Works for me!
Written: Jan 20 '03 (Updated Jan 29 '03)
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Pros: Great Print Quality, Easy Setup, great price
Cons: Noisy, paper jams
The Bottom Line: Great quality for the price. Super print quality, well built printer. Software installs easily and printer is up and running in no time.
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| rdhoss's Full Review: Epson Stylus CX3200 All-In-One InkJet Printer |
I really stumbled upon my Epson Stylus CX3200 printer. I had purchased an HP OfficeJet d135 (see my review) and after a complete failure to get it working, I decided to try the Epson.
I visited the Office Max store near my house and I was discussing my printer problems with the sales associate. He said that they had just gotten these Epson printers in, and so far, he was impressed with it.
I was reluctant to try it. I had my mind set on the HP machine, and I thought that I wanted a machine that had fax capabilities. Then I thought about it some more, and realized that I never fax, and if I need to, my computer can do it.
So, I brought the Epson home and started to unpack it. I was pleasantly surprised that there was a USB cable inside the box (HP doesn't give you one). I was also impressed at how well the printer was packed.
I removed all of the blue tape, and followed the instructions for setting up the software and installing the print cartridges. It only took a few minutes, and the printer was installed and working.
I had absolutely no problems with it at all, which was a relief after spending an entire weekend try to get the HP to work (it never did!).
I printed a test photo using the sample photo paper that was in the box and using the photo printing software that Epson includes on the CD. I was impressed. It took a while to print using the best print quality, but the result was absolutely stunning.
I did run into some paper jams initially, but I determined that one was caused by my loading the paper aligned on the left side of the paper feeder, when it should be aligned on the right. The other jam happened after I loaded too much paper into it. I've never been a big fan of this type of paper loading system, but the Epson seems to handle paper pretty well, as long as you don't overload it.
So, while I didn't intend to purchase this Epson printer, I'm glad I did. I got a good quality printer, scanner, and copier for far much less than the HP cost, and it works flawlessly on my computer. I'm happy.
UPDATE - 1/29/2003
I've had the printer for a couple of weeks now, and have used it pretty frequently. I've noticed that occasionally, the printer will try to pull in more than one sheet. In fact, as I write this, it just pulled in a stack of about 20 sheets and attempted to print. Needless to say, a jam occurred. You can clear jams by lifting up the top of the printer much like opening the hood of a car. The scanning bed and control panel all lift up and provides access to the print heads and paper rollers. I'm not sure if I'm loading the paper improperly, or maybe the paper is sticking together. Once the jam was cleared, the print quality was not as good. Using the Maintenance software, I did a Nozzle Check that determined that some of the heads needed cleaning. I then used the software to perform the head cleaning. This caused my computer to lock up. After a reboot, the print quality after the cleaning process was just as good as before.
I've used the printer's copy and scan features since I originally wrote this review. The copy feature works great. To make a copy, simply lift the scanner bed lid and place the original on the bed. You can press the "Color" button to make a color copy, or the "B&W" button to make a black and white copy. I've done both and the copies have been of great quality. In fact, I'm getting ready to tile the floor of a bathroom in my house. I placed my house blueprint on the copier and made a black and white copy of the room I'm working with. I now have a sheet that I can take to Home Depot so the sales associate can calculate the amount of tile that I need.
The scanning feature also works great. The Epson Smart Panel software makes scanning easy. For example, I selected "Scan and Create" which scanned in a photo and opened the PhotoImpression software that allowed me to touch up the photo and create a greeting card from it. The software was easy to use and the end result looked great.
One final thought. I bought this printer after difficulty I had with an HP printer. I've now had similar problems with this printer. I believe my computer's USB ports are not capable of driving these printers. I was printing a 36 page document, and after about 20 pages, the printer disconnected and I had to reboot my computer for the machine to see it again. This is the same problem I had with the HP, only with that one, it happened before a single page had printed. Does this mean my next toy is a new computer???
Update - later that day...
I found an HP printer at a local computer store that had a parallel port, as well as a USB port. The printer I found is the HP OfficeJet k80, which has since been discontinued by HP (I bought their display model). I returned my Epson for a refund.
My impression of the Epson CX3200 is that it is a very good printer, and I would recommend it. My issues involved problems with my computer.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 149
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
rdhoss
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Reviews written: 10
Trusted by: 1 member
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