Epson Expression Photo XP-850 Small-in-One Printer
4.3
5
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6
Great printer, paper capacity too small
I was looking to buy an all-in-one printer that included CD printing and AirPrint. I was surprised how hard it was to find for any brand. This printer does it all. There is a rear slot for card stock. Which is a nice feature because my Artisan 810 didn't do card stock well (paper would jam). Tray 1 is for 4x6 or 5x7 photo paper only. Tray 2 is for regular paper up to legal-size. My only disappointment is the paper capacity in Tray 2, which is about 50. Significantly less than what I had with my previous Artison 810. The wireless network setup worked fine. To print on a CD you have to pull out a separate tray from the bottom, load the CD and then insert it into a slot above Tray 1. Scanning works fine within PhotoShop (after I ran the Epson Navigaror and Event Manager). Copying works fine but sometimes it takes the printer several minutes to warm up if I haven't used in awhile.
January 27, 2013
Finally dual sided copying!
I have owned the Epson Artisan 800 and various older Epson printers for many years. I have been patiently waiting for Epson to make an equivalent printer to the Artisan series but with a duplexing ADF so that dual sided documents could be easily copied.
After literally 3+ years, Epson has finally done it with the Expression Photo XP-850. It retains all of the features of the Artisan series, and adds duplex ADF (automatic document feeder) and several "cloud printing" features. For example, you can e-mail a photo to your printer's special e-mail address and have it printed. Fortunately, you can change the e-mail address from a machine-generated one to something easier to remember. This is great!
Another nice feature is that you no longer have to manually extend the output tray -- it will automatically come out. However, you have to manually push it back in if you want to put it back. Upon reflection, I suppose it wouldn't be good if the tray retracted on its own with a printout not picked up.
The CD tray is a separate tray like on some of the older Epson printers. You have to manually feed the tray into the printer and line up little arrows to make sure everything is lined up. It is not as elegant as on the Artisan series where it was an integrated part of the printer.
One minor nit is that the printer software CD didn't support Windows 8. This wouldn't be a problem except that the version on Epson's website is missing the Abbeyy FineReader OCR software. Odd since this printer was released after the release of Windows 8.
The printouts look excellent with the proper Epson paper, although I found text to be a little smeared, although it's barely noticeable. Epson is generous and provides two sheets of photo paper to try out.
The printer also requires a bit of space on the right hand side of the printer (4 inches) if you want to use the ADF with legal size paper.
One oddity about the ink cartridges -- they include a cap that you are supposed to use when removing the cartridges from the printer. Epson includes a little plastic Ziploc bag to store the caps in.
The print alignment is still a manual process. The printer will print out an alignment sheet, and then the user must choose which image is the best aligned of four choices. Choosing can be a bit difficult if you don't have good eyesight as the images are quite similar. Other printer vendors use an automated approach where it prints out an alignment sheet, which is subsequently scanned to determine the proper alignment automatically.
Overall, I'm very happy with this printer so far. It's fast, doesn't take up much room, and loaded with features.
December 23, 2012
XP-850
The XP-850 is a good scanner and printer for photos, text, and CD's. The colors are rich and the photos look great!
There are only two cons to this printer (1) every time I print from the rear slot it pulls the page through without printing and pulls another sheet from the bottom tray and prints on it. Not very helpful when I want to use a special paper or labels. (2) it is awkward to have to pullout and insert the CD tray. The Artisan I previously used did it automatically with a button push.
December 13, 2012
THE 850 IS A SLICK LITTLE MACHINE
Packed with alot of bang for the buck. A minimal foot print with an automatic tray that deploys to catch your print job? Really? A laundry list of other features and it is a 6 color machine that puts out excellent photos. The software is very easy to use, even for those who may not be very savy in that area. You will not be dissapointed.
I haven't had the 850 long enough to run through the ink provided with shipping, but I have high hopes based on other users reviews.
December 13, 2012
Awsome Picture Printer. The Best
This printer prints the best picture, even better than any commercial photo printing servives. Downside is the ink consumption. Only if the paper feeder can function better, this printer would be just perfect !!!
November 28, 2012
Epson Small in One 850
I purchased this unit to scan family photos and documents and chose it because of its high resolution capabilities. . The unit is compact and sleek looking, the touchscreen is easy to see and responsive. My only disappointment is that the ADF does not scan two sides at the same time; it automatically pulls the document back through the scanner a second time. A simultaneous two-sided scan would make this unit just about perfect. I am still trying to see if I can set customized buttons on the unit's control panel or override the defaults built into the 6 preset scan buttons. Nice little unit.
November 16, 2012
