Excellent Value for Money! (Epson Stylus 580)

Member Name: Islander

Product:	Epson Stylus 580
Date:	21/02/01 (506 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Print Quality, Price, Customer Service,

Disadvantages: No on/off switch, No USB cable supplied, Loose paper tray.

Having had a need to replace my HP printer, I have been on the lookout for an affordable replacement that is cheap to run, but still has a decent print output. Having looked at the models available in my price range, I decided to settle for this model (which at a shade under £70 including delivery), was a good price for a colour printer with a 1440x720 dpi output. This opinion is split into two – the printer itself, and my dealings with Epson.

The Printer

Print Quality

I can’t fault the print quality, it is clear, sharp and certainly better than my last printer (which I paid more for), plus the ink is dry when the page comes out the printer, so smudging the ink is a thing of the past. The quoted capacity for the cartridges is approx 300 pages in black and 125 pages in colour (assuming an average of 5% coverage on the page), this may not sound a lot, but seeing as compatible cartridges are available for around £3/black and £4/colour, it should not cost that much to run. The print speed is also quite good, it may not be up with the more expensive printers (or the Laser ones), but it’s no slouch either.

I don’t need photo quality output, as I find that printing out photos gets to be expensive when you take into account photo quality paper and ink, in fact I rarely use the maximum dpi as this uses a lot of ink and for normal letters, internet printouts and course work (its main use), the normal setting produces excellent quality. Out of interest though, and to see what it was like, I did print out an A4 size .jpg picture, and I was impressed with the output, it was far superior to my previous HP printer, even though I only printed out on the normal setting and on the HP I used the best setting, the actual sharpness was at least twice as good if not better.

It is also quieter to use than I have been used to it (although it is nowhere near silent) and does not shake the desk at all – the HP
used to cause things to fall off the desk it vibrated so much (I could probably have used it to mix paintJ).

It will accept a wide range of papers and had no trouble printing out some business cards on 190gsm card (with very pleasing results).

Appearance

It comes in the normal beige colour, with a semi-transparent (frosted?) plastic flip-up cover that allows access to the two ink tanks – one for the black cartridge and one for the colour cartridge. For connection to the computer it comes as USB only, so if you don’t have USB capability then forget this model (the next one up in the range – the 680, has both USB and Parallel interfaces). Disappointingly, there is no on/off switch on the printer (actually, there are no controls or lights at all on it), so if it is plugged in it is on.

This actually has a major downside, in that every time you turn on the computer the printer is on (that may sound useful, but bear with me), and when you turn off the computer the printer goes through its cleaning cycle (and wastes ink) whether you have used it or not, the only way around this is to unplug it if not in use, which is an awkward state of affairs for me as the plug sockets at home are not that easy to get to (it involves crawling around under the desk).

***The USB cable is NOT supplied with the printer, and has to be purchased separately – daft I know, as you wouldn’t buy a video recorder, then have to buy a lead to connect it to the TV would you?***

Build Quality

The printer itself, is not too badly made, but neither is it brilliant, just average. Because of the design with the paper tray's, it appears fragile and the front paper tray seems very loose and is easy to knock off (especially if like me, you have it on a shelf under the desk about knee high), but then you get what you pay for, and this printer did not cost a lot, and it has the quality where it counts (in the
printouts!), and I am sure that the more expensive models will show a higher build quality (I know my previous Epson did), and anyway it does the job far better than I expected it would.

Setting Up

Once I had a working printer, setting it up was a cinch, the supplied step-by-step instructions are excellent, well laid out and easy to follow. It was just a case of plugging-in the USB cable, loading the CD and waiting for the instruction to plug-in the power lead, everything is done on-screen (testing printer and aligning print-heads).

Other Features

A nice feature is the on-screen display that shows a graphic representation of each of the ink cartridges and how much ink they contain (on my HP, you only knew you were running out when the print faded), there is even an option to turn on an audible warning signal. The onscreen display also allows access to the other functions like aligning the print heads when a new cartridge is installed, cleaning the print heads and checking the nozzles for blockage. It is easy to use the interface, as it is very intuitive and straightforward, must functions are self-explanatory, but if you get stuck it has some well laid out help screens.

It also comes with a decent manual and on-line help on the CD, as well as a simple set-by-step set up guide that is very easy to understand and follow.

My Dealing’s with Epson

Setting up the printer was not as straight forward as I was expecting, and it was not so much ‘Plug and Play’ as ‘Plug and Pray’. It was during a problem with the set-up that I had cause to contact Epson’s technical support and utilise the swap-out guarantee.

On trying to set-up the printer I followed the instructions to the letter, and nothing, it would not establish a connection with the computer, I phoned technical support, tried everything they suggested (while on the phone being charged at the national rate) a
nd it was determined that the printer was DOA (dead on arrival). No problem they would send a new one out that day, which I would get the following day and also pick up the knackered one, so, I had to wait in (to be fair the guy I spoke to in technical support was very helpful and knowledgeable, my frustration started the following day).

Nothing arrived, so I phoned back to be told, it takes two days to deliver to the Channel Islands, “Fine” I said, “but I don’t live in the Channel Islands, I live on the Isle of Wight, which is no where near the Channel Islands, and next day delivery is never a problem with other companies”. I was told it would definitely arrive on Friday, so in I waited, and…nothing, so I phoned again, this time I was told that I couldn’t have the call reference number I had been given, as they have not got up that high yet. I was then told that a printer had been despatched, and that they would chase it up with the courier, but send another one out anyway that would definitely arrive on Monday morning. Monday came and you’ve guessed it…bugger all, so back on the phone to be told it was going out that night and I would receive it sometime in the week (it eventually arrived on the Thursday).

If they had told me it would take a week or so, then I would have accepted it, what got to me was the fact they kept giving me different excuses and telling me it had been sent when it obviously hadn’t and consequently I had to wait in expecting a delivery that was never going to come, I have e-mailed them about this, and am awaiting a reply.

!As it turns out, the problem ended up not being with the printer, but with the supplied power cord.

Conclusion

Overall I am very happy with the printer, build quality apart, it cannot really be faulted, especially considering the price. The output is excellent, it is easy to use, has a well designed interface a
nd it should not be that expensive to run, which for me are the most important qualities it could have, I can live with the other foibles, as it would cost me a lot more otherwise (I paid £69 incl. Delivery from Dabs, but I have seen it for as high as £89, so shop around). As for my dealings with Epson, I have probably just been unlucky and am prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt on this occasion, as I have heard and read good things about them in the computer press and from other sources.

***Since writing this opinion, I have a received a very courteous reply from Epson, in which they apologise for the problems and assure me that the process has been modified so that the chances of it happening again are minimised. They also say that they normally have very high levels of support, but in this case they failed to achieve the high levels they set themselves and as a gesture of goodwill they are sending me a set of inkjet cartridges. This level of service bears out what I have heard and read from other sources and I am impressed with their response, as an apology would have done.

Any company can make a mistake, what is important is the steps they take to rectify it (I don’t know who said it, but the quote “The man who hasn’t made a mistake, hasn’t made anything!” comes to mind), and in this case the response from Epson has been most impressive, they have held up their hands and said sorry (which I would have been happy with), the icing on the cake (so to speak) is them sending me the cartridges as a goodwill gesture. After this I would wholeheartedly recommend Epson products and service, as I feel that they have done everything they could (and more) in the circumstances***

Summary: