EcoTank ET-4850 Wireless All-in-One Cartridge-Free Supertank with Scanner Copier, Fax, ADF and Ethernet, The Perfect Office Printer - Black

This is my first Epson. And I want to share the full story of how we semi-accidentally ended up with this awesome brand of printer. It's pricey but so worth it. I waited about a month to write this review. Backstory: Originally, we had an HP 2540 inkjet printer that was supposed to be compatible with airplay but was plagued with connection issues for most of its usable life. It was probably about 10 years old by the time we replaced it, but the issues began about a year or two after owning it. And the issues got worse when 5g was rolled out. It seemed like it was only compatible with 2g. Why HP Sucks: I work from home and normally directly connect to ethernet to ensure that my speeds are as high as possible. However, to use the old HP Inkjet, I had to turn on wifi from my Macbook (on top of ethernet) and use stupid HP apps as a go-between to bridge the connection. I'm no computer scientist, but even I can recognize poor design and a technological bandaid when I see it. And don't even get me started on how fast it blew through expensive ink cartridges. $50-60 for black $50-60 for tri-color. You print 20 pages of normal printing and it starts saying you are low on ink. That's way too much, mkay? Eventually, it got to the point where I had to do factory resets nearly every time I wanted to use it. Also, the paper feed tray hinge hooks had broken, and the tray was literally being held together with duct tape. It was stored in one place, rarely moved, and when it was moved, it was done so gently. I think the hinge broke because the plastic just got old, cracked, and dried out. Why Bought another HP and Then Returned it, Before Buying this Epson: I am a longtime Apple person. Tend to default to buying items that are vetted/sold by Apple when they are connecting to other Apple products. And, unfortunately, the Apple store recommended the HP Envy. Literally the day I unboxed the HP Envy, it was giving me the same connection issues as the old HP inkjet. That's when I realized it wasn't the wifi compatibility. Nope. HP is just poorly-designed, ink-guzzling garbage. Research Methods // Pros and Cons: I discovered it with internet research (ranking criteria: NOT HP, compatible with PC and Mac, customer ratings, and price per print). It came down to a few different Epsons and a Cannon, but the reason this Epson won was that it has affordable ink and the ink lasts a long time. Why this Printer Rocks: 1) Ink is relatively cheap by competitor comparison 2) Ink lasts a really long time 3) it automatically prints double-sided. This blew my mind, because I didn't need or pay attention to this feature, but now I can't imagine not having it. It's saving so much paper!!! 4) Print quality is effective for basic print needs. Prints text without white lines. 5) Installation was easy and it worked as expected from day one. 6) It receives print jobs without me needing wifi on my macbook 7) it prints easily from my iphone 8) Print speeds are much faster than Inkjet 2540 9) Paper tray location is under the printer, which means you are not leaning a paper tray against a wall. And it probably won't crack apart like the plastic hinges did on my old printer. 10) Replacement Ink is easy to install in the reservoirs. Because you get a reservoir for each tri-color, your color printing will implicitly last longer. And there are aftermarket options for ink. 11) You will save so much paper. Good for the environment and your budget. Possible Negatives: 1) The initial setup was long (plan on at least 30 minutes to install firmware and test print quality). You are warned not interrupt the setup process, because it could mess things up. Follow directions and you will be fine. 2) The print quality test print will test your patience, especially if you have a hard time seeing. This is because it will generate a list of shapes and ask you which ones printed correctly. You then punch in the number on the printer to confirm alignment. The messed up shapes are only messed up by a millimeter of difference. So it can be hard to see the differences. 3) Photo-quality printing does not appear to be its strong suit. However, printing at pharmacies or online is so cheap. Just do it there. 3) It's a little bulky height-wise, but fits on top of a standard bookshelf. 4) Price is high/prohibitive. But you get what you pay for. I truly believe this is a quality product and you will save money over time because of the efficiency of ink use, low cost of replacement ink and efficient use of paper through automatic duplex printing.

It came well packaged and in good order. A lot of packaging tape to remove but not a big deal. The set up takes a little while but is straight forward if you scan the QR code on the Set-up instruction sheet. It will guide you step by step on your phone. Filling the ink tanks was easy and the system to perform it is good (no mess) since not one drop was spilled anywhere. After completing the set up, it will ask you to perform the printing alignment, which takes another few minutes, but is critical if you want quality print outs. If you are setting up with WiFi functions through your network, it is critical to then go to your router settings and set up an isolated, static IP Address (DHCP IP reservation) for the printer. If not, you may have periodic interruptions of connectivity causing frustration and constant re-booting your pc and router. You can find out how to do it by researching online. The feeder is kind of touch and go, but once you figure how to best set up the sheets, it works ok. Yes, it is a little bit noisier than I’d prefer, but that doesn’t bother me too much. I’m more concerned about the quality… which is good, again, if you set the alignment process per instructions. The ink appears to last a good while. I’m sure I’ll save money over time vs the costly cartridges on my “retired” unit. I will use only Epson oem ink since it’s not too costly and I don’t want clogged nozzles, and/or cheap ink runs on my documents. The Epson ink dries instantly and is good quality. The printer functions work perfectly, as well, from my iPhone when connected to the home network.

I purchased the Epson EcoTank ET-4850 to replace my old cartridge printer, hoping to save on ink costs and get reliable all-in-one functionality. After several months of use, here’s what I’ve found: Pros: • The EcoTank system really delivers: I’ve printed a lot of pages, and I haven’t had to refill the ink yet—this is saving me a ton compared to cartridges. • Good print quality for documents: text is sharp and clean even at small font sizes. • Versatile machine: it can print, scan, copy, and fax, and includes an ADF (automatic document feeder) which is very handy. • Strong connectivity: WiFi, Ethernet, and USB — and the Epson Smart Panel app works well for printing from my phone. • User interface and ink tank visibility are convenient: I can see the ink levels easily and the touchscreen is responsive. Cons: • Photo printing is decent but not as exceptional as a dedicated photo printer — some color hues look slightly off or saturated. • No automatic duplex scanning (i.e. scanning both sides of a sheet in one pass) — you have to manually flip pages for two-sided docs. • It’s a bit on the heavy side, and initial setup requires care to ensure ink lines and alignment are correct. • The startup from sleep mode can be slow before the first page prints. This printer is a fantastic choice if you want to cut down on ink costs, and need reliable all-in-one functionality. It’s not perfect for high-end photo tasks, but for general office and home use, it more than delivers.

The EcoTank ET-4850 bottom paper tray feeder style printers are good printers, but won't last that long. Why? Because the bottom paper tray feeding system is flimsy and will eventually fail to feed the paper to print. I went through two of these printers within two years and this problem occurred on both printers essentially making the printer useless. After so many prints the paper from the bottom tray will stop feeding through the printer and will jam every single time. I've tried solutions like cleaning the rollers and nothing solved the issue. I find that this is a major flaw in the design of this model of Epson EcoTank printers. I also assume that the ET-3850 model, which is the non-touch screen version of the ET-4850, has the same paper feed fail flaw. If I weren't to encounter this eventual paper jam problem of these printers, I would probably have given it a five star review. They are good printers overall. It's just when the paper fails to feed, the printers can't be used. I use this printer to make stickers and buttons. The sticker paper is expensive. When the paper keeps jamming, it ruins my sticker paper and that's money down the drain. Also, when the pages fail to feed, it's time to get a new printer which means more money wasted.

I've had the printer for a few weeks now. Unboxing / setting up was a breeze. The print quality is good, even the photos are respectable. its very light and has a small footprint, both of these things were important for my application. The ink loading is amazing simple and clean. I've been an HP user all my life, I've owned 6 or more. I am used to paying a ridiculous amount for a small plastic block with a very little amount of ink in it. Just one bottle of Epson ink (one color 70ml) has more ink than an entire XL cartridge of ink for the HP, and the black is even larger 127ml. Its not the fastest printer I've had, but the little extra it takes is well worth the money spent on ink. The double side print has a slight pause when pulling the paper back into the printer to print the other side, but the convenience makes it worthwhile. The touchscreen is small, but functions nicely. If you extra large finger tips it could be a problem. I would keep a touchscreen stylus pen nearby. The scanner / copier feeder mechanism wouldn't work for more than 1 sheet at a time for me. I was disappointed but since I rarely use it and when I do its typically for just a few sheets, I can live with it. If you're someone who is also looking for this to become a serious copier, you may not be happy with it. I don't know of my unit alone has an issue, or if its a systemic problem. You'll want to look into this further. One last note. When I printed a full page photograph on glossy photo paper, the first row across the top (in a landscape mode) and the last line at the bottom has a smear outside the boundary of the picture (in the white space frame around the picture.) it seems their may be an issue printing that close to the edge of the paper when starting and ending the print. I can easily trim off the boarder if I wanted. Since I didn't and wouldn't buy this model for serious photographic printing, this isn't an issue for me. Overall I am very pleased with this printer. My last HP printer started having problems when I kept rejecting the HP automatic refill program. I didn't buy a printer and want HP to start charging me by how many pages I print per month. Business subscription service has always been a good source for recurring revenue. However, it also usually comes with the service company suppling a machine and maintaining it and selling you the supplies you need. HP decided to turn all their machines already out there, machines that were paid for in full by private users, into a captive reoccurring revenue scheme. It's a shame they've become so greedy because HP has always made some very fine printers.

I’ve had other printers before, but this one is amazing! Super fast, easy to use, and the ink lasts forever. Prints, scans, faxes, double-sided—everything! I’ve had it for months and haven’t refilled the ink yet. Totally worth it!”

I initially had trouble with network discovery on my wi-fi network, particularly with Apple Airprint. I was on the verge of returning the printer since I had no such issues with my old Brother printer, which finally needed replacing after 9 years (due to software incompatibility btw, not any hardware defect). Luckily, I refused to believe that my Android, Apple, and Windows devices would all have trouble connecting. So, I checked a couple of forums and discovered it was my router's configuration that was the culprit. I made the adjustments (disabling airtime fairness and making sure to a single SSID for 2.4GHz and 5Ghz, in case you are having a similar issue) and bang, it was working. Using a static IP speeds discovery using the Epson app, but ultimately isn't necessary. Once working, the printer is everything other reviews say. It's little slow, particularly scanning at higher resolution, slightly loud, but very solid with good quality. Ink usage is amazing. My wife just started a class and has been printing hundreds of pages a week, since that is her preference. I have not seen the ink level budge. I truly believe that we would already have burned through the "starter" cartridges on a $99 printer and would be paying at least another $100 for genuine refills. That has been my experience in the past, even with the Brother. I believe we will break even at the 1.5-2 year mark, without any need to touch the printer. One other note: If you are concerned about the printer heads drying out during periods of low usage, just set up a scheduled monthly full-color print job. That should keep the heads moist and it won't make a dent in your ink supply. This is fairly simple on a Windows machine, although I have no experience scheduling tasks on any other OS.

Set up: The biggest problem I had was expecting it to be much harder than it was—"This seems to simple and easy. What is the documentation not telling me?" The documentation was also written by someone who knows English. It's only shortcoming is that it's a PDF file. However, it's well enough put together that cross-referencing is easy. Unit has a nice, small footprint considering everything it does. ONE (YAY!) paper tray with plenty of capacity. The touch screen can swing out and up if the printer is below eye level, but it also works perfectly if left flush with the front of the printer. For us, this is great, as the printer sits on a rack at about eye level. The touch screen is small, but easy to read and very well designed. Ink filling is very different if you are accustomed to ink cartridge printers—and frankly, easier with less mess! The only problem we foresee is buying more Epson branded ink. The Epson web site may just not like our browser. We have plenty of time to resolve the issue—the ink reservoirs are ENORMOUS compared to cartridges. It will be quite a while before we need more. We haven't tried printing on high quality paper or glossy photo paper, but the print quality is still quite good, more than adequate for our needs. Extrapolating to better paper from the print quality so far, it might well be adequate for most DTP. Online reviews we've seen indicate that photo print quality is quite good. The only thing we don't like about it is that it won't automatically turn on when a network computer sends it a document.

Very easy to install. I went with the 'network' install and all the devices in our home can use it wireless. I love how easy it is to fill the tanks, although at first I had a bit of a hard time getting to get to how to fill the tanks. I then read the instructions and all was well.

Pricey but effective, this Epson printer gets the job done without having to resort to expensive ink cartridges. My previous printer was an HP and the ink was close to $200 CDN (for both colour and black and white). Of course this is outrageous, and despite my efforts to use cheaper ink, the HP printer rejected those cartridges and I was no longer willing to pay the piper. The Epson is a bit slower to print, and is much smaller than I expected but it is certainly bigger than a bread box. Colours are a bit lighter than another HP printer in the house (not the same one i mentioned earlier here), but the photo quality with good paper is excellent as far as I'm concerned. I print on a regular basis so have not noticed the ink clogging issue others have noted in their comments. If it happens I will update this review. Highly recommend this product for domestic purposes.

Does a wonderful job! Ink doesn't last as long as our old Ecotank, but this does a fantastic job for what we need it for

Cannot say enough good things about this. Works very well and ink storage is huge.

I bought several printers previously but non of them remain with same quality. Epson products are very well made and literally worth every dollar. Easy to install and the tank feature is amazing. Very well recommended