Epson Stylus C60 for the home environment
Written: May 18 '02 (Updated Mar 17 '03)
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Pros: Sleek looking, prints quickly, hardly know it is on
Cons: Have to purchase a cable – either parallel or USB
The Bottom Line: Tossed it out before one year of use
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| bonniesayers's Full Review: Epson Stylus C60 Ink-jet Printer |
Although I have had my computer for over two years I never purchased a printer, and probably a good thing since this would add to the clutter factor. For my birthday this past April I received the Epson Stylus Color C60 and proceeded to put it together on my own one day.
My previous experience with printers has only been with Hewlett Packard Laser Jet Printers in an office environment, where a professional would always be able to assist. It has been seven years since I have been in the employment sector so I was a bit rusty in the set up process.
Upon inspection of the box I learned that I would have to purchase a cable before I could even begin thinking about printing. I checked at Best Buy and found they cost about $25.00 so a friend online sent me some links showing me what kind she had purchased for a few bucks at an auction, and sent me one via priority mail.
Included in the box along with the printer is the paper support stand, black cartridge and a color ink cartridge, CD-ROM and instruction manual. The next step was to remove all the plastic wrappings and tape. Once I removed the tape from the cover there was an insert to take out of the inside of the printer. There was a notation in the eight-step page to get the printer set up that the yellow tape had to be removed from the cartridges. There was no such tape and the plastic bag was torn open.
This paper explaining the details is crucial because it tells you to shut down your computer before you even install the cable. I have a Gateway Astro that is very heavy to move about and when I had to figure out which cable I needed this was another pain. I was able to follow the diagram and attach the cable to the correct outlet and then place it back on top of the desk. It is noted that USB Port does not support Windows 95. The printer still is turned off at this point.
The next step was to plug in the printer to a wall outlet and not a power strip, also suggesting to not use an outlet that is controlled by a wall switch. However all the outlets in this room are controlled by two different wall switches, so I have no other option. The printer has three buttons to the left with the closest to the left being the power switch.
The most difficult aspect of setting up the Epson Stylus Color C60 2880X720 dpi is the inserting of the ink cartridges. I felt very uncomfortable having to first turn on the computer and then lift the lid to get these inserted. I waited for the light to stop flashing but the band that houses the cartridges was to the right side and not in the middle like the diagram showed. I had to turn this on and off a few times to get it to land in the middle so I could add these cartridges.
The black cartridge is located on the left with the color cartridge on the right. The lights flash to indicate which cartridge needs replacing once you have pressed the ink replacement button, located closest to the cover on the left. Next to this button is the error one that will continue to flash red while checking the cartridges for removing and installing. This is the tricky part because you need to pay attention to the flashing of both lights. If they are at the same pace this means the black cartridge needs changing. When the red button is faster than the green button this is the indicator that the color cartridge needs to be replaced.
By pressing the ink cartridge clamp the filled cartridge will pop up needing to be removed and replaced. Before doing all this you must have the new cartridge ready to install otherwise keep the old one in until a new one can be purchased. The printer will not work without both cartridges and neither of them should be left open or with no cartridge inside their compartments.
The placing of the black ink cartridge resulted in the tab not opening and instead popping off when I finally got it to open. There is a warning, “ Don’t place the cartridge tabs under the hooks, or you may damage the clamp when you close it.” What happened to mine was the clamp broke off and I had to wiggle it to keep it closed. For all I know this might be the reason the ink went quickly, because no other reviews explained how long before the cartridges need to be replaced. I am dreading replacing the cartridge this weekend and hope I do not lose that loose clamp.
The color cartridge worked easier and was able to snap shut. Once I was done with this process I added the paper support and paper extension tray. I than placed the CD-ROM into the drive on my computer and had to turn this on and off a few times before it would read the CD and not turn on other things. At this point I was not happy with how long this set up was taking. I installed the print factory and registered my Epson Stylus Color C60 2880X720 dpi online, than removed the CD-ROM and seemed ready for printing.
Only five pieces of paper were included with three sheets of glossy paper to use for photos so I had to pick up a supply of paper before doing any serious printing. I was able to use the regular business sized white envelopes I already have with no problem. These can be loaded for print up to ten at a time. When a page was printing this screen popped up:
Help for Epson Stylus: Did you know that special media has a printable side? “ the printable side of special paper is the glossy side. Make sure this side is facing up when loading special paper in the printer.
Some special media, such as transparencies, have cut corners to help identify the correct loading direction. Load such media with the cut corner at the top right, as shown in the illustration. Try cleaning the print heads to eliminate horizontal banding and other printing problems.”
After printing ten pages in the beginning it looked to me like the black ink level was half way gone already. There are options for stopping or pausing once you half sent the page to print. The data on the printing screen shows which page is being printed, the type of paper used and the time this job started.
I did not have enough paper in the paper guide when I started my printing thus the red light came on with the green light flashing. I checked the screen to see the message informing me I would need to press the red light once the paper was stacked and placed correctly. The output tray does not hold a lot of pages so it means constantly having to retrieve the print outs, placing them in another location before printing further.
I used the three glossy photo pages for pictures from a Kodak Picture CD. There were lines on the photos so I right clicked on the icon for the printer to run a nozzle check and proceeded to clean the heads. The first printing of the color graph showed a double line across two of the four colored boxes. For the printing after the cleaning the line was faint but still visible.
I have no experience with Epson or any ink jet printer, but think under twenty-five pages of printed material should not require this maintenance. Since I have not purchased glossy paper I opted to test the paper alignment. This requires a magnifying glass, checking patterns and rows that made no sense to me so I opted not to do this after seeing the confusing print out.
I have used almost three hundred pages of paper with the indicator at 10% now and time to insert another black ink cartridge. This seems a bit too fast to go through ink at this rate that is almost one a month and quite expensive. I do not like the curve in the paper support and the paper if left there long tends to not stand straight.
The Windows System Requirements for the Epson Stylus Color C60 2880X720 dpi includes the following, although I never knew how to check to make sure I had these:
50 MB of free hard disc space (100MB or more recommended)
VGA or better display adapter and monitor
CD-ROM or DVD drive for installing the printer software
At least 20MB of RAM (for Windows 95 or 98), 32MB (for Windows Me) or 64MB (for Windows 2000 or XP)
There are requirements for Macintosh as well such as 16MB of available RAM (32MB recommended). For further details Epson is available at epson.com or 1-800-873-7766. There is a one-year exchange warranty and the ink is fast drying. It is recommended to use Epson paper, either plain or glossy. The print menu pops up and shows me which paper I have inserted and offers tips and the number of pages being printer.
Once the entire process of setting this up was done I have felt better with the functionality of the Epson Stylus Color C60 2880X720 dpi. I only turn it on when I know I will be printing something and the sound is heard from the next room so my son comes in and watches the printing. It takes up more than half the space on top of the foot locker it sits. So far the pages continue to print out with the text in laser sharp black text.
For use in a home environment this has worked out well. The color is a grayish/tan color with the cover a dark black. The slots keep the paper aligned and the only annoyance is when you have to wait for the printing to start and the clanking sound. You can hear the paper move into position and the lights indicate when something has gone wrong. As far as birthday presents go, this one was a winner. When I was looking for the cable at Best Buy in April they were advertising a twenty dollar rebate on this particular printer.
***UPDATE 7-29-02***
Here it is now a bit over two months that I have had the printer in use and today I replaced the Color Ink Cartridge. This ran out about two weeks ago with the large warning yellow sign showing up that I was out and nothing on the printed pages.
I have calculated about 500 pages being printed in this time and feel that one month for the black cartridge and two months for the color ink cartridge is too frequent for personal home use as well as expensive.
I would think through the purchase of one of these if you are going to be printing on a regular basis. It seems to be another $30.00 each month for a new cartridge to keep the printer going.
***UPDATE*** 3-17-03
I have given up on this hunk of junk. Between having to purchase ink every month the paper has been jamming for several weeks now and it is constantly in error mode.
I tried different brands of paper and the paper feed does not work anymore, therefore the sentences are cut off on each line and no matter what I do the paper will not line up.
I punched my fist on it several times today and tossed it. I would avoid this impossible printer and go for a Hewlett Packard if you want an ink jet. I might just go for a laser printer once and for all.
Did not make the one year mark!
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): gift
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
bonniesayers
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Location: Los Angeles, CA
Reviews written: 842
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