite is the $500+ crowd. In this price range, we're talking office printers, and I do believe this is where printers really start to shine. You get very good reliability because they're designed to be SERVICABLE workhorses. The contracts printer companies make with corporations buying like thousands of these is very lucrative, therefore they don't want to shoot themselves in the foot by costing themselves said millions in contracts by making a crappy printer. Case in point -- I have a Xerox Phaser 6130 color laser printer. It is something like 14 YEARS OLD, and still works like a champ. And that's because the parts are actually replaceable without stupid DRM lockouts. If you're noticing a trend here, that's because there is -- I vastly prefer laser printers over traditional inkjet printers. A lot less to break. HP LaserJet M110we Wireless Monochrome Printer (cheap): amzn.to/3U7DG86 Xerox C310/DNI Wireless Color Laser Printer (pricy): amzn.to/3U5PWFM Disclaimer - I'm an Amazon affiliate.
Thanks for your honest review, and writing this. I'm not looking for photos, just reliable colour/b&w and it sounds like I need to accept this disposable culture. Why don't we have an ethical, easy to fix brand to choose from?! My eco-tank has lasted 18-24 MONTHs and I've never had the opportunity to even fill the damn tanks. (it's never sat for longer than a few days without being used)
Thanks for this. I was considering this model. I’m looking for a color laser jet all in one with ADF and duplex printing and scanning. Any suggestions. Cost of replacement ink is deal breaker. I’m open to a color Inkjet if it is comparable. Thanks
Refill the laser toners with toner powerder . I been refilling a Samsung scx 4600 ( a printer made by HP for Sammy) for 10 years , I bought it in 2010 and now it still works but , needs a service as I've printed well over 5,000 sheets . I now have a canon laser multifunction printer mono
So is it best to never update a brand new printer? Just got mine, and it immediately said to update the software -- so, I did. Can you be a tad elaborate on this subject and what negative effects software updating has on printers? Thanks!
@@AllyBlissJoy any printer will print anything you need printed with any settings you set. That will happen with or without updated software, meaning that printer will do whatever designed to do. If you update your printers software then you give the ability to the company
To control your printer through the update. For example a non updated printer can run with OEM ink cartridges or with aftermarket cartridges or with refillable ink cartridges but mostly after any update done the software can lock your printer if it detects any non OEM ink cartridge and then you have to switch to OEM ink cartridges and only OEM
As a long time Epson printer user, I agree with you. There is no reason why these pads can't be a user serviceable part, and there should be a reset tool available with the part. I will add, if you do just reset the warning and don't replace the pad, eventually you will get ink smearing on your prints. As to those who say just get a new printer and stop complaining... the point is that you shouldn't have to throw away (aka recycle) a $300 printer because it needs a .50 cent sponge replaced.
@@Bootstrappin I'm curious, I've got the Epson ET-7750.. another bloody expensive A3 eco tank thing.. it's great and all.. but it has a 'maintenance box' which you have to replace.. I hope (it's only about $10) that is their new sponge thing instead. :/
Haha, you are right on. Pencil neck geeks just hijacked my 2 year old eco. I won't throw it in the ocean but will beat it with my axe or blast it with the mossberg
Its good to see a young person so angry about being fucked over by the corporates, All I can tell you as an old man, the rage just grows over the years The right to repair should be enshrined in law
Printer manufacturers “deliberately shorten the life of printers and cartridges,” a French environmental and consumer protection group claims. That's against the law in France, and government prosecutors have agreed to investigate the claims. If the lawsuit against the printer company, Japan-based Epson, is proven, the firm could be found guilty of breaking a little-known French law that stipulates vendors can’t purposefully lower the lifespan of a product to ramp up replacement rates.
Had Canon and HP inkjets years ago. Paid an arm and a leg for replacement cartridges. Went over to laser printers, color and black and white. Thought Epson with their ecotank printers were the answers to high priced replacement cartridges. Sad to see neither Epson nor any other manufacturer has overcome the basic flaws of inkjet printers: parts which degrade at a faster rate than laser printers. Only advantage inkets have over lasers is their extremely high quality prints for photographic work. Lasers can never come close to inkjet quality, however. Buy inkjets for photo prints, and buy lasers for everyday printing.
That's not the only advantage. The toner cartridges now have chips on them, some of which will count pages and kill themselves once a certain page count is reached whether the toner is empty or not. You then have to replace that toner cartridge or you have a door stop, even if it's a CMY color toner that's empty and you want to print nothing but black. Tough crap for you. And there is a constant arms race to ensure that the printers will not recognize or be able to use third party toner cartridges, only OEM. Look at the toner for some of the mid-priced HP laser printers. A full set of toner is over $900 for a $400 printer.
So I guess the solution is to buy the 50$ HP mini photo printers so you get some decent quality on low cost? Although who knows how many you might end up throwing in the bin in a decade!
Exactly what I’ve done for last few decades. Samsung laser mono printers were awesome, still have one, cheap to buy and cheap toner. Then Hp bought them….oh well
The ink tank system appears to be much better than the cartridge system th-cam.com/users/postUgkxciSwynMJ7PnUvvx11rewiu-yFBkZTl53 and a lot cheaper to run. The machine was easy to set up. A small point but I thought they'd be a USB cable included to help with the set up but there was none. I've been using it now for a few weeks and it seems like a good product and superior to my previous printers which were all troublesome HP machines.
There's an in-joke expression among software developers: all email clients suck, this one sucks less. Well the EcoTank sucks less, IMO. Epson is just doing what every modern business does, it tries to rip you off. And meanwhile every savvy customer returns the compliment by ripping them off right back. It sucks, but that's the dog-eat-dog world of capitalism. I'd switch printers if the quality sucked, or if it was unreliable, or if the running costs were too high. But switching printers when the one you have is damned near perfect in every way but one, and that one flaw has a solution (legal or otherwise), is not a good reason. So basically, fuck the law. The law is made by the rich, for the rich. If I'm going to get ripped off, I'm going to rip you off right back, and fuck the law if it has a problem with that. Under the circumstances, the fact that I'd have to "illegally" obtain restricted software, to regain full utilisation of my own legally purchased property, is not something I'd lose any sleep over. If the law was actually fair, I wouldn't need to break it.
@Patrick Baptist lol. Says the guy living in the best country in the world. As someone that’s traveled and been deployed all over the world, it doesn’t get better than the U.S.
@Patrick Baptist EVERY country was taken from someone else at one point in time. Also the Native tribes ruthlessly stole from, slaughtered, raped, and enslaved other tribes for 100s of years. Stop acting like they were all sitting around the campfire in peaceful harmony. Nonsense. Also, land only belongs to you if you can defend it from someone else taking it. We are the most charitable country in terms of sheer dollars given in aid, we also provide military defense for many countries in NATO that don’t invest as much in their military. If it weren’t for the U.S. every dam country would either be speaking Russian or Chinese.’so gtfooh with your anti American BS. Russia could easily take almost every country in Western Europe and they’d have long ago done just that if it weren’t for us.
If you buy a new printer and when you install it, you might get a message saying to "Update the printer". Don't update it and use the printer for a while, and if it does what you want it to, don't update it. Don't fix it if it ain't broke.
@@ggjjabc What was happening to me a few months ago, is when I turned on my computer, Windows 11 started to download without my consent. It happened a few times, so I permanently disabled Windows 10 update to stop it from downloading. Since I disabled Windows 10 update, my computer starts faster, and works better and faster, and closes down faster.
I kindly disagree, My neighbor had one and it worked so well I bought one for myself. For a business I cannot recommend this printer highly enough. All printers tend to suck, this one sucks less. I have 3d printers which are more reliable than most inkjet printers. Even if you bought this printer new every 2-3 years it would be more affordable that standard printers for someone who prints a lot
Should be illegal to build such obsolescence in the firmware. If it mechanically fails, that’s different. It’s companies like this and Hp that should be fined for not being eco friendly
You’re not wrong in what you say, the problem is that this kind of thing is not exclusive to Ecotank printers or even to Epson. HP and Canon do it as well.
Mmm, good question. This is the first printer where a can’t reset an error message after repairing. Normally a printer reboots an resets it selfs. This one just stucks in the message. For all the other problem you are right..
HP makes a 8020 series printer that uses hp910 cartridges that has chips that count pages. Even after refilling them they are rendered useless because of the stored page count of each cartridge. There's not even an aftermarket cartridge available. I've looked. I've even reset the printer to factory default and page counts are still there.
My epson eco tank 4760 printer may have cost a little more, BUT is well worth it. It has a ink-pad replacement kit, at about $35.00 dollars, easy to install. Another addition is this has faxing capabilities, you never know when you will need this or may come in handy. Great prints even from your Smartphone while you're away. Just don't listen to the first opinion, compare and check others as well. James
You made a good point about the laser printers. I have a Brother HL-2140 and it has never given me any trouble at all other than needing new toner cartridges. I had an Epson Stylus Color 200 (from the horrible days before eco tank). I never got to the point of replacing that pad yet but I was just fed up with clogged nozzles and all the other common inkjet specific problems. I threw that inkjet away despite the good print quality if and when it works properly. Here is the thing about laser printers. When I told my Uncle I got rid of the inkjet and got a laser printer he was under the impression that they were more for businesses and didn't like that it doesn't print in color (a price to pay for reliabilty). I must have had that laser printer for more than 10 years now and still not one problem. The only thing it ever did I don't like is dirty prints but that was easily solved by taking the cartridge and blowing the excess toner out (do it outside) then the prints were clean again.
@@encapsulatio This video is very helpful to others. I don't agree with you. Your statement is just plain stupid. And actually he did something about it. He repaired the printer and warned others about it. And what you did ?
I have an ET3760. I've had it for about 8 months, and just got a "maintenance box" replacement message, this box contains the "pads" in your review. This is bullshit. So, the savings I get for the eco-tank technology is offset by having to buy a new maintenance box? I only ran a few head cleanings, so I am surprised that the damn thing is near full. Epson sucks!!
@@Bootstrappin yeah its bullshit I agree I have lost count of how many printers and other tech could be fixed for a few £$£$ but the software stops you. I feel sorry for the people who bought the hp instant ink scam where you paid a monthly subscription just to be able to use your printer and if you didnt pay they would just stop your printer from working because it had to be constantly connected to the internet to work. Imagine that you have a printer that has nothing wrong you just put new ink in it yet hp won't let you use it haha. I think we all should realise now how technology companies put more time into working out ways to make you buy more stuff so reliable tech that you can fix is low on their list and when they make something reliable they put a little but of code in to you know keep you safe they dont want you get hurt after all you know just in case you change that ink pad and by mistake get your dick caught in the printer you have to be so safe these days....... ((Mind saying that trying to take the piss we all know somewhere in Florida a man has already done that and that's why they have that code hahaha))
@@jimcarlile7238 Effectively then the lifespan for these printers is 2 years, right?. So one just has to balance the costs of purchasing extra HP cartridges for a certain length of time, say anything 2 years or more, against the cost of a new Epson Printer every couple of years (also bearing in mind you are not going to get anywhere near the advertised 14000 sides Epson claims).
@@PsyMongSki you can cancel the HP Instant Ink membership and purchase regular HP ink cartridges and it works like it should….it still functions 😂 albeit the cartridges have a lot less ink and cost a lot of $$ as most ink cartridges do. But yeah it does still work, no membership “required.” It’s optional.
I bought a Epson ET-2650 Ecotank. It's 3 years old now and is definitely the best printer I ever owned. Still going strong after 3 years with no complaints. I use the printer almost every day printing black and white documents and some colored documents and photos. Had to clean the head twice in 3 years and replace the black ink once at a cost of $30. I'll never go back to buying a cartridge printer.
"Going green." LOL. "Going for your green...hard earned cash" is more like it by making such terrible products that do not last and keep you spending money. Thanks for this great review and saving me money. I almost bought one. Subscribed. I love an honest non-sponsored & nothing to lose review. So refreshing. Thinking about buying the HP Envy 5010 All-In-One Printer for my niece who is heading to college. I know some people do not recommend a printer for college students, but with the current situation going on I want her to have her own personal printer especially for those late night, early morning and last minute print jobs. Has anyone here ever used the HP Envy 5010. I need a great printer with BlueTooth and/or Wireless Direct printing.
Well, your review of he Epson completes the loop of printer manufacturers that create an environment of not being able to wear out a printer because when they decide it's time for a new one, they put you in the box of "no viable choices". I quit HP because their software for print quality quit working when the technique came out of refilling their cartridges, made their printing impossible to manage. I switched to Canon because they sold an inexpensive high volume printer/scanner and their cartridges could be bought cheaply at places like Costco. But soon they raised the price of a full set of cartridges from about $50 to $80. Whoa, back to refilling cartridges at a cheap price but software for print cartridge status went away, but no big deal. Well I had my first paper jam on my Canon MX922 and I damn near took the machine down to the nuts and bolts and could not find the source of the jam. All he tools on the internet could not help me clear the jam message. So I am to the point of buying a laser printer, only doing black and white in my home office and paying three times as much for a print than an inkjet. I need that beer that you keep handy, enjoyed your review, but which printer should I buy?
A lot of problems with printers is, if it is a top load printer, is leaving the printer without removing the paper. The paper could get covered with dust & lint. You print a page and the dust & lint is dragged into the printer and could cause a problem.
I was looking for this exact comment. I really wanted the top loader Epson, specifically the model 2850 but was curious about dust getting into the machine. I had an HP w/ a top loader and found that I would have issues if I didn't use my printer for about a week or two.
@@riceg0bblr The printer I am using is an Epson Ecotank ET 2650 DNX Top loader, about 3 years old, and is giving very good service. An Ecotank printer is more expensive than a cartridge printer but there is a great saving on replacement ink. I do use the printer at least three or more times a week printing dance scripts and color photos for line dance groups. In the three years I have printed thousands of line dance scripts, mostly full page, and hundreds of color photos and I have only had to replace the black ink once at a cost of $30. It’s a good idea to use the printer at least once or twice a week, even if you only print a couple of lines in black and color to stop the printer from cleaning itself every time you turn it on.
I gave up om Epson printers a decade ago due to their lack of ethics in ripping off consumers with ink cartridges. I thought this new printer may be they had a change of heart and cared just a bit more for the environment - just a naïve idea I know. Thanks for setting me straight.
I have used my Epson XP422 for over 6 years with CIS and then compatible ink cartridges. Never had a problem and the quality is great, unlike HP or Canon printers i've had in the past. I will only ever buy Epson printers.
and how do you handle the ink waste problem? what do you do once the printer says it reached the limit? I want to try these printers but seeing everyone talking about this problem troubles me.
@@acrack_ontitan waste? Limit? I’ve had neither of those things I bought a quart of each color on EBay and still have nearly all of the colors and a smaller amount of black
Also try and print a few pages every other day. This keeps the ink flowing and prevents it from drying out. Printing a few pages every other day uses less ink than the cleaning cycle.
Do not buy EPSON Ecotank 2720 printer! It will not print and the paper get jammed. It did not pass the print test when I first purchase it on May 2020. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY! 🚮🗑
Its honest, but out of date. The current generation of Ecotank printers have user replaceable pads (maintenance tanks). This is a feature you'll only find on the top end of the Cartridge fed printers. If you do a lot of printing the cost savings really mount up.
I work on printers for a living, all ink jets have the waste ink pad issue! Epson Eco Tank printers come with at least 5,000 pages worth of ink included, this will save you at least $200 to $300 plus in inks compared to other brands to take them up to 5,000 prints, other brands give you token small inks included. Epson replacement inks are only $17Aus each and can last up to 5,000 prints, none of the other brands come even close! Seriously check other brands included ink and replacement ink cost and I promise you, you will run to Epson!
Our Government recently passed a "Right to Repair" law, it was intended to combat the BS farmers were facing with John Dere products, but it has applications here. Sadly phones were exempt from the law (Apple likely greased some palms to get that clause added)
I have 3 eco smart Printers at home ( ET2800,ET 2720, ET2750 ), they are used for our home business & personal never had any issues. We print tons of labels for our products and one printer was converted to Dye Sub (ET 2720) ...after 3+ years never had any major issues and they are still running. I guess everyone has different experiences. All I know it save us tons of money from constantly buying those expensive tiny ink carts that don't last long.
My Epson XP-8300 just shut down with the same warning. Epson qualified repair center wants $90 to replace pads and upgrade software. New printer similar is about $200 XP-7100. Planned obsolescence is obvious. The Epson representative stated that I have had the printer for a long time and should go ahead a nd purchase a new one. Must be in their customer service script. No more Epson products going forward. Thanks for the support!
I feel for you, it's incredibly stupid that this is how they seem to run their business - the suggestion to buy a new printer is insulting. For what it's worth, I have an ink pad reset procedure I made for the EcoTank - it might be very similar for what you need. th-cam.com/video/QoicIB5pbPY/w-d-xo.html
Here is a note I sent to EPSON and no reply as of yet....I got the new Epson ET-2720 model last month thinking that the ecotank was a great idea after having many years with your traditional cartridge model. I do not think you have perfected this new technology because there is no reason that I have to do a full clean cycle every time I want to print something! Very annoying. Plus waste paper doing the print out tests. I use my printer every couple of days, not months in between use. I have a current receipt and if you have an alternate that would be better I would like to know. I always liked Epson in past at home and work (I'm a designer) so this new issue is a black eye on your products. I would welcome a reply. Thank you. Fair warning...DO NOT BUY the Ecotank!
HP over engineered the 1012 and they last forever, so hp has tried very hard to find drivers for modern operating systems. We keep ours going using a $5 raspberry pi with Linux to print serve them as modern air printers via CUPS. to window and macs.
The same thing happened with our HP Officejet Pro. Three years of use, sudden "printhead missing or damaged" error. Printhead is actually perfectly fine, tried with a different one from a working printer, same error. Ask support team: "Repairing that would cost you more than a printer so buy a new one". Yeah, I will, but not from you.
What is particularly galling is that this kind of commercial practice is common, not only among printer manufacturers but across the board in all electronics! Gone are the day when virtually anything is repaired. The problem here is that we are absolutely bombarded by government and climate activists that we should be recycling everything down to our underwear, walking or riding a bike rather than driving a car, vacationing in our garden rather than somewhere exotic, etc. whilst non of those organisations are saying anything about us throwing away perfectly good products because the manufacturers don't make spare parts available. It's like they don't really care about the environment at all! Imagine if car manufacturers went down this road! New car sales would grow as we'd all be forced to buy new cars more often, but the waste would be enormous! Who really cares? Certainly not Epson, HP, Canon, Brother, etc.
Yes exactly. As these companies increase their consumer blaming efforts, so too it becomes obvious that it's just the pot calling the kettle black. They're trying to gaslight us into believing that our own personal footprints are to blame for virtually any global calamity of the day, when in reality they can't cure themselves of their addiction to the infinite growth model, which inevitably leads to ever more insidious planned obsolescence tactics; and as there are more of these ridiculously flawed products, the more of an environmental harm there is. Which they obfuscate with all their "green initiatives" or "carbon neutral strategies". All of those are a red herring to put themselves in a position of moral superiority, while simultaneously getting to put forth environmentally harmful practices in the name of profitability. If they were guilt free, they wouldn't keep beating everyone with the "green stick".
Why can't they just make the printers durable with a 5 year lifespan and just rely on ink sales. But then again they know people will just buy refill inks from china.
So TRUE... I have an Epson as well.. wf-3640...The printer looks great! I can still scan, wifi still works, still let's me know when the ink need to be changed, and it still looks new....but there's this error message that says otherwise. When I called the company, Epson worker already began directing me to buy a new printer. She first ask for the serial number to check my warranty. Then she told me I can get a discount on a certain circle of new printer by using the discount code she'll send me via email. She ask me "why fix when I can just buy a new one?" She ensure me that it's still my choice.. I had my epson printer about 4 years..and it still responds, scans, and does everything else great.. pretty disappointing that I need to buy a new one.
Just had one give me a strange error code they tried to have me buy a new one. Found out that all I needed to do was to check that the cartridges were secure and voila a working printer. Shame that the WiFi constantly crashed on it.
I have a canon MX925. I bought it because it had it all! Print duplex, scan, fax, CD/DVD print. I have always used genuine inks and printed at least once a week. The product last a little more than 2 years. Then I got a B200 message. Called Canon service and I was told that it is a printhead problem. I ordered a new printhead because I like the print quality and had already bought brand new inks. I paid 92 euros, installed it to my printer and after 2 successful prints it completely died and won't turn on at all. I want to smash the damn thing with a hammer. I have paid so much for this! I don't care if they want to make profit, they already make too much from the ink they sell. They should be sued and pay for the garbage they sell. The built to fail feature they implement in these devices should be investigated and if its real they should bring all these assholes to justice and make them pay for damages to their customers and the environment. Enough is enough!!!
At this point, I'm trying to find the best printer company that scams you the least. This makes me not want to go with Epson. Everyone seems to recommend Brother printers, but the "Low Toner" error that won't let you print makes me really not want to go with them. Is there any affordable printer that isn't a complete scam and will just do what it is supposed to do?
This is pasted from my pinned comment, I get this question a lot: A lot of folks have asked what printer they should buy. In my opinion, this can go one of two ways. You should either spend very little, or a lot, depending on the outcome you desire. Printer companies will sell you their $99 printer at a loss (to them) with the idea that they will more than make up the difference by gouging you on ink. I find that these cheapo printers are no less of a printer reliability wise than mid-tier printers (like the EcoTank I just talked about). Only difference is, when it does crap out, you'll only be out $100 instead of $300 (AND you can buy off-brand ink and save a bundle that way). The opposite is the $500+ crowd. In this price range, we're talking office printers, and I do believe this is where printers really start to shine. You get very good reliability because they're designed to be SERVICABLE workhorses. The contracts printer companies make with corporations buying like thousands of these is very lucrative, therefore they don't want to shoot themselves in the foot by costing themselves said millions in contracts by making a crappy printer. Case in point -- I have a Xerox Phaser 6130 color laser printer. It is something like 14 YEARS OLD, and still works like a champ. And that's because the parts are actually replaceable without stupid DRM lockouts. If you're noticing a trend here, that's because there is -- I vastly prefer laser printers over traditional inkjet printers. A lot less to break. HP LaserJet M110we Wireless Monochrome Printer (cheap): amzn.to/3U7DG86 Xerox C310/DNI Wireless Color Laser Printer (pricy): amzn.to/3U5PWFM Disclaimer - I'm an Amazon affiliate.
I had an Epson XP 310 paid $59 around 6 years ago and it finally died. Don’t use Non Epson 3rd party cartridges, they worked okay for a while for the first year and then stop working, then I switched to the genuine ink and it worked and print again very well. Now it is dead, I gotta lot of life out of a cheap printer with expensive ink. What we need is an open source printer.
Hahaha. Great video. I found your site while looking for a new printer. I was looking into Epson because my Canon just hit its ink pad full error. LOL I removed and cleaned the original pad. It took about 20-30 min. Very easy to do. Then tried to find a reset procedure, none of the 4 or 5 I found worked. So it's ocean bound. These companies are too much. They sell a $75 printer for $300 (your just paying for ink up front) claiming 7-10k prints for advertising. Knowing damn well it'll error code out well before the ink is used up. What a scam.
I hope Epson reached out to you! Thanks for posting this video. Would be nice if there was a buyer beware video like this for every model of printer out there and the issues people have with them. Thank you!
Honestly I liked that he did that. I actually imagined it as a mouth and it was talking back. I really wanted to see him move the lid to mimic some of his talking points. :D
Are the counters based on number of page prints? or is it how many times you ran the cleaner option? I heard it was the latter, which is fine if you do regular printing. But if its the former than that would be terrible for me who runs loads of tiny test prints on the same page to get a design right 😢
You know, that's a great question. It has always been my assumption it does so based on the number of pages printed, but it being based on cleanings is just as valid an assumption. I don't really know, but I do have a video on how to reset the counter if you ever need it: th-cam.com/video/QoicIB5pbPY/w-d-xo.html
Brilliant! I absolutely endorse everything you have said. I am facing the same problem with my Epson stylus photo 1500W, its infuriating and from your video it seems I will encounter the same issues if I purchase their recommended Eco Tank printer!
I came to see a review. Planning on buying a Epson EcoTank Printer... 10 seconds in the video...I find myself smiling. Why am I crushing on this man?!. Thanks for the help 👍😅
@@vanessavasquez127 sorry, didn't see these. I wound up typing something up for everyone looking for a new printer -- see below: A lot of folks have asked what printer they should buy; short answer is you're not going to find a perfect printer. Every single one out there is either going to be unreliable, have Wi-Fi issues, expensive ink, or a 'toss me in the ocean' feature. For photos, just go to a print shop/CVS - no hassle! That said, if all you need is black and white, here's a decent cheap laser printer: Brother HL-L2340DW Monochrome: amzn.to/2VXDU5B Brother HLL2395DL Monochrome w/ Scanner: amzn.to/3aSUhEE Emphasis on the cheap - it will probably still crap out on you, but you won't be as sad because you only spent $120 instead of $300. An important note for these: they have some dumb feature called "deep sleep" that you should turn off. I found this procedure on Amazon: "How to turn off deep sleep (I didnt write this but copy it here in case you don't wanna go look for it): Use arrow buttons to scroll through menu choices... Go to General Setup then OK Ecology then OK SLEEP TIME then OK While sleep time is display push Down Arrow and BACK at the same time! Then press OK. DEEP SLEEP on/off toggle by Arrow keys OK to SAVE Deep Sleep off."
@@Bootstrappin THANK YOU so much for getting back to me on this. I haven't bought the printer yet, but after reading your response I'm ready to buy one. You're right, no such thing as a perfect printer and I just need something that does the job. Take care 😊
This kind of behaviour is infuriating! Thank you for making the video, I am staying the hell away from Epson. It would have been very useful if you know of a manufacturer who doesn't engage in this kind of practices. I really believe there is a fast-growing niche for a brand (in the old sense) that meant quality and integrity at *reasonable* prices. When I was young a brand was supposed to stand for something. Not like today where a brand means nothing and nearly all major brands segment their offers, often employing totally different strategies and approaches in different segments in order to maximize profits in each. Of course Mercedes lost out on many sales by not having any small or affordable cars, but there was a guarantee you would get some kind of value for your money (if you valued build quality and quality materials, reliability varied among the products presumably because car engineering is hard), and of course an established brand would lose some revenue in the short to medium term if they stopped designing their products deliberately to fail after a much shorter time than they can otherwise last. But a brand that consistently stood for INTEGRITY and NEVER made you feel like you were SCAMMED ought to be extremely valuable in today's world. Thousands of different companies are caable of manufacturing almost any product to a fariy similar level of quality, but consumers constantly need to think about "in what way am I being f-ed if I buy this?" and repeatedly get disappointed, and, if they are anything like me, seriously angry (I think infuriating *is* the right word). Most competition is not about having the best product but having the most clever marketing and "smartest" business model, more and more often involving luring the customer into a trap. Anyone who behaved like this towards their friends would soon find themselves without friends, and companies that behave like this would risk the same if it was possible to find better alternatives. The only way I can see is with a brand that really means integrity, and it should be cost-effective since such a brand should not need the clever marketing and complex business models or to design and build features that need to break soon after the warranty runs out...
I've had my Epson Workforce 615 since 2010 and it works fine - even though I rarely print. I mostly use it for scanning documents. The ink gets clogged because I don't use it often, but once I clean the nozzles and do some aligning, it works really well. I plan on getting a laser or LED printer this year and maybe keep my Epson inkjet as a hobby printer.
@@Bootstrappin Yes! Search YT or Google for "LED printer" and you'll find some videos. In some videos, they even mention how LED printers aren't as well-known as laser and ink. LED and laser printers are similar but the LED printer has fewer moving parts. I think the biggest maker of LED printers is called Oki or Okidata, but other well-known companies make them too. If you decide to buy one, I'd love to see a review video.
@@vidform I had an Okidata monochrome led printer for 10 years which eventually gave up on me. I replaced it with a Brother monochrome laser printer 2170W which is still going strong going 10 years using non-oem EZink brand generic toner from Amazon. I've had my share of buying Canon and Epson printers which never ever last. Nowadays, to copy or scan, I simply take a picture with my camera, send it to my PC by email, and print using the Brother printer.
I bought the Epson WF2540 in 2013. It seemed like a good deal at first. Then I noticed the nozzles always needed to be cleaned. I wasn't getting as many copies from the cartages because I'm a light user. The printer was like $89.00 and I paid almost $60 for a new set of XL200 cartages. Right before tax season 2020 I wanted to get my printer ready. I was able to print out my taxes with the old cartages. Then it was low enough not to let me use it anymore. I loaded the machine with a new red and blue cartage. I was doing a cleaning cycle trying to get the blue and black to print correctly. Well it died. After 7 years and at least six sets of ink cartages, I got a whopping 700 pages out of it and the last 30 or 40 pages were used trying to get it to print correctly. Epson has a program to recycle your old Epson printer but you have to print the pre-paid shipping label. I don't have a printer that works right now! Now with the COVID-19 pandemic all the printer inventories are stressed. Some printers are 20% to 50% more expensive than they were a year ago. I need a scanner/printer that can handle not being used for a while and is basically really busy around tax time.
I hear you. I've heard good things about this inexpensive black and white laserjet. Has one slightly wonky feature, but I explain how to disable below: Brother HL-L2340DW Monochrome: amzn.to/2VXDU5B Brother HLL2395DL Monochrome w/ Scanner: amzn.to/3aSUhEE Emphasis on the cheap - it will probably still crap out on you, but you won't be as sad because you only spent $120 instead of $300. An important note for these: they have some dumb feature called "deep sleep" that you should turn off. I found this procedure on Amazon: "How to turn off deep sleep (I didnt write this but copy it here in case you don't wanna go look for it): Use arrow buttons to scroll through menu choices... Go to General Setup then OK Ecology then OK SLEEP TIME then OK While sleep time is display push Down Arrow and BACK at the same time! Then press OK. DEEP SLEEP on/off toggle by Arrow keys OK to SAVE Deep Sleep off."
RE: the Xerox. I have a mono HP Laserjet 1020 that I brought in 2006 that still works as well as the day it was brought. My ecotank I brought in 2017 prints with red bands across images :< Text is fine. Images not so. Epson say that the heads need replacing. It will cost £190. The printer only cost me I think £170.
even my newer ecotank printer has problems stopped accepting photo paper 3 months after use lines over paper and a weekly cleaning session leaking drops of ink on the paper. have the ecotank-2650.
lol, a colleague at work reverse engineered his printer cartridges and is now able to refill them with ink and then reset the chip on the cartridges itself so he can keep on using it.
Two printers I can personally vow for that SUCK so much from Epson - The ET-8550 and the ET-15000. Had both for less than 2 days each. The 8550 drank SO much ink during "setup" that I actually looked underneath to see if it was jut pouring out the bottom. I bitched at Epson and threatened them with a class action lawsuit for consumer theft. I have NEVER had a problem with ANY Epson printer since the early 80s with my first - the Epson MX-80 dot-matrix printer. I ended up getting an ET-16650 and it is actually awesome.
That's fascinating actually. The printers you mentioned are NOT cheap -- $600-700, while the last one you talked about is around $1100. Just a total guess, but in the context of this video, sounds to me like the cutoff for Epson between when they lose money on a sale of a printer and try to bilk you on ink instead and unreliability, versus when it's a profitable product and so they give you an actual good product... is at $1100. It's funny how a dot-matrix printer was more reliable. I think it comes from a time before companies started offering subpar products for "budget" consumers. I wish we'd get a move on already and cut the crap -- there should be no such thing as a subpar "budget" product, and everyone should have enough money to afford the actual functional product. It's all just so damn wasteful and inefficient.
Newer printers may have a replaceable waste ink tank. For my ET-2750 it costs about $30. 2 screws and it's done. This is a serious problem, but it has been addressed, at least for some models.
That's very good to know. It does however make me feel like a guinea pig for their beta test of a product, only to get shafted while later adopters get all the benefit. :)
@@Bootstrappin I understand the frustration. For a relatively expensive product, it's unforgivable that it's made to be disposable. If you can get a copy of the program to reset the printer, you could make a bootable USB flash drive with Windows 10 (it's amazingly slow but does work), disconnect your hard drive to protect it from any malware the reset program may have, and run it from that flash drive? and then never use that flash drive again just in case (unless you need to reset the printer again)
kinda funny that planned obsolescence originally meant creating a product so much better than the original that people would naturally want to upgrade. Companies have kinda gone off the rails on that concept.
At first I thought you were just some angry dude who likes to swear, but when I understood what your complaint was, I found myself also enraged. Thank you. I was about to hit the buy button, but now, I'm staying with laser
Excellent report. Thanks... Q: How the heck do you get toner for that old Xerox? I've got a 20 year old HP laser and it still works... but, it's the toner.... the toner... Any tips? Thanks again...
Ah for that... eBay is the way to go. There are a number of Chinese toner refill kits - they provide the toner powder + reset chip, and you just refill your cartridge in a somewhat odd/messy procedure. That said, you can still get OEM Xerox stuff out there, for quite a steep price.
Such a useful review! I kinda realised when researching all the videos by EcoTank vs laser seem to be by Epson! and wonders why no consumer ever gave a review -apart from the initial buzz any consumer gets from a new product saying it's fab! I am now now not buying an ECO TANK as marketed by most retailers and large stores like Currys in U.K...I already have an OLD HP inkjet C6180Photosmart thats prohibitively expensive to repair and ink is smearing,,, so no more man ink jets for me don't know what it is in west its alll about not repairing anything economically and they talk about saving the environment ,lol...Thanks!! I will go search for a Laser and find where i can keep the 30Kg beast!
Bootstrappin' an old grandmother here, need to replace my Canon Pixma dead as door nail printer. Was going to buy this Epson; after watching your video--NOT. is there any color printer for light home use you suggest? should I just get a laser as my son suggests? I don't print color very much. Thank you for your help. If you are lacking a grandmother, let me know.
You can never have enough grandmothers! Well here's the issue. I don't think there's such a thing as a good printer, they are all going to suck in each of their own ways - whether it's trouble with Wi-Fi, drivers, toners, repairs, or whatever. That being said, a cheap black and white printer might be a good choice for you - should last long enough, and you probably won't care that much if it craps out on you in 2-3 years since you didn't pay that much for it to begin with. For color printing, going to CVS is the best bet -- no hassle! Here's a decent black and white laser printer I found: amzn.to/2VXDU5B
Bootstrappin' thank you so much for your help. I was doing my own research and wound up ordering the same laser printer you suggested! Same model. My son suggested the next one up but didn’t need the extra stuff. Stay well!
Warning: Never buy a printer on the Internet. Buy from a reputable company such as a well known electronic store. Companys like Canon & Epson make millions of printers and they get rejects by the thousands. Internet companies buy the rejects at a greatly reduced price and sell them to the customer at the normal price. They work but have a small defect. A small defect can lead to a major defect.
Everyone knows that inkjet printers have been sold at a shockingly low price point since their inception (as opposed to that laserjet in the background that probably cost more than $1000 10 years ago). Why? Because the manufacturers figured out early on that it would be better to basically give the printer away at cost and instead make money on the consumable, that is of course brand specific, which is the ink. So it is not a surprise that when a printer fails in a certain way, you should just toss it and buy another. That is why you only paid $250 for a printer that otherwise would have cost you $750. And if you don't think that is true then you are in denial. Look at any other branded electronic device of a similar complexity and function and tell me it shouldn't cost more than the insanely low prices they sell these printers for. Hell, they even give some printers away for FREE (you can buy brand new inkjets all day long on ebay for $25). So, maybe realize what is going on here so that you don't get so upset about it. You got an incredible deal on the printer, toss it and go buy another one.
Thanks for this video-I almost made the mistake of buying another Epson. I hope one day the freaking company goes bankrupt, they deserve it. I used to buy them used for cheap then put in continuous ink systems in them...Apparently I'm not the only one and they must have all had an auto update because my CIS will not work with the last two Epson printers I have bought. So, NEVER BUYING AN EPSON AGAIN!
So a few things about that - new ecotank apparently you can just replace the part - no more screwing around with the firmware. For that reason, it's not a bad printer. There's a few cheapo laser printers I recommend in the pinned comment if you're interested in those. They're cheap enough that you won't be mad if they eventually break.
Epson Printers are a SCAM. Avoid at all cost . I am sitting with 2 epson ink tank printers that are unusable . Basically Epson installed a piece of software inside the printer that forces consumers to pay Epson more money to reset/change Ink pads(which work perfectly). There are no sensors that actually do any checking on ink in ink pads. So, once you hit their preset number of prints, the WHOLE multifunction printer shuts off and you can't use it unless you bring it for servicing. And you can't do it yourself and just change ink pads. You have to pay Epson or its dealer for the reset. Isn't that extortion? Pay us money and let us reset your printer or you will not be able to print,scan,etc??
That's exactly right, and that's my whole complaint with this printer. Since making that video, I did come across a way to reset the printer -- hope this can help you: th-cam.com/video/QoicIB5pbPY/w-d-xo.html
It seems like some newer Epson “original” & EcoTank printers have user-replaceable ink maintenance box. Ink is sometimes purged into the box during cleaning and to help prevent clogging. Epson’s non EcoTank printer has this box as well, it’s nothing new. From the manual, it seems that the user-replaceable maintenance box is chipped like traditional ink cartridges. They are pretty cheap under $20 USD on Epson site, so it seems like Epson is finally stepping in the right direction regarding the maintenance box. I feel like they may or have made the box smaller so we will be replacing this box instead of ink cartridges. Probably not too bad though, we’re using better quality/consistent ink and may see 3rd party “sponge”/chips.
@@RenaissanceEarCandy I purchased an ET-4760 3 months ago, the maintenance box is definitely replaceable and is chipped. When you check "ink levels" option on this machine, it also shows the remaining life of the box. I purchased a replacement box from Epson for $10. I'm about finished on the 3rd set of color ink, but don't think I have to replace it anytime soon. If you don't use your printer often, don't buy inkjet printers, you'll end up with a clogged integrated nozzle = dead printer or clogged printer cartridge nozzle = useless/wasted ink cartridge.
A lot of folks have asked what printer they should buy; short answer is you're not going to find a perfect printer. Every single one out there is either going to be unreliable, have Wi-Fi issues, expensive ink, or a 'toss me in the ocean' feature. For photos, just go to a print shop/CVS - no hassle! That said, if all you need is black and white, here's a decent cheap laser printer: Brother HL-L2340DW: amzn.to/2VXDU5B Emphasis on the cheap - it will probably still crap out on you, but you won't be as sad because you only spent $120 instead of $300. An important note for this one: it has some dumb feature called "deep sleep" that you should turn off. I found this procedure on Amazon: "How to turn off deep sleep (I didnt write this but copy it here in case you don't wanna go look for it): Use arrow buttons to scroll through menu choices... Go to General Setup then OK Ecology then OK SLEEP TIME then OK While sleep time is display push Down Arrow and BACK at the same time! Then press OK. DEEP SLEEP on/off toggle by Arrow keys OK to SAVE Deep Sleep off."
All good points. Completely agree. I recycle as much as I can. BTW, chatting up one of the employees at my local refuse transfer station he tells me while we can still drop off computer junk, (like printers), they just toss them into the general waste stream as the sub-contractor who used to pick them up no longer comes around. Isn't that special?
That's really unfortunate. I do think a lot of companies, and maybe Epson included, generally have a recycling program for their own stuff. I know Xerox does, you just have to request it and they'll mail you a free shipping label.
You are right. I had a HP cartridge printer, the ink was more expensive then buy another printer. Disposable it! bought a Canon the same problem. Now I was thinking to buy an Epson ink tank, but, after I watch your video I don't know what to do anymore. Another thing is I am thinking to go "off grid living " where maybe will not have internet but, the printers today don't come with a usb cable, only wifi. I need a printer for sublimation too apart for the other jobs. Do you have any suggestion? Thankyou. Maria
After replacing the ink pad the next day the printer wouldn't even power on, called em and they basically said fuck you, take it somewhere and have it fixed. I'm out to purchase a new printer today, deffinetly not an epson brand, and never again. Thanks epson
You are the man. I was just about to buy this epson ecotank at Cotsco, the new model 2760. I just read on Epson website the software message you had mentioned. THIS IS BIG TIME BS. Why can't I purchase a printer and be done with its manufacturer?!
I believe that cheaper printers are being sold at a loss by companies - and they intend on making up for that with ink, parts, and making it unservicable. In my opinion, you can either buy cheaper printers and learn how to maintain them with reset utilities (link below, I discuss how to reset the ink counter on the Ecotank), or go with a more expensive laser printer that won't brick itself and has parts availability (like Xerox). th-cam.com/video/QoicIB5pbPY/w-d-xo.html
Very nice and honest analysis. May I know after printing how many pages approximately you faced this issue ? Actually I just bought an ecotank printer and I am just wondering if I should cancel that. Would you recommend any other company or printer ?
I spent $199.99 on the Epson 2720. 4 years later after 7000 copies and prints with one set of bottles I decided to replace it with the newer model. I got my use out of it. How many cartridges would a person have to buy to get 7000 copies from an HP or Canon product.
You will find that most printers have this unless you want to spend big money on a fully professional office printer so a few k...its bullshit but it's been a common practice in printers and lots of other technology for years and years.
Interesting question. We didn't print that often, so I suspect the counter does a "whichever comes first" function, so in my case, time - rather than pages. It took about 3 years for the ink pad problem to show up. My guess for pages is 500-1000.
@@Bootstrappin thanks for letting know, looking around at Hp & cannon, but of all tank printers epson still seems to be the better value, currently reconsidering getting one..however am investing minimal funds knowing that it will fail in 12 months - 3 years
Easy solution to this. The Ecotank warranty is two years or 50,000 copies, whatever comes first. One year if you don't register. That's in the fineprint. So, if any of these restrictive cycles shut down your printer, and you haven't exceeded 50,000 copies, Epson will repair/rebuild/reset the machine and send it back. Just save your box and receipt/registration.
You need to buy a cleaning kit for all ink jet printers. They all do that. Whatever prices you pay for your printer 60$ or 800$ you will need cleaning kit
I purchased Epson L6170 for personal use and lasted 2 years. I purchased Epson L1455 for personal use and lasted 2 years. What the hell have I got in return after spending original ink and maintenance box? Sorry, Epson, I don't care about warranty. I will use standard generic ink, resetter and maintenance box chip only (instead of box)
I have had this printer for 3 years. I previously had my first printer when “DOS” was the thing. I have had my Ecotank for 3 years. I use my printer often. I previously owned a HP and purchased hundreds of cartridges. I threw the printer in the trash. I’m so happy with this printer, that when it stops working I’ll buy another one and recycle the old.
So what would you recommend 🤔 which printer is the best. I know laser printer is good but what about if you want to print tshirts and mugs.. laser printer don't work though with this. Inkjet and laser can be different usages
I bought a Epson 3640 and it worked ok till the damned print heads finally plugged up from not printing enough to keep the ink from drying out in the heads. It's a big job to yank the heads to really clean them properly, you can buy cleaning kits to do it but they basically sell you windex and some hoses to try and blast them clean. I did what I could and finally gave up. I used to have a HP 990 printer that yes the ink was expensive but every time you replace the cartridge it has the ink head built in. You get a brand new print head and it always printed nicely. You could even buy rebuilt carts that worked as well as the original for really cheap. If the head did clog you could clean it up with a paper towel and water or alcohol and it usually would print again till it was empty. Sometimes you could knock out the fill plugs and refill them yourself till the heads finally gave up. Unfortunately the 990 is now almost 20 years old so getting any good cartridges can be very hard to do. I decided to give HP a try again and found out the 9010 series of printers has a user removable print head for cleaning or replacement, and you can get refill ink that will work with two sets of factory cartridges. You run the first set out and put in the second set, then refill the first set and trade them out as they get empty again. I got a 9018 from Costco and it prints better in normal quality mode than my 3640 did after I custom tweaked everything to get the best prints I could. I can get original quality ink for like 52 bucks for enough to refill the normal sized carts 4 time and a set normally costs about 95 bucks, more for the XL super size ones. So far I don't print often and it hasn't dried up the heads yet in about a year and I'm about to finally order the ink refill for it as I've about burned through the original set of carts and the extras I bought. Make sure if you're a tech type that whatever printer you buy the heads are easy to remove and clean if needed and ink carts or good refill kits are available aftermarket or your going to keep paying through the nose for ink, and eventually having to toss a printer that might have been easy to fix if parts are easy and cheap to remove and clean or replace. I have used a continuous ink setup with the Epson but same problem, eventually the heads dried up from not printing often enough and now I have a bunch of ink I can't use.
Update 10/14/20 - how to fix the ink pad issue: th-cam.com/video/QoicIB5pbPY/w-d-xo.html
Update 09/12/2022:
A lot of folks have asked what printer they should buy. In my opinion, this can go one of two ways. You should either spend very little, or a lot, depending on the outcome you desire. Printer companies will sell you their $99 printer at a loss (to them) with the idea that they will more than make up the difference by gouging you on ink. I find that these cheapo printers are no less of a printer reliability wise than mid-tier printers (like the EcoTank I just talked about). Only difference is, when it does crap out, you'll only be out $100 instead of $300 (AND you can buy off-brand ink and save a bundle that way).
The opposite is the $500+ crowd. In this price range, we're talking office printers, and I do believe this is where printers really start to shine. You get very good reliability because they're designed to be SERVICABLE workhorses. The contracts printer companies make with corporations buying like thousands of these is very lucrative, therefore they don't want to shoot themselves in the foot by costing themselves said millions in contracts by making a crappy printer. Case in point -- I have a Xerox Phaser 6130 color laser printer. It is something like 14 YEARS OLD, and still works like a champ. And that's because the parts are actually replaceable without stupid DRM lockouts. If you're noticing a trend here, that's because there is -- I vastly prefer laser printers over traditional inkjet printers. A lot less to break.
HP LaserJet M110we Wireless Monochrome Printer (cheap):
amzn.to/3U7DG86
Xerox C310/DNI Wireless Color Laser Printer (pricy):
amzn.to/3U5PWFM
Disclaimer - I'm an Amazon affiliate.
Thanks for your honest review, and writing this. I'm not looking for photos, just reliable colour/b&w and it sounds like I need to accept this disposable culture. Why don't we have an ethical, easy to fix brand to choose from?! My eco-tank has lasted 18-24 MONTHs and I've never had the opportunity to even fill the damn tanks. (it's never sat for longer than a few days without being used)
Thanks for this. I was considering this model. I’m looking for a color laser jet all in one with ADF and duplex printing and scanning. Any suggestions. Cost of replacement ink is deal breaker. I’m open to a color Inkjet if it is comparable. Thanks
Refill the laser toners with toner powerder . I been refilling a Samsung scx 4600 ( a printer made by HP for Sammy) for 10 years , I bought it in 2010 and now it still works but , needs a service as I've printed well over 5,000 sheets . I now have a canon laser multifunction printer mono
I also by mistake bought a color ecotank bullshit 2750 printer off eBay , I will sell it after I used it to it's death !!!!
I finally buy a hp m254nw laser printer, hope it's good enough than 2 broken canon inkjets in my house...
Friendly advise: do never update your printers software, just deactivate auto updates and run the product for ever without any kind of updates
Never update anything
I wonder if the update can tell you if its came into contact with CV-19
So is it best to never update a brand new printer? Just got mine, and it immediately said to update the software -- so, I did. Can you be a tad elaborate on this subject and what negative effects software updating has on printers? Thanks!
@@AllyBlissJoy any printer will print anything you need printed with any settings you set. That will happen with or without updated software, meaning that printer will do whatever designed to do. If you update your printers software then you give the ability to the company
To control your printer through the update. For example a non updated printer can run with OEM ink cartridges or with aftermarket cartridges or with refillable ink cartridges but mostly after any update done the software can lock your printer if it detects any non OEM ink cartridge and then you have to switch to OEM ink cartridges and only OEM
As a long time Epson printer user, I agree with you. There is no reason why these pads can't be a user serviceable part, and there should be a reset tool available with the part. I will add, if you do just reset the warning and don't replace the pad, eventually you will get ink smearing on your prints. As to those who say just get a new printer and stop complaining... the point is that you shouldn't have to throw away (aka recycle) a $300 printer because it needs a .50 cent sponge replaced.
Whole heartedly agree. They made a bad thing (cartridges) worse. Now we buy new printers like we do cartridges :|
@@Bootstrappin I'm curious, I've got the Epson ET-7750.. another bloody expensive A3 eco tank thing.. it's great and all.. but it has a 'maintenance box' which you have to replace.. I hope (it's only about $10) that is their new sponge thing instead. :/
@@tonyrking I hope they let you replace it without paying "The Epson Don" a $200 tribute for the honor of resetting the software.
@@Bootstrappin that's what I'm hoping, it came with a spare. It's basically a box thing you replace that is full of sponge stuff.
Haha, you are right on. Pencil neck geeks just hijacked my 2 year old eco. I won't throw it in the ocean but will beat it with my axe or blast it with the mossberg
Its good to see a young person so angry about being fucked over by the corporates,
All I can tell you as an old man, the rage just grows over the years
The right to repair should be enshrined in law
Printer manufacturers “deliberately shorten the life of printers and cartridges,” a French environmental and consumer protection group claims. That's against the law in France, and government prosecutors have agreed to investigate the claims.
If the lawsuit against the printer company, Japan-based Epson, is proven, the firm could be found guilty of breaking a little-known French law that stipulates vendors can’t purposefully lower the lifespan of a product to ramp up replacement rates.
The entire planet needs that law!
if that law wasnt just to make citizens happy without actually doing anything they sholud ban most electronic products in the market
If that law was actually enforced worldwide Apple would be screwed
@@Sabundy my point is it's not even implemented in france or else every company would be banned
is this law EU wide or just a local French law?
Had Canon and HP inkjets years ago. Paid an arm and a leg for replacement cartridges. Went over to laser printers, color and black and white. Thought Epson with their ecotank printers were the answers to high priced replacement cartridges. Sad to see neither Epson nor any other manufacturer has overcome the basic flaws of inkjet printers: parts which degrade at a faster rate than laser printers. Only advantage inkets have over lasers is their extremely high quality prints for photographic work. Lasers can never come close to inkjet quality, however. Buy inkjets for photo prints, and buy lasers for everyday printing.
That's not the only advantage. The toner cartridges now have chips on them, some of which will count pages and kill themselves once a certain page count is reached whether the toner is empty or not. You then have to replace that toner cartridge or you have a door stop, even if it's a CMY color toner that's empty and you want to print nothing but black. Tough crap for you. And there is a constant arms race to ensure that the printers will not recognize or be able to use third party toner cartridges, only OEM. Look at the toner for some of the mid-priced HP laser printers. A full set of toner is over $900 for a $400 printer.
Oof. "Out of ink? Just buy a new printer!"
So I guess the solution is to buy the 50$ HP mini photo printers so you get some decent quality on low cost? Although who knows how many you might end up throwing in the bin in a decade!
Exactly what I’ve done for last few decades. Samsung laser mono printers were awesome, still have one, cheap to buy and cheap toner. Then Hp bought them….oh well
The ink tank system appears to be much better than the cartridge system th-cam.com/users/postUgkxciSwynMJ7PnUvvx11rewiu-yFBkZTl53 and a lot cheaper to run. The machine was easy to set up. A small point but I thought they'd be a USB cable included to help with the set up but there was none. I've been using it now for a few weeks and it seems like a good product and superior to my previous printers which were all troublesome HP machines.
There's an in-joke expression among software developers: all email clients suck, this one sucks less.
Well the EcoTank sucks less, IMO.
Epson is just doing what every modern business does, it tries to rip you off. And meanwhile every savvy customer returns the compliment by ripping them off right back.
It sucks, but that's the dog-eat-dog world of capitalism.
I'd switch printers if the quality sucked, or if it was unreliable, or if the running costs were too high. But switching printers when the one you have is damned near perfect in every way but one, and that one flaw has a solution (legal or otherwise), is not a good reason.
So basically, fuck the law. The law is made by the rich, for the rich. If I'm going to get ripped off, I'm going to rip you off right back, and fuck the law if it has a problem with that. Under the circumstances, the fact that I'd have to "illegally" obtain restricted software, to regain full utilisation of my own legally purchased property, is not something I'd lose any sleep over. If the law was actually fair, I wouldn't need to break it.
The best reply I've ever read
wait till you're old then tell me you'd spend time with bullshit like installing firmware.
@Patrick Baptist Wait hold up..... When did he or she ever mention the U.S.????? This shit goes both ways around not just in the U.S....
@Patrick Baptist lol. Says the guy living in the best country in the world. As someone that’s traveled and been deployed all over the world, it doesn’t get better than the U.S.
@Patrick Baptist EVERY country was taken from someone else at one point in time. Also the Native tribes ruthlessly stole from, slaughtered, raped, and enslaved other tribes for 100s of years. Stop acting like they were all sitting around the campfire in peaceful harmony. Nonsense.
Also, land only belongs to you if you can defend it from someone else taking it.
We are the most charitable country in terms of sheer dollars given in aid, we also provide military defense for many countries in NATO that don’t invest as much in their military. If it weren’t for the U.S. every dam country would either be speaking Russian or Chinese.’so gtfooh with your anti American BS.
Russia could easily take almost every country in Western Europe and they’d have long ago done just that if it weren’t for us.
If you buy a new printer and when you install it, you might get a message saying to "Update the printer". Don't update it and use the printer for a while, and if it does what you want it to, don't update it. Don't fix it if it ain't broke.
If it ain't broke....don't fix it!
@@davestanton3822 Yes, that's right. If it ain't broke....don't fix it!
I never, ever, ever update. Contrary to popular opinion, I permanently disable Windows update especially.
@@ggjjabc What was happening to me a few months ago, is when I turned on my computer, Windows 11 started to download without my consent. It happened a few times, so I permanently disabled Windows 10 update to stop it from downloading. Since I disabled Windows 10 update, my computer starts faster, and works better and faster, and closes down faster.
I kindly disagree, My neighbor had one and it worked so well I bought one for myself. For a business I cannot recommend this printer highly enough. All printers tend to suck, this one sucks less. I have 3d printers which are more reliable than most inkjet printers. Even if you bought this printer new every 2-3 years it would be more affordable that standard printers for someone who prints a lot
Looking at the et5850 for a business
There should be a class action lawsuit against these companies for unethical business model
Should be illegal to build such obsolescence in the firmware. If it mechanically fails, that’s different. It’s companies like this and Hp that should be fined for not being eco friendly
You’re not wrong in what you say, the problem is that this kind of thing is not exclusive to Ecotank printers or even to Epson. HP and Canon do it as well.
Mmm, good question. This is the first printer where a can’t reset an error message after repairing. Normally a printer reboots an resets it selfs. This one just stucks in the message. For all the other problem you are right..
HP makes a 8020 series printer that uses hp910 cartridges that has chips that count pages. Even after refilling them they are rendered useless because of the stored page count of each cartridge. There's not even an aftermarket cartridge available. I've looked. I've even reset the printer to factory default and page counts are still there.
My epson eco tank 4760 printer may have cost a little more, BUT is well worth it. It has a ink-pad replacement kit, at about $35.00 dollars, easy to install. Another addition is this has faxing capabilities, you never know when you will need this or may come in handy. Great prints even from your Smartphone while you're away. Just don't listen to the first opinion, compare and check others as well. James
All but the first generation Ecotank printers have replacement kits. You might still need the reset code, but that's about it.
You made a good point about the laser printers. I have a Brother HL-2140 and it has never given me any trouble at all other than needing new toner cartridges. I had an Epson Stylus Color 200 (from the horrible days before eco tank). I never got to the point of replacing that pad yet but I was just fed up with clogged nozzles and all the other common inkjet specific problems. I threw that inkjet away despite the good print quality if and when it works properly. Here is the thing about laser printers. When I told my Uncle I got rid of the inkjet and got a laser printer he was under the impression that they were more for businesses and didn't like that it doesn't print in color (a price to pay for reliabilty). I must have had that laser printer for more than 10 years now and still not one problem. The only thing it ever did I don't like is dirty prints but that was easily solved by taking the cartridge and blowing the excess toner out (do it outside) then the prints were clean again.
If you don’t use your inkjet printers then the nozzles will dry. Doesn’t matter which brand of them that you buy. They all do it.
@@MikeJones-bl6lu Is there anyway to fix that dry nozzle problem?
My ecotank 2550 is 6 years old. Heavily used and keeps running. Reset the ink pad 4 times lol. A resetter just cost $5 dollars in ebay.
Well what do you expect? he's too lazy to do his homework.It's easier to make a video to complain and not do anything about it.
Do you change inkpad and reset?
@@encapsulatio He covers that at 5:20.
@@encapsulatio This video is very helpful to others. I don't agree with you. Your statement is just plain stupid. And actually he did something about it. He repaired the printer and warned others about it. And what you did ?
planned obsolesence is rampant today in tech industry.. its awful considering those Epson printers are generally good hardware
tech yes, but also hardware industry. apple and all these companies sell hardware. that's whytheymake them break and are anti right to repair. trsh
I have an ET3760. I've had it for about 8 months, and just got a "maintenance box" replacement message, this box contains the "pads" in your review. This is bullshit. So, the savings I get for the eco-tank technology is offset by having to buy a new maintenance box? I only ran a few head cleanings, so I am surprised that the damn thing is near full. Epson sucks!!
At first, I had reservations about this video. After watching, thank you for reminding me how the built-in life cycle of printers is a racket.
I certainly didn't feel very eco friendly when my whole printer became useless over a 50 cent part!
@@Bootstrappin yeah its bullshit I agree I have lost count of how many printers and other tech could be fixed for a few £$£$ but the software stops you.
I feel sorry for the people who bought the hp instant ink scam where you paid a monthly subscription just to be able to use your printer and if you didnt pay they would just stop your printer from working because it had to be constantly connected to the internet to work. Imagine that you have a printer that has nothing wrong you just put new ink in it yet hp won't let you use it haha.
I think we all should realise now how technology companies put more time into working out ways to make you buy more stuff so reliable tech that you can fix is low on their list and when they make something reliable they put a little but of code in to you know keep you safe they dont want you get hurt after all you know just in case you change that ink pad and by mistake get your dick caught in the printer you have to be so safe these days.......
((Mind saying that trying to take the piss we all know somewhere in Florida a man has already done that and that's why they have that code hahaha))
These printers are warranted for 50,000 copies or two years. If it shuts down, send it back for repair.
@@jimcarlile7238 Effectively then the lifespan for these printers is 2 years, right?. So one just has to balance the costs of purchasing extra HP cartridges for a certain length of time, say anything 2 years or more, against the cost of a new Epson Printer every couple of years (also bearing in mind you are not going to get anywhere near the advertised 14000 sides Epson claims).
@@PsyMongSki you can cancel the HP Instant Ink membership and purchase regular HP ink cartridges and it works like it should….it still functions 😂 albeit the cartridges have a lot less ink and cost a lot of $$ as most ink cartridges do. But yeah it does still work, no membership “required.” It’s optional.
I'm so glad I watched this video. I've been looking at a new printer and I will NOT be buying an Epson Ecotank to throw in the ocean.
The Epson eco tank 2720 has none of these problems, the guy in the video has an older model
Same. Was looking at ecotank but not any more. That’s bullshit.
@@beachbum4fun2 you want my old hP. It’s awesome if you want pages of half inked words.
I bought a Epson ET-2650 Ecotank. It's 3 years old now and is definitely the best printer I ever owned. Still going strong after 3 years with no complaints. I use the printer almost every day printing black and white documents and some colored documents and photos. Had to clean the head twice in 3 years and replace the black ink once at a cost of $30. I'll never go back to buying a cartridge printer.
Haha your very easy to manipulate by idiot 😝
"Going green." LOL. "Going for your green...hard earned cash" is more like it by making such terrible products that do not last and keep you spending money. Thanks for this great review and saving me money. I almost bought one. Subscribed. I love an honest non-sponsored & nothing to lose review. So refreshing. Thinking about buying the HP Envy 5010 All-In-One Printer for my niece who is heading to college. I know some people do not recommend a printer for college students, but with the current situation going on I want her to have her own personal printer especially for those late night, early morning and last minute print jobs. Has anyone here ever used the HP Envy 5010. I need a great printer with BlueTooth and/or Wireless Direct printing.
Well, your review of he Epson completes the loop of printer manufacturers that create an environment of not being able to wear out a printer because when they decide it's time for a new one, they put you in the box of "no viable choices". I quit HP because their software for print quality quit working when the technique came out of refilling their cartridges, made their printing impossible to manage. I switched to Canon because they sold an inexpensive high volume printer/scanner and their cartridges could be bought cheaply at places like Costco. But soon they raised the price of a full set of cartridges from about $50 to $80. Whoa, back to refilling cartridges at a cheap price but software for print cartridge status went away, but no big deal. Well I had my first paper jam on my Canon MX922 and I damn near took the machine down to the nuts and bolts and could not find the source of the jam. All he tools on the internet could not help me clear the jam message. So I am to the point of buying a laser printer, only doing black and white in my home office and paying three times as much for a print than an inkjet. I need that beer that you keep handy, enjoyed your review, but which printer should I buy?
I hear you, we didn't pay good money to become printer technicians. I've always had good luck with Xerox laser printers.
A lot of problems with printers is, if it is a top load printer, is leaving the printer without removing the paper. The paper could get covered with dust & lint. You print a page and the dust & lint is dragged into the printer and could cause a problem.
I was looking for this exact comment. I really wanted the top loader Epson, specifically the model 2850 but was curious about dust getting into the machine. I had an HP w/ a top loader and found that I would have issues if I didn't use my printer for about a week or two.
@@riceg0bblr The printer I am using is an Epson Ecotank ET 2650 DNX Top loader, about 3 years old, and is giving very good service.
An Ecotank printer is more expensive than a cartridge printer but there is a great saving on replacement ink. I do use the printer at least three or more times a week printing dance scripts and color photos for line dance groups. In the three years I have printed thousands of line dance scripts, mostly full page, and hundreds of color photos and I have only had to replace the black ink once at a cost of $30. It’s a good idea to use the printer at least once or twice a week, even if you only print a couple of lines in black and color to stop the printer from cleaning itself every time you turn it on.
I gave up om Epson printers a decade ago due to their lack of ethics in ripping off consumers with ink cartridges. I thought this new printer may be they had a change of heart and cared just a bit more for the environment - just a naïve idea I know. Thanks for setting me straight.
I have used my Epson XP422 for over 6 years with CIS and then compatible ink cartridges. Never had a problem and the quality is great, unlike HP or Canon printers i've had in the past. I will only ever buy Epson printers.
I’ve had ET 4500 for 6+ years and have spent $50 on ink in those 6 years and printer still works fine with over 20,000 pages printed
and how do you handle the ink waste problem? what do you do once the printer says it reached the limit? I want to try these printers but seeing everyone talking about this problem troubles me.
@@acrack_ontitan waste? Limit? I’ve had neither of those things I bought a quart of each color on EBay and still have nearly all of the colors and a smaller amount of black
Also try and print a few pages every other day. This keeps the ink flowing and prevents it from drying out. Printing a few pages every other day uses less ink than the cleaning cycle.
Came here looking for a review on the ecotank system, got a rant about the way things are! Probably the most honest review out there!
I'm doubting it but ok, but now I'm convinced Epson is a basterd
Do not buy EPSON Ecotank 2720 printer! It will not print and the paper get jammed. It did not pass the print test when I first purchase it on May 2020. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY! 🚮🗑
Do not exagerate now, it May Be malfunctioning but biggest problem aside what you Just said Is and remains the count down and It makes me angry
Its honest, but out of date. The current generation of Ecotank printers have user replaceable pads (maintenance tanks).
This is a feature you'll only find on the top end of the Cartridge fed printers. If you do a lot of printing the cost savings really mount up.
I work on printers for a living, all ink jets have the waste ink pad issue! Epson Eco Tank printers come with at least 5,000 pages worth of ink included, this will save you at least $200 to $300 plus in inks compared to other brands to take them up to 5,000 prints, other brands give you token small inks included. Epson replacement inks are only $17Aus each and can last up to 5,000 prints, none of the other brands come even close! Seriously check other brands included ink and replacement ink cost and I promise you, you will run to Epson!
Our Government recently passed a "Right to Repair" law, it was intended to combat the BS farmers were facing with John Dere products, but it has applications here. Sadly phones were exempt from the law (Apple likely greased some palms to get that clause added)
I have 3 eco smart Printers at home ( ET2800,ET 2720, ET2750 ), they are used for our home business & personal never had any issues. We print tons of labels for our products and one printer was converted to Dye Sub (ET 2720) ...after 3+ years never had any major issues and they are still running. I guess everyone has different experiences. All I know it save us tons of money from constantly buying those expensive tiny ink carts that don't last long.
My Epson XP-8300 just shut down with the same warning. Epson qualified repair center wants $90 to replace pads and upgrade software. New printer similar is about $200 XP-7100. Planned obsolescence is obvious. The Epson representative stated that I have had the printer for a long time and should go ahead a nd purchase a new one. Must be in their customer service script. No more Epson products going forward. Thanks for the support!
I feel for you, it's incredibly stupid that this is how they seem to run their business - the suggestion to buy a new printer is insulting. For what it's worth, I have an ink pad reset procedure I made for the EcoTank - it might be very similar for what you need. th-cam.com/video/QoicIB5pbPY/w-d-xo.html
This is so refreshing to hear somebody intelligent and aware being pissed off! THanks you so much, I feel like this review has been so incisive.
Here is a note I sent to EPSON and no reply as of yet....I got the new Epson ET-2720 model last month thinking that the ecotank was a great idea after having many years with your traditional cartridge model. I do not think you have perfected this new technology because there is no reason that I have to do a full clean cycle every time I want to print something! Very annoying. Plus waste paper doing the print out tests. I use my printer every couple of days, not months in between use. I have a current receipt and if you have an alternate that would be better I would like to know. I always liked Epson in past at home and work (I'm a designer) so this new issue is a black eye on your products. I would welcome a reply. Thank you.
Fair warning...DO NOT BUY the Ecotank!
HP over engineered the 1012 and they last forever, so hp has tried very hard to find drivers for modern operating systems. We keep ours going using a $5 raspberry pi with Linux to print serve them as modern air printers via CUPS. to window and macs.
Haha
The same thing happened with our HP Officejet Pro. Three years of use, sudden "printhead missing or damaged" error. Printhead is actually perfectly fine, tried with a different one from a working printer, same error. Ask support team: "Repairing that would cost you more than a printer so buy a new one". Yeah, I will, but not from you.
came for the epson review, stayed for the chucking of printers into the ocean
What is particularly galling is that this kind of commercial practice is common, not only among printer manufacturers but across the board in all electronics! Gone are the day when virtually anything is repaired.
The problem here is that we are absolutely bombarded by government and climate activists that we should be recycling everything down to our underwear, walking or riding a bike rather than driving a car, vacationing in our garden rather than somewhere exotic, etc. whilst non of those organisations are saying anything about us throwing away perfectly good products because the manufacturers don't make spare parts available. It's like they don't really care about the environment at all!
Imagine if car manufacturers went down this road! New car sales would grow as we'd all be forced to buy new cars more often, but the waste would be enormous!
Who really cares? Certainly not Epson, HP, Canon, Brother, etc.
Yes exactly. As these companies increase their consumer blaming efforts, so too it becomes obvious that it's just the pot calling the kettle black. They're trying to gaslight us into believing that our own personal footprints are to blame for virtually any global calamity of the day, when in reality they can't cure themselves of their addiction to the infinite growth model, which inevitably leads to ever more insidious planned obsolescence tactics; and as there are more of these ridiculously flawed products, the more of an environmental harm there is. Which they obfuscate with all their "green initiatives" or "carbon neutral strategies". All of those are a red herring to put themselves in a position of moral superiority, while simultaneously getting to put forth environmentally harmful practices in the name of profitability. If they were guilt free, they wouldn't keep beating everyone with the "green stick".
Why can't they just make the printers durable with a 5 year lifespan and just rely on ink sales. But then again they know people will just buy refill inks from china.
That's why your printers are broken. You buy ingenuine ink from that shithole country.
@@thefourthreich2039 every single thing you own has parts made in China.
So TRUE... I have an Epson as well.. wf-3640...The printer looks great! I can still scan, wifi still works, still let's me know when the ink need to be changed, and it still looks new....but there's this error message that says otherwise. When I called the company, Epson worker already began directing me to buy a new printer. She first ask for the serial number to check my warranty. Then she told me I can get a discount on a certain circle of new printer by using the discount code she'll send me via email. She ask me "why fix when I can just buy a new one?" She ensure me that it's still my choice..
I had my epson printer about 4 years..and it still responds, scans, and does everything else great.. pretty disappointing that I need to buy a new one.
That's wild. "Hey Epson, just need a little bit of help to fix my printer" "lol just buy a new one". Great customer support...
Just had one give me a strange error code they tried to have me buy a new one. Found out that all I needed to do was to check that the cartridges were secure and voila a working printer. Shame that the WiFi constantly crashed on it.
I have a canon MX925.
I bought it because it had it all! Print duplex, scan, fax, CD/DVD print. I have always used genuine inks and printed at least once a week.
The product last a little more than 2 years. Then I got a B200 message. Called Canon service and I was told that it is a printhead problem. I ordered a new printhead because I like the print quality and had already bought brand new inks.
I paid 92 euros, installed it to my printer and after 2 successful prints it completely died and won't turn on at all. I want to smash the damn thing with a hammer. I have paid so much for this!
I don't care if they want to make profit, they already make too much from the ink they sell. They should be sued and pay for the garbage they sell.
The built to fail feature they implement in these devices should be investigated and if its real they should bring all these assholes to justice and make them pay for damages to their customers and the environment.
Enough is enough!!!
At this point, I'm trying to find the best printer company that scams you the least. This makes me not want to go with Epson. Everyone seems to recommend Brother printers, but the "Low Toner" error that won't let you print makes me really not want to go with them. Is there any affordable printer that isn't a complete scam and will just do what it is supposed to do?
This is pasted from my pinned comment, I get this question a lot:
A lot of folks have asked what printer they should buy. In my opinion, this can go one of two ways. You should either spend very little, or a lot, depending on the outcome you desire. Printer companies will sell you their $99 printer at a loss (to them) with the idea that they will more than make up the difference by gouging you on ink. I find that these cheapo printers are no less of a printer reliability wise than mid-tier printers (like the EcoTank I just talked about). Only difference is, when it does crap out, you'll only be out $100 instead of $300 (AND you can buy off-brand ink and save a bundle that way).
The opposite is the $500+ crowd. In this price range, we're talking office printers, and I do believe this is where printers really start to shine. You get very good reliability because they're designed to be SERVICABLE workhorses. The contracts printer companies make with corporations buying like thousands of these is very lucrative, therefore they don't want to shoot themselves in the foot by costing themselves said millions in contracts by making a crappy printer. Case in point -- I have a Xerox Phaser 6130 color laser printer. It is something like 14 YEARS OLD, and still works like a champ. And that's because the parts are actually replaceable without stupid DRM lockouts. If you're noticing a trend here, that's because there is -- I vastly prefer laser printers over traditional inkjet printers. A lot less to break.
HP LaserJet M110we Wireless Monochrome Printer (cheap):
amzn.to/3U7DG86
Xerox C310/DNI Wireless Color Laser Printer (pricy):
amzn.to/3U5PWFM
Disclaimer - I'm an Amazon affiliate.
"For your own safety"
What the hell is the printer gonna do gain sentience and murder my family in the middle of the night?
That's what we gotta do around here, after 50000 pages these printers learn bloodlust, so Epson is doing is a huge favor!
Since I'm stuck doing some 11x17 work, I'm getting a Brother Inkvestment thanks to this video.
I had an Epson XP 310 paid $59 around 6 years ago and it finally died. Don’t use Non Epson 3rd party cartridges, they worked okay for a while for the first year and then stop working, then I switched to the genuine ink and it worked and print again very well. Now it is dead, I gotta lot of life out of a cheap printer with expensive ink. What we need is an open source printer.
They sell the low cost printers for less then the ink cost for a reason. Actual cartridge inkjet are big scams.
Hahaha. Great video.
I found your site while looking for a new printer. I was looking into Epson because my Canon just hit its ink pad full error. LOL I removed and cleaned the original pad. It took about 20-30 min. Very easy to do. Then tried to find a reset procedure, none of the 4 or 5 I found worked. So it's ocean bound.
These companies are too much. They sell a $75 printer for $300 (your just paying for ink up front) claiming 7-10k prints for advertising. Knowing damn well it'll error code out well before the ink is used up. What a scam.
I hope Epson reached out to you! Thanks for posting this video. Would be nice if there was a buyer beware video like this for every model of printer out there and the issues people have with them. Thank you!
should concentrate on getting new customers to move over from competitors rather than pissing off their present customers
Is it absolutely necessary to raise and lower the lid after every other sentence? I hope you don’t repeat the habit when you drive your car!
That's an oddly specific criticism, but I'll take it lol
This comment is basically equivalent to that one comment on LinusTechTips shitting on Linus that he reaching his right hand on right pocket
Honestly I liked that he did that. I actually imagined it as a mouth and it was talking back. I really wanted to see him move the lid to mimic some of his talking points. :D
Are the counters based on number of page prints? or is it how many times you ran the cleaner option?
I heard it was the latter, which is fine if you do regular printing.
But if its the former than that would be terrible for me who runs loads of tiny test prints on the same page to get a design right 😢
You know, that's a great question. It has always been my assumption it does so based on the number of pages printed, but it being based on cleanings is just as valid an assumption. I don't really know, but I do have a video on how to reset the counter if you ever need it: th-cam.com/video/QoicIB5pbPY/w-d-xo.html
yes, do not buy this. I have plenty of ink and my documents print out faded as if there is no ink. So sick of this crap. Paid a lot of money for this!
Do you try to clean it under the settings menu?
Brilliant! I absolutely endorse everything you have said. I am facing the same problem with my Epson stylus photo 1500W, its infuriating and from your video it seems I will encounter the same issues if I purchase their recommended Eco Tank printer!
I came to see a review. Planning on buying a Epson EcoTank Printer... 10 seconds in the video...I find myself smiling. Why am I crushing on this man?!. Thanks for the help 👍😅
I thought men and women alike came to this channel for information, but they're actually all here because I'm too damn handsome. 🤓
@@Bootstrappin and a great personality 😌
@@Bootstrappin I'm still looking for a printer. I heard laser printers are the way to go. Any recommendations?
@@vanessavasquez127 sorry, didn't see these. I wound up typing something up for everyone looking for a new printer -- see below:
A lot of folks have asked what printer they should buy; short answer is you're not going to find a perfect printer. Every single one out there is either going to be unreliable, have Wi-Fi issues, expensive ink, or a 'toss me in the ocean' feature. For photos, just go to a print shop/CVS - no hassle! That said, if all you need is black and white, here's a decent cheap laser printer:
Brother HL-L2340DW Monochrome:
amzn.to/2VXDU5B
Brother HLL2395DL Monochrome w/ Scanner:
amzn.to/3aSUhEE
Emphasis on the cheap - it will probably still crap out on you, but you won't be as sad because you only spent $120 instead of $300. An important note for these: they have some dumb feature called "deep sleep" that you should turn off. I found this procedure on Amazon:
"How to turn off deep sleep (I didnt write this but copy it here in case you don't wanna go look for it):
Use arrow buttons to scroll through menu choices...
Go to General Setup then OK
Ecology then OK
SLEEP TIME then OK
While sleep time is display push Down Arrow and BACK at the same time! Then press OK.
DEEP SLEEP on/off toggle by Arrow keys
OK to SAVE Deep Sleep off."
@@Bootstrappin THANK YOU so much for getting back to me on this. I haven't bought the printer yet, but after reading your response I'm ready to buy one. You're right, no such thing as a perfect printer and I just need something that does the job. Take care 😊
This kind of behaviour is infuriating! Thank you for making the video, I am staying the hell away from Epson.
It would have been very useful if you know of a manufacturer who doesn't engage in this kind of practices. I really believe there is a fast-growing niche for a brand (in the old sense) that meant quality and integrity at *reasonable* prices.
When I was young a brand was supposed to stand for something. Not like today where a brand means nothing and nearly all major brands segment their offers, often employing totally different strategies and approaches in different segments in order to maximize profits in each. Of course Mercedes lost out on many sales by not having any small or affordable cars, but there was a guarantee you would get some kind of value for your money (if you valued build quality and quality materials, reliability varied among the products presumably because car engineering is hard), and of course an established brand would lose some revenue in the short to medium term if they stopped designing their products deliberately to fail after a much shorter time than they can otherwise last. But a brand that consistently stood for INTEGRITY and NEVER made you feel like you were SCAMMED ought to be extremely valuable in today's world. Thousands of different companies are caable of manufacturing almost any product to a fariy similar level of quality, but consumers constantly need to think about "in what way am I being f-ed if I buy this?" and repeatedly get disappointed, and, if they are anything like me, seriously angry (I think infuriating *is* the right word). Most competition is not about having the best product but having the most clever marketing and "smartest" business model, more and more often involving luring the customer into a trap. Anyone who behaved like this towards their friends would soon find themselves without friends, and companies that behave like this would risk the same if it was possible to find better alternatives. The only way I can see is with a brand that really means integrity, and it should be cost-effective since such a brand should not need the clever marketing and complex business models or to design and build features that need to break soon after the warranty runs out...
I've had my Epson Workforce 615 since 2010 and it works fine - even though I rarely print. I mostly use it for scanning documents. The ink gets clogged because I don't use it often, but once I clean the nozzles and do some aligning, it works really well. I plan on getting a laser or LED printer this year and maybe keep my Epson inkjet as a hobby printer.
Didn't even know LED printers existed. Sounds interesting!
@@Bootstrappin Yes! Search YT or Google for "LED printer" and you'll find some videos. In some videos, they even mention how LED printers aren't as well-known as laser and ink. LED and laser printers are similar but the LED printer has fewer moving parts. I think the biggest maker of LED printers is called Oki or Okidata, but other well-known companies make them too. If you decide to buy one, I'd love to see a review video.
@@vidform I had an Okidata monochrome led printer for 10 years which eventually gave up on me. I replaced it with a Brother monochrome laser printer 2170W which is still going strong going 10 years using non-oem EZink brand generic toner from Amazon.
I've had my share of buying Canon and Epson printers which never ever last. Nowadays, to copy or scan, I simply take a picture with my camera, send it to my PC by email, and print using the Brother printer.
I bought the Epson WF2540 in 2013. It seemed like a good deal at first. Then I noticed the nozzles always needed to be cleaned. I wasn't getting as many copies from the cartages because I'm a light user. The printer was like $89.00 and I paid almost $60 for a new set of XL200 cartages. Right before tax season 2020 I wanted to get my printer ready. I was able to print out my taxes with the old cartages. Then it was low enough not to let me use it anymore. I loaded the machine with a new red and blue cartage. I was doing a cleaning cycle trying to get the blue and black to print correctly. Well it died. After 7 years and at least six sets of ink cartages, I got a whopping 700 pages out of it and the last 30 or 40 pages were used trying to get it to print correctly. Epson has a program to recycle your old Epson printer but you have to print the pre-paid shipping label. I don't have a printer that works right now! Now with the COVID-19 pandemic all the printer inventories are stressed. Some printers are 20% to 50% more expensive than they were a year ago. I need a scanner/printer that can handle not being used for a while and is basically really busy around tax time.
I hear you. I've heard good things about this inexpensive black and white laserjet. Has one slightly wonky feature, but I explain how to disable below:
Brother HL-L2340DW Monochrome:
amzn.to/2VXDU5B
Brother HLL2395DL Monochrome w/ Scanner:
amzn.to/3aSUhEE
Emphasis on the cheap - it will probably still crap out on you, but you won't be as sad because you only spent $120 instead of $300. An important note for these: they have some dumb feature called "deep sleep" that you should turn off. I found this procedure on Amazon:
"How to turn off deep sleep (I didnt write this but copy it here in case you don't wanna go look for it):
Use arrow buttons to scroll through menu choices...
Go to General Setup then OK
Ecology then OK
SLEEP TIME then OK
While sleep time is display push Down Arrow and BACK at the same time! Then press OK.
DEEP SLEEP on/off toggle by Arrow keys
OK to SAVE Deep Sleep off."
I print out a test sheet once a week to keep the ink flow fresh. I also keep it in an room with a humidifier which keeps the ink from drying up.
RE: the Xerox. I have a mono HP Laserjet 1020 that I brought in 2006 that still works as well as the day it was brought.
My ecotank I brought in 2017 prints with red bands across images :< Text is fine. Images not so. Epson say that the heads need replacing. It will cost £190. The printer only cost me I think £170.
Hello. What do you think of the epson et-4750
It is of the epson et-2721
Is the Canon PIXMA G4511 can you give advice on which one to buy??
even my newer ecotank printer has problems stopped accepting photo paper 3 months after use
lines over paper
and a weekly cleaning session
leaking drops of ink on the paper.
have the ecotank-2650.
I'm having that problem. I was quoted nearly 200 to replace the heads in the printer.
Fuck, But whats shit to order about my sublimation business ?
lol, a colleague at work reverse engineered his printer cartridges and is now able to refill them with ink and then reset the chip on the cartridges itself so he can keep on using it.
Oh please teach us! :)
Plssss teach us
Pretty please 🥺
That's the old model newer ones have a maintenance tank, they are like 10 bucks.
Two printers I can personally vow for that SUCK so much from Epson - The ET-8550 and the ET-15000. Had both for less than 2 days each. The 8550 drank SO much ink during "setup" that I actually looked underneath to see if it was jut pouring out the bottom. I bitched at Epson and threatened them with a class action lawsuit for consumer theft. I have NEVER had a problem with ANY Epson printer since the early 80s with my first - the Epson MX-80 dot-matrix printer. I ended up getting an ET-16650 and it is actually awesome.
That's fascinating actually. The printers you mentioned are NOT cheap -- $600-700, while the last one you talked about is around $1100. Just a total guess, but in the context of this video, sounds to me like the cutoff for Epson between when they lose money on a sale of a printer and try to bilk you on ink instead and unreliability, versus when it's a profitable product and so they give you an actual good product... is at $1100. It's funny how a dot-matrix printer was more reliable. I think it comes from a time before companies started offering subpar products for "budget" consumers. I wish we'd get a move on already and cut the crap -- there should be no such thing as a subpar "budget" product, and everyone should have enough money to afford the actual functional product. It's all just so damn wasteful and inefficient.
@@Bootstrappin I agree 100%. The 16650 was on sale for $699 at a Microcenter here in NJ. After returning that other garbage, it didn't cost me much.
Newer printers may have a replaceable waste ink tank. For my ET-2750 it costs about $30. 2 screws and it's done. This is a serious problem, but it has been addressed, at least for some models.
That's very good to know. It does however make me feel like a guinea pig for their beta test of a product, only to get shafted while later adopters get all the benefit. :)
@@Bootstrappin I understand the frustration. For a relatively expensive product, it's unforgivable that it's made to be disposable. If you can get a copy of the program to reset the printer, you could make a bootable USB flash drive with Windows 10 (it's amazingly slow but does work), disconnect your hard drive to protect it from any malware the reset program may have, and run it from that flash drive? and then never use that flash drive again just in case (unless you need to reset the printer again)
@@phillipabbott3543 yeah that or a virtual box will work. Is what it is!
@@phillipabbott3543 also disconnect any network adapter. (Ik this is old but still)
kinda funny that planned obsolescence originally meant creating a product so much better than the original that people would naturally want to upgrade. Companies have kinda gone off the rails on that concept.
At first I thought you were just some angry dude who likes to swear, but when I understood what your complaint was, I found myself also enraged. Thank you. I was about to hit the buy button, but now, I'm staying with laser
Haha, that's me! But thank you. I'm not sure if they still do this with newer models but can't go wrong with lasers!
Excellent report. Thanks... Q: How the heck do you get toner for that old Xerox? I've got a 20 year old HP laser and it still works... but, it's the toner.... the toner... Any tips?
Thanks again...
Ah for that... eBay is the way to go. There are a number of Chinese toner refill kits - they provide the toner powder + reset chip, and you just refill your cartridge in a somewhat odd/messy procedure. That said, you can still get OEM Xerox stuff out there, for quite a steep price.
@@Bootstrappin Nicccccccccce...
and... Hilarious videos...!
Such a useful review! I kinda realised when researching all the videos by EcoTank vs laser seem to be by Epson! and wonders why no consumer ever gave a review -apart from the initial buzz any consumer gets from a new product saying it's fab! I am now now not buying an ECO TANK as marketed by most retailers and large stores like Currys in U.K...I already have an OLD HP inkjet C6180Photosmart thats prohibitively expensive to repair and ink is smearing,,, so no more man ink jets for me don't know what it is in west its alll about not repairing anything economically and they talk about saving the environment ,lol...Thanks!! I will go search for a Laser and find where i can keep the 30Kg beast!
Bootstrappin' an old grandmother here, need to replace my Canon Pixma dead as door nail printer. Was going to buy this Epson; after watching your video--NOT. is there any color printer for light home use you suggest? should I just get a laser as my son suggests? I don't print color very much. Thank you for your help. If you are lacking a grandmother, let me know.
You can never have enough grandmothers! Well here's the issue. I don't think there's such a thing as a good printer, they are all going to suck in each of their own ways - whether it's trouble with Wi-Fi, drivers, toners, repairs, or whatever. That being said, a cheap black and white printer might be a good choice for you - should last long enough, and you probably won't care that much if it craps out on you in 2-3 years since you didn't pay that much for it to begin with. For color printing, going to CVS is the best bet -- no hassle!
Here's a decent black and white laser printer I found:
amzn.to/2VXDU5B
Bootstrappin' thank you so much for your help. I was doing my own research and wound up ordering the same laser printer you suggested! Same model. My son suggested the next one up but didn’t need the extra stuff. Stay well!
Warning: Never buy a printer on the Internet. Buy from a reputable company such as a well known electronic store. Companys like Canon & Epson make millions of printers and they get rejects by the thousands. Internet companies buy the rejects at a greatly reduced price and sell them to the customer at the normal price. They work but have a small defect. A small defect can lead to a major defect.
Everyone knows that inkjet printers have been sold at a shockingly low price point since their inception (as opposed to that laserjet in the background that probably cost more than $1000 10 years ago). Why? Because the manufacturers figured out early on that it would be better to basically give the printer away at cost and instead make money on the consumable, that is of course brand specific, which is the ink. So it is not a surprise that when a printer fails in a certain way, you should just toss it and buy another. That is why you only paid $250 for a printer that otherwise would have cost you $750. And if you don't think that is true then you are in denial. Look at any other branded electronic device of a similar complexity and function and tell me it shouldn't cost more than the insanely low prices they sell these printers for. Hell, they even give some printers away for FREE (you can buy brand new inkjets all day long on ebay for $25). So, maybe realize what is going on here so that you don't get so upset about it. You got an incredible deal on the printer, toss it and go buy another one.
Thanks for this video-I almost made the mistake of buying another Epson.
I hope one day the freaking company goes bankrupt, they deserve it. I used to buy them used for cheap then put in continuous ink systems in them...Apparently I'm not the only one and they must have all had an auto update because my CIS will not work with the last two Epson printers I have bought. So, NEVER BUYING AN EPSON AGAIN!
I needed to see this. Are there ANY printers worth paying for to use at home?
So a few things about that - new ecotank apparently you can just replace the part - no more screwing around with the firmware. For that reason, it's not a bad printer. There's a few cheapo laser printers I recommend in the pinned comment if you're interested in those. They're cheap enough that you won't be mad if they eventually break.
@@Bootstrappin Oh, cool. Thanks. I am looking into the Epson EcoTank ET-M2170.
Epson Printers are a SCAM. Avoid at all cost .
I am sitting with 2 epson ink tank printers that are unusable .
Basically Epson installed a piece of software inside the printer that forces consumers to pay Epson more money to reset/change Ink pads(which work perfectly). There are no sensors that actually do any checking on ink in ink pads.
So, once you hit their preset number of prints, the WHOLE multifunction printer shuts off and you can't use it unless you bring it for servicing. And you can't do it yourself and just change ink pads. You have to pay Epson or its dealer for the reset.
Isn't that extortion? Pay us money and let us reset your printer or you will not be able to print,scan,etc??
That's exactly right, and that's my whole complaint with this printer. Since making that video, I did come across a way to reset the printer -- hope this can help you: th-cam.com/video/QoicIB5pbPY/w-d-xo.html
Omg that video is 4 years old and still nothing change it? :( I need it that ecotank for like 2-3 years is ok for me.
It seems like some newer Epson “original” & EcoTank printers have user-replaceable ink maintenance box. Ink is sometimes purged into the box during cleaning and to help prevent clogging. Epson’s non EcoTank printer has this box as well, it’s nothing new. From the manual, it seems that the user-replaceable maintenance box is chipped like traditional ink cartridges. They are pretty cheap under $20 USD on Epson site, so it seems like Epson is finally stepping in the right direction regarding the maintenance box. I feel like they may or have made the box smaller so we will be replacing this box instead of ink cartridges. Probably not too bad though, we’re using better quality/consistent ink and may see 3rd party “sponge”/chips.
That certainly sounds like an improvement instead of a software brick!
Have you tried it? Does it work?
@@RenaissanceEarCandy I purchased an ET-4760 3 months ago, the maintenance box is definitely replaceable and is chipped. When you check "ink levels" option on this machine, it also shows the remaining life of the box. I purchased a replacement box from Epson for $10. I'm about finished on the 3rd set of color ink, but don't think I have to replace it anytime soon.
If you don't use your printer often, don't buy inkjet printers, you'll end up with a clogged integrated nozzle = dead printer or clogged printer cartridge nozzle = useless/wasted ink cartridge.
@@jamesa2188 link for the box?
Thanks!! So which one would you recommend?
A lot of folks have asked what printer they should buy; short answer is you're not going to find a perfect printer. Every single one out there is either going to be unreliable, have Wi-Fi issues, expensive ink, or a 'toss me in the ocean' feature. For photos, just go to a print shop/CVS - no hassle! That said, if all you need is black and white, here's a decent cheap laser printer:
Brother HL-L2340DW:
amzn.to/2VXDU5B
Emphasis on the cheap - it will probably still crap out on you, but you won't be as sad because you only spent $120 instead of $300. An important note for this one: it has some dumb feature called "deep sleep" that you should turn off. I found this procedure on Amazon:
"How to turn off deep sleep (I didnt write this but copy it here in case you don't wanna go look for it):
Use arrow buttons to scroll through menu choices...
Go to General Setup then OK
Ecology then OK
SLEEP TIME then OK
While sleep time is display push Down Arrow and BACK at the same time! Then press OK.
DEEP SLEEP on/off toggle by Arrow keys
OK to SAVE Deep Sleep off."
Bootstrappin' Thank you so much for your response. I looked at Brother and Canon. I will check out brother again.
All good points. Completely agree. I recycle as much as I can. BTW, chatting up one of the employees at my local refuse transfer station he tells me while we can still drop off computer junk, (like printers), they just toss them into the general waste stream as the sub-contractor who used to pick them up no longer comes around. Isn't that special?
That's really unfortunate. I do think a lot of companies, and maybe Epson included, generally have a recycling program for their own stuff. I know Xerox does, you just have to request it and they'll mail you a free shipping label.
@@Bootstrappin Thanks!
You are right. I had a HP cartridge printer, the ink was more expensive then buy another printer. Disposable it! bought a Canon the same problem. Now I was thinking to buy an Epson ink tank, but, after I watch your video I don't know what to do anymore. Another thing is I am thinking to go "off grid living " where maybe will not have internet but, the printers today don't come with a usb cable, only wifi. I need a printer for sublimation too apart for the other jobs. Do you have any suggestion? Thankyou. Maria
Get third party cartridges its insanely cheaper
*Great little **Bestt.Digital** machine! Super looking!!! Easy to use, mom loves it, straightforward!*
Should, it worked with Windows 7
What are your thoughts on the newer one? Epson ecotank ET-2720? Or is a laser one just better?
I hear new one has serviceable parts, so probably ok
This is definitely an older model, the newer ones have none of these problems
Do you have any source for that? I was thinking about one but I can't confirm it.
I wouldn't buy something that artificially locks itself.
After replacing the ink pad the next day the printer wouldn't even power on, called em and they basically said fuck you, take it somewhere and have it fixed. I'm out to purchase a new printer today, deffinetly not an epson brand, and never again. Thanks epson
Same with Canon Printers: 3years max, inkpad Message, dead.
You are the man. I was just about to buy this epson ecotank at Cotsco, the new model 2760. I just read on Epson website the software message you had mentioned. THIS IS BIG TIME BS. Why can't I purchase a printer and be done with its manufacturer?!
Best review I've ever seen, straight to the point with no bullshit. I subscribed, thank you 👍
I appreciate that, thank you!
Yes I had the similar kind of experience with my epson L220. I totally agree with you.
What do you think is a better option?
I believe that cheaper printers are being sold at a loss by companies - and they intend on making up for that with ink, parts, and making it unservicable. In my opinion, you can either buy cheaper printers and learn how to maintain them with reset utilities (link below, I discuss how to reset the ink counter on the Ecotank), or go with a more expensive laser printer that won't brick itself and has parts availability (like Xerox).
th-cam.com/video/QoicIB5pbPY/w-d-xo.html
Many things like that,we live in a throw away society!
So is BROTHER the best brand to consider? I've heard complaints about HP, CANNON and EPSON.
Very nice and honest analysis.
May I know after printing how many pages approximately you faced this issue ? Actually I just bought an ecotank printer and I am just wondering if I should cancel that.
Would you recommend any other company or printer ?
I spent $199.99 on the Epson 2720. 4 years later after 7000 copies and prints with one set of bottles I decided to replace it with the newer model. I got my use out of it. How many cartridges would a person have to buy to get 7000 copies from an HP or Canon product.
Thank you for this review. I would have bought an Epson Ecotank printer if i hadn't seen your video.
You will find that most printers have this unless you want to spend big money on a fully professional office printer so a few k...its bullshit but it's been a common practice in printers and lots of other technology for years and years.
Me too, just bought a used eco tank et 2750
The Epson eco tank 2720 has none of these problems the guy in the video states, the guy in the video has an older model
Dear Bootstrappin' in your opinion how many prints did you achieve before the counter/pad was full
Interesting question. We didn't print that often, so I suspect the counter does a "whichever comes first" function, so in my case, time - rather than pages. It took about 3 years for the ink pad problem to show up. My guess for pages is 500-1000.
@@Bootstrappin thanks for letting know, looking around at Hp & cannon, but of all tank printers epson still seems to be the better value, currently reconsidering getting one..however am investing minimal funds knowing that it will fail in 12 months - 3 years
Class action worthy.
Easy solution to this.
The Ecotank warranty is two years or 50,000 copies, whatever comes first. One year if you don't register. That's in the fineprint.
So, if any of these restrictive cycles shut down your printer, and you haven't exceeded 50,000 copies, Epson will repair/rebuild/reset the machine and send it back. Just save your box and receipt/registration.
Either foam pad fills up or print heads dries and clogs! Had this happen on loads of printers, especially rarely used home photo printers
What inkTank printer would you recommend?!
You need to buy a cleaning kit for all ink jet printers. They all do that. Whatever prices you pay for your printer 60$ or 800$ you will need cleaning kit
I purchased Epson L6170 for personal use and lasted 2 years. I purchased Epson L1455 for personal use and lasted 2 years. What the hell have I got in return after spending original ink and maintenance box? Sorry, Epson, I don't care about warranty. I will use standard generic ink, resetter and maintenance box chip only (instead of box)
your rant about their eco friendly website cracked me up!
I have had this printer for 3 years. I previously had my first printer when “DOS” was the thing. I have had my Ecotank for 3 years. I use my printer often. I previously owned a HP and purchased hundreds of cartridges. I threw the printer in the trash. I’m so happy with this printer, that when it stops working I’ll buy another one and recycle the old.
This review was so true and hilarious ! Subbed instantly ! Keep doing what you do man !
X2
So what would you recommend 🤔 which printer is the best. I know laser printer is good but what about if you want to print tshirts and mugs.. laser printer don't work though with this.
Inkjet and laser can be different usages
Hahahaah “office space” all the way. I bet these are the words the actors were saying in the movie while they were kicking their printer.
I bought a Epson 3640 and it worked ok till the damned print heads finally plugged up from not printing enough to keep the ink from drying out in the heads. It's a big job to yank the heads to really clean them properly, you can buy cleaning kits to do it but they basically sell you windex and some hoses to try and blast them clean. I did what I could and finally gave up. I used to have a HP 990 printer that yes the ink was expensive but every time you replace the cartridge it has the ink head built in. You get a brand new print head and it always printed nicely. You could even buy rebuilt carts that worked as well as the original for really cheap. If the head did clog you could clean it up with a paper towel and water or alcohol and it usually would print again till it was empty. Sometimes you could knock out the fill plugs and refill them yourself till the heads finally gave up. Unfortunately the 990 is now almost 20 years old so getting any good cartridges can be very hard to do.
I decided to give HP a try again and found out the 9010 series of printers has a user removable print head for cleaning or replacement, and you can get refill ink that will work with two sets of factory cartridges. You run the first set out and put in the second set, then refill the first set and trade them out as they get empty again. I got a 9018 from Costco and it prints better in normal quality mode than my 3640 did after I custom tweaked everything to get the best prints I could.
I can get original quality ink for like 52 bucks for enough to refill the normal sized carts 4 time and a set normally costs about 95 bucks, more for the XL super size ones. So far I don't print often and it hasn't dried up the heads yet in about a year and I'm about to finally order the ink refill for it as I've about burned through the original set of carts and the extras I bought.
Make sure if you're a tech type that whatever printer you buy the heads are easy to remove and clean if needed and ink carts or good refill kits are available aftermarket or your going to keep paying through the nose for ink, and eventually having to toss a printer that might have been easy to fix if parts are easy and cheap to remove and clean or replace.
I have used a continuous ink setup with the Epson but same problem, eventually the heads dried up from not printing often enough and now I have a bunch of ink I can't use.