Does it stand up to grade school kids?
Written: Feb 24 '01 (Updated Feb 24 '01)
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Pros: Well designed hardware for use by young children
Cons: Some internal part noise
The Bottom Line: This printer works well in a school setting.
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| TheAdvocate's Full Review: Epson Stylus Color 777 InkJet Printer |
My son’s school ran a magazine drive last fall that netted them over $6,000! With the proceeds, the school was able to buy four new computer systems for the students to use. The computers were ordered from Gateway through a special discounted program, and each system came with an Epson Stylus Color 777 printer.
I was in charge of installing the printer drivers and testing to make sure each one worked before the kids got hold of them. The Epson software was effortless, but when I tried to test the printer, I was confused by the fact that the paper fed against the right guard rather than the left. Once the paper was loaded correctly, it printed a basic word processing document quickly, though with some internal part noise.
The Epson printers came with Corel Print House 2000, Trellix Web, and Epson Film Factory software, built-in USB and Parallel connectivity, and provided 2880 x 720 dpi photo quality – none of which, as it turns out, is terribly important to young children.
So my biggest question about the Epson was: how will these printers hold up to continued use by grade-school children?
The printers were placed in the worst of spots, on the bottom shelf of the computer cart, right where little legs dangle down and unconsciously kick about. (If you’ve ever seen the 7-year-old attention span at work you know that while the brain is focused, the legs keep erratic time like some sort of spastic metronome.) Unlike other printers I’ve seen (including our Canon BJC-5000), this one has a retractable sheet catcher that also folds up and clicks shut. With other printers I’ve used, if the retractable pieces aren't lined up just right, they can stick and if a small child were trying to force them shut, might even snap. If an idle foot should bump the Epson’s sheet catcher, it will flip up rather than resist the impact.
Another subtle benefit, when considering small children, is that the printer has no sharp corners or edges. The older, square computer hardware in the school library shows wear on its edges. But the Epson is bulbous and smooth, with fewer opportunities for the kindergartners to get a painful bump or for the printer to attract scuff marks and scratches. Even the paper-feed support sticking up from the back has rounded corners, which is nice for those of us adults who need to occasionally stumble and poke around under the computer cart, connecting cables.
Of course, the only thing the children appreciate is the printer’s ability to print their colorful creations. No printer is conservative with color ink, but the printer software shows ink levels, a necessary feature when you have various color-crazy users, making it difficult for any one person to keep mental track of how many color printouts have been made over time.
So far, the Epson Stylus Color 777 printers at school have performed just fine and based on these few well-thought-out features, I think they’ll hold up well down there next to the continuous parade of Buster Browns.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): ??
Operating System: Windows
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TheAdvocate
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Reviews written: 53
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