Epson SC 740 still printing after nearly 3 years abuse!
Written: Jun 22 '01
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Pros: Great quality, robust, reliable
Cons: Slow, bit of an ink monster!
The Bottom Line: Once the crowning glory of Epson, now a little dated against current competition. If you can find one at an auction site GET IT. YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT.
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| lkdinsdale's Full Review: Epson Stylus® Color 740 InkJet Printer |
If anyone had told me 3 years ago that the one component that would give me the LEAST hassle would be my Epson Stylus Colour 740, I would have laughed. A lot.
My track record with printers is somewhat disasterous. After mangling an old Star LC-10 Colour dot matrix in the late eightes, I moved on to a Citizen ABC dot matrix with similar results. When they both decided to malfunction, I decided to appoint a little technical brutality (ie. smash them up!) which left me printerless.
Beginning my university course 3 years ago, I decided time had come for a change. I bought a PII 400 with state of the art printer - a Stylus Colour 740. From box to first use, it was a dream to install, all hardware being picked up instantly. With the photo pack that came with the printer, I impressed friends and relatives with the 1440dpi quality on glossy 6x4 samples. I could not fault it.
3 years on and many empty ink cartridges down the line, I still cannot fault it. Considering the bashing it has taken over my university career - 2 dissertations (20,000 words) numerous essays, adverts, leaflets, calendars, banners, posters, the lot.
So where do I find fault with it? Well, the ppm (pages per minute) rate used to be great, but with the latest Epson printers getting faster all the time, the 740 now seems a little left behind. The main gripe has to be the speed at which guzzles ink. Of course this depends upon printer usage. However, I tend to get through about 12 cartridges a year (black & colour). This has proven costly, so I have found cheaper alternatives to the Epson standard cartridges that work just as well for half the price.
One other aspect about Epson printers that leaves a minute doubt at the back of my mind is the fact that the printhead is separate from the cartridge - if this gets blocked, it is EXPENSIVE to replace, as my best friend knows only too well (SORRY MATT!).
I have never had a paper jam in three years and the colour definition has always been sharp. I recently chose to update the parallel lead with a USB one, to see if print jobs sped up - if they did I hardly noticed the increase.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 175
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
lkdinsdale
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Location: Liverpool, UK
Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
KS2 Primary School Teacher based in Liverpool UK.
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