Clearly Better Than The Price Implies
Written: Oct 02 '03
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Pros: Functionality (scan,copy, print), performance, build quality, keypad convenience
Cons: size, color printing not up to photo standards
The Bottom Line: An excellent choice for around $100. Very easy to use with many handy features. Size is its biggest problem.
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| dimeadip's Full Review: Epson Stylus® CX5200 All-In-One InkJet Printe... |
We just recently replaced our second Lexmark printer with the Epson Stylus CX5200. The biggest drawback of the Lexmark is, I believe, one of the strongest suits for the CX5200. When the Lexmark ran out of ink, you had to buy another print cartridge. At $25-30 for each color and black cartridge, it was essentially a disposable printer (My review of the Lexmark Z43: http://www.epinions.com/content_53306691204). I tried the goofy refill kits and all it accomplished was giving more money to Wal-Mart. The CX5200 has a different apporach: each color (4 including black) has its own, independent cartridge. Black is slightly larger than the others. This lends itself to either replacing them individually, or at least a much easier refill with the goofy kits. I found black refill cartridges for under $10 on ebay. The impact of this is significant: You can actually use your printer to print things! This without seeing the dollar signs flash by everytime you push print, or, dare I even say it, when you print color photographs! Epson claims 1240 text pages (b&w) or 420 pages of color.
The CX5200 is capable of printing (via USB connection only), scanning, and copying. It is not a fax machine. Copying can be done directly from the keypad, no need to even turn on your computer. Installing the supplied Epson Smart Panel software, gives you a lot more options. At the touch of a few buttons, you can scan to file, scan to PhotoImpression (Epson’s supplied image enhancement software for creative pages, calendars, etc), scan directly as an attachment to an email, scan to a web page, scan to some other application, or scan to the supplied text recognition software. You can also makes copies from here. The point-and-click menus are not overly intuitive, but they are manageable with a few attempts. Altogether, this is a very nice feature. The software also supplies an electronic owner’s manual, so you won’t loose it.
Print quality has been very good. Text printing is typical of inkjet printers. Not quite as fine as a laser jet, but acceptable for personal use or small business. I got a chemical engineering job with a resume printed on my old Lexmark, and the CX5200 is better. Color printing is better than I’m used to, but those used to color laser jets will be disappointed. This is a color printer – not a photo printer.
The build quality of this printer seems very good. Much better than the Lexmarks we owned, and better than most of the other brands we looked at including HP and Canon. Operation has been flawless, but we’ve owned it for only a few weeks.
The biggest drawback I see to the CX5200 is its size. It’s BIG. It’s about 18L x 17W x 10H”- with the discharge try closed! Much bigger than some of the newer generation of combination printers. However, its heft also makes it more stable. It doesn’t slide around. Oddly, with all this size, it only scans 8.5 x 11.7”. No legal page scanning, although it will print to legal sized paper.
Print speed is nothing to get excited about. B&W is 22 ppm. Half that for color. At least it’s quiet. It can copy up to 15 ppm.
The USB cable is included and the warranty is for one year.
Epson lists the CX5200 for $150. We got ours at Sam’s for $99. And until October 31, Epson is offering a $20 mail-in rebate from their website (Sam’s didn’t mention the rebate). If you act now, you can have your rebate in time for Easter!
Overall, I’m impressed with the CX5200’s quality and performance, especially for the price. If you can tolerate the size, it’s an excellent competitor in the $100 range.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 100
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
dimeadip
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Location: Pensacola, Florida
Reviews written: 39
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
Chemical engineer two young kids in beautiful Pensacola, Florida
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