Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5800 Wireless All-in-One Printer

Once printer manufacturers began providing low ink cost options, it seems as though they have taken a number of features out of lower cost printers. This printer was one of the few that I could find that provides not only two sided printing, but more importantly, two sided scanning/copying using the automatic document feeder. The text print quality is excellent. Comparing the same photo printed on a photo printer with the output from this printer, I was surprised to find that I actually preferred the photo from the ET-5880 printer. While I was excited about having an ink tank versus an ink cartridge, I wasn’t sure how clean and “mess-free” the ink bottles and filling operation would be. Filling of the ink tanks was not only quick, but without issue. The ink bottles will not even drip after filling when held upside down (although I don’t recommend testing this). The printer software is easy to use and select options. Scanner software is adequate, but provides plenty of capability for the normal user. The printer also includes options for an administrative password, wifi direct print, page counter, huge paper capacity (500+ pages), screen timeout, sleep and power off timers, Epson (Internet) Print, print from USB, etc. The ink included is supposed to last for about 5000 pages.
On the negative side, the printer is MUCH larger, heavier and more expensive than my previous home printers, since this is actually rated as a small business printer. I would not recommend this printer for home use unless your usage rate several hundered pages per week or more. However, if price is not an issue, this is an excellent full function printer, capable of doing your photo printing needs as well.

I highly recommend the ET-5850 and would definitely purchase this printer again (but hopefully won’t have to for at least 5 years!)
PROS: My documents must be professional quality when I send them to the Judge and my Epson ET-5850 gives excellent quality documents. I did not give any stars to tech support because I haven’t needed tech support – set-up instructions were straight-forward and simple and use is just as easy, and I am not a tech-savvy person. NOTE: Be sure to download the Epson Smart-Scan for easy scanning. I tried to scan some other way and it was frustrating, until I read more instructions. Ah ha! now scanning is a mouse-click away.
ANSWERS TO CRITICS: I was worried by a few reviews such as “almost all the ink was used by set-up”. MY ANSWER: the description in Amazon says more ink will be used in set-up than on a daily basis and its true. I was left with at least 1/2 the ink after set-up. However, after approx 40 days, my daily use barley made a dent in the remaining ink levels, which are easy to see on the ink-level panel on the front of the machine. My machine came with a full extra round of ink bottles so I’m good for quite a while. Further, the price of the ink bottles is less $ than the cartridges for my old Epson WorkForce3640. Another concern a reviewer had was the “noise” during printing. MY ANSWER: The ET 5850 is not any louder than other printers I had and is quieter than laser printers I’ve worked with. Also not messy like some laser printers. People also were concerned about the cost. MY ANSWER: 1) the ET-5850 is a high quality printer; 2) In 40 days, I’ve already saved the cost of 1 set of ink cartridges (at a cost of about $70 monthly) as I had no need to replace ink; 3) This is not a disposable printer but is a solid piece of office equipment I expect to have for a few years.
CONS OR DOWNSIDE(S): There is a delay between when I hit print and when the printer begins printing, enough so that I wonder if the ET-5850 received my print request – then the printing begins. Also, the printing is slower than expected. I saw on the box this is an “ultra-high-speed” printer. hmm, not so much. I may check my instructions again to see if I can speed things up. OVERALL: I am quite pleased I spent the extra money and got a quality product with expected savings of time and money from fewer trips to the office supply store.
Robin G, South Dakota

I do a lot of printing. Free ink for Two Years sounds like a good deal, however not everything is as it seems. After sending in my first ten sets of bottles, all were rejected by the Rebate Center due to my serial numbers not being valid. How can this be I asked? After contacting EpsonUSA and having a mini meltdown over the rebate center and their claim rejections, I found that when you register your printer with Epson it isn’t real time. Your registration is in a queue. So if your request for a rebate gets there beforehand you will be denied. Next thing is the rebate.is for two years, no it is for the warranty period of the printer or around 80,000 pages. I have had mine for a month and I am over 30000 pages, I am guessing that it won’t be 2 years. Hum, didn’t see that in the ad.
Oh, and when I was asked where I purchased the printer I told them the Epson Store on Amazon, to which their reply was that they do not have a store on Amazon. So, being the helpful sort I am I sent them a link to their store.
Overall the printer works well. Free ink, not so well, seems more like a scam than a perk. I am really disappointed in Epson, thought they could do better than that.

I had a pagewide before so I guess I was a little spoiled with speed. But that one had expensive cartridges. This one has a preset for scanning to one drive with only 3 touches.. awesome. Prints, scans and copies pretty fast. I print a lot during the day and this printer does the job very well. Noticeably slower when printing duplex or high quaility. Still plenty fast for printing 1-10 pages at a time. If you want anything faster, get a pagewide. Ink tank levels are visible, very smart feature. My only real complaint as that it is a little noisy when printing, but other than that 10/10. I would definitely buy again.

It works very well and is much faster than ET-4750 and ET-4760. The only draw back is that it seems to stretch a scan onto 2 pages sometimes.