Epson Stylus 440 - built to last (Epson Stylus Color 440)

Member Name: Dirtcreature

Product:	Epson Stylus Color 440
Date:	09/06/06 (136 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Reliable, ink cheap to replace, compact in size

Disadvantages: Slow, noisy, ink changing can be frustrating

In an age when electronic consumables are designed to fail as soon as the warranty/guarantee runs out, the Epson Stylus 440 is built to last. In short, these little beauties are tanks!

Yes, the quality isn't as good as modern printers, they are slow and noisy. But for value for money, even when bought second-hand, this model is great. Especially if you're looking for a printer that just gets the job done or a printer for a first-time user.

I was given mine by a friend due to him upgrading, as well as him telling me it needed to be fixed. I hadn't used it due to me moving house, and when I eventually got round to using it, the paper wouldn't feed properly. It turned out there were a couple of one-pence pieces stuck inside! Once these were removed, I fed paper through to unclog it. The first couple of times the paper got stuck and chewed up. But now, it's working perfectly.

As stated earlier, this model is built like a tank. Sure, it maybe be noisy and slow but the only two major drawbacks with it are 1 - because of the models' age, getting it professionally fixed should it need it is very difficult, and 2 - changing the ink and cleaning the inkjets are done by pressing the same button. You have to press the button for three seconds for the ink hoppers to come out so you can change the ink cartridges, but press the button for a fraction of a second longer and it goes into it's jet cleaning cycle...most frustrating!

I said that printing speed is slow. I personally did a dual test for a document concerning speed of printing (Pages Per Minute, or PPM for short) and quality of different fonts. I tried the fonts Times New Roman, Nosfer and A Charming Font. The quality of the fonts was perfect but the time taken is the same. For simple black and white document printing, I timed my 440 at 1 page every 45 seconds, or 1.25 PPM. It may not be good if you're in a hurry, but slow and steady this printer works well.

Another slight problem (depending on your idea of slight!) is that when the ink hopper moves left to right rapidly it can make whatever desk you have it resting on wobble a bit. It's a bit heavy-handed and not gentle or quiet.

Although the picture quality may not compare with newer models, the images you get with this printer are still good and clear, albeit with a "liney" effect" to the picture. Not good if you are looking for photo-quality pictures, especially if you have splashed out on expensive photo paper to print on.

Ink cartridges are still available for the 440 (at time of writing). However, whether you buy generic or official it's advisable that you make sure the ink is not spirit-based, as this can ruin the inkjets, degrading print quality and thus kill your printer.

I didn't have the disk with the driver for this printer, but Windows XP has basic drivers built in, so even if you pick up a second-hand 440, you may not have to worry if you don't have the software to go with it. And if you are online, you will be able to find the latest driver updates for it.

So, whether you need a printer for written work like school homework and book manuscripts or you want to print of homemade invites/flyers/etc., but are not bothered about photo-quality images, the Epson Stylus 440 will serve you long and well.

Summary: Affordable, reliable and lasts for ages

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