Call me old fashioned, but I like things on paper. As much as reading things on a screen works, sometimes it’s nice to be able to have something to hold, leaf through, mark up with a pen and do something with. For this reason, I love a good printer, and – like many, according to Epson – lockdown over the last couple of years has smashed my printer.
Whether its printing things for work, for kids, for school, or whatever, I’ve gone through a lot of paper … but thanks to Epson’s EcoTank ET-4750, I’ve not actually gone through a lot of ink. This thing lasts forever!
Well, as enamored as I am with this one, it might be time to fall in love all again; it’s little surprise perhaps that Epson becoming officially the number 1 ink tank printer vendor worldwide having now sold over 60 million EcoTank units globally and the launch of Epson’s new EcoTank printers for the Home Office are all being announced together.
Critically, none of the new Home Office models use any ink cartridges at all, replacement ink bottles that provide thousands more printed pages start at just $14.99 and all models come with the new, intuitive and clever Epson Smart Panel app.
In common with previous models, the new range of printers in the ET-x8xx range are ultra-economical when it comes to ink and will last just about literally forever (well, perhaps not, but it will seem like it). They’re also fairly affordable, especially when you consider that when you eventually have to buy ink, it’ll cost you less than a decent meal, rather than a few decent meals for you and your family.
The stand-out new feature is the Smart Panel app, though which becomes an intuitive control centre for your compatible Epson printer. You can use the Smart Panel app to setup, print, scan and more with your Epson printer, as well as easily add it to a wireless network, order new products and supplies if you need them, and generally do whatever you need from the palm of your hand.
The new range is priced between $399 and $649, and while they share much in common – colour printing, scanning and copying – they have some different features too:
At $399, the entry-level ET-2811 gives you basic print, copy and scan with wireless connectivity, and it’ll do around 6000-8000 pages out of the box. Step up to the ET-3800 and you get duplex printing to save on paper, ethernet and wireless connectivity (as well as Apple Airprint), 15 pages per minute and 14,000 B&W prints out of the box.
The ET-4800 and ET4850 are $499 and $649 respectively, and most notably add automatic document feeding capability for those who scan a bit, as well as fax for those who like to live like it’s the 90s! The ET-4800 has a lower ink capacity and it’s a little slower, whereas the ET-4850 is the king supreme, with 14,000 B&W prints out of a tank of ink, 15 pages per minute in B&W (or 8.5 in colour), with more connectivity than you need.
As a printer lover, I’ll be trying one of these bad boys out to see how it goes! Want one of your own? Grab one online – Epson’s website has the latest.
