Epson D88+ - Great quality, but one really annoying issue (Epson Stylus D88 Plus)

Member Name: neillya1

Product:	Epson Stylus D88 Plus
Date:	15/03/09 (202 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great printing quality, good printing speed

Disadvantages: Attempting to force "Genuine" Epson ink and unable to queue print jobs with non genuine ink

A printer is one of those things that everyone should have, so after my last one (A canon) decided to pack up, I of course went in search of another.
I found the D88 Plus at PC World for £88 (What a coincidence!) and decided to buy it there and then, as it seemed like a good price, and I know Epson are a reputable brand.

The first thing I noticed when I set it up was that it started printing a lot quicker than my previous printer, and the drivers were very, very easy to install. From clicking "print" to the printing starting was only a few seconds, a good change from the 10 minutes of whirring and banging from the old machine.

After messing around with the settings a bit (Quality settings go from Draft to Best Photo), I found that text & image works best for a speed/quality balance.

The quality was indeed very good, very sharp images and great contrast.
Printing speed was great too, a page took about 10 seconds, and will be done in 2-3 on the "draft" setting, which still gives good quality for text files.

The downside of this printer is the emphasis it places on "Genuine Epson Ink". I, of course, don't use genuine Epson ink, as it is ridiculously priced (around £14 per cartridge) I use "InkWorld" ink at around £3 per cartridge. The printing quality and speed is IDENTICAL to the genuine ink, so don't be afraid to use cheaper alternatives.

When using non genuine ink however, a message saying "Warnging, using non genuine epson ink may damage your printer!" appears for every file you wish to print, and you must verify that you still wish to print.
This is really annoying, as I can't queue up 5/6 printing jobs, as I need to click "continue" between each one.
There may be a way to get rid of this, but I'm not sure, I haven't found one yet.

That's all there is to say really about this printer - Great quality, good speed, hasn't broke once yet (and I've have it just over a year now). The ink levels stay high for a LONG time, but then seem to dip suddenly, so be warned about that - always have spare ink handy.

The non genuine ink warning messages are down right annoying and not needed to be honest, it's just Epson trying to increase profits by scare-mongering people into thinking genuine ink is needed.

The fact that I can't queue print jobs because of this is the major disadvantage, so if you're looking for a printer to use for lots of office paper work/spreadsheets etc, avoid ANY Epson printer, they all do this.

Summary: A good printer for the price if you are a casual home user

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