Epson Stylus CX4200 Inkjet Printer

I like everything about this printer. Ive bought several for home and office use. I like the flat bed scanner, and ease of use. I dont use it for photos as it really uses a lot of ink. I like that I can use the copier feature for black or color - even if the computer is turned off.

I purchased this printer 3 years ago. It is the biggest ink-sucker Ive ever known! I finally switched to non-OEM cartridges because I went through them so quickly. Ever time you turn it on, go to print, end a print job, turn it off--it would just use up ink. The sponge at the bottom was always completely soaked with ink no matter how often I cleaned it off and dried it up. I barely printed anything before it was time to change at least one of the cartridges, and, once one was due for a change, the other 3 werent far behind. Ive experience numerous paper jams with this machine. And who knows where its going to print on the page?!? The colors would also come out funny, ESPECIALLY if you used the scanner. I would scan an image and the colors would be completely different shades! And the quality really wasnt good for all the photo-printing features it boasts. Finally, my printer started making a funny noise last week--like a grinding. Nothing was dropped in there and the troubleshooter was a waste of time. After the noise, Id go to print and it acted like it would, but then itd start to feed the paper and itd just jam up on the right-hand side. I finally called tech support because I couldnt figure out what to do by fiddling around or using the internet. The guy finally said he couldnt help me and gave me the number and address for a computer repair place in town (at least I wouldnt have to drive too far). He told me to ask for an estimate and, if that was more (hint hint!), then he asked if Id consider looking at the Epson website. I promptly informed him that, if it cost anything, then Id definitely be purchasing a Canon and Id already been researching in the week I havent been able to print. So I called the number he gave me and was informed there was an upfront $50 diagnostic fee, which would kindly be applied to whatever charges thered be after the guy was done looking at it. For $50 I can purchase a well-reviewed Canon Pixma iP2600. For a little more, Im looking at the Canon Pixma MP470 (currently on sale at BestBuy for $79.99). So, after 3 years of hating my printer, it rebels for the last time less than 2 months before I start medical school and have all these other stresses going on. This was just what I needed to finally warn the world about this terrible, horrible piece of equipment!!! Time to go buy the Canon I should have purchased last time...

I inherited this printer, so it sat in a box for over a year before I used it. Even after sitting for so long it still worked--ink and all. When the printer stopped working because Of low ink, I replaced all ink cartridges and was back to printing. This is a small, space efficient printer/scanner. The replacement ink cartridges are economical--three color cartridges for about $30.00. I also own an HP all-in-one printer with fax. The HP is a workhorse, but the cost of ink is double the price of Epsons cartridges and last about as long. If your printing needs are modest, youre not printing your novel or 40 pages of notes a day, this is a reasonable printer to consider. The print quality is great, and photos can be printed directly from your camera.

Just got one of these puppies, and have been using it to print my tax forms, and copy my Tax software/printer rebate parapernalia. Very pleased so far with the quality of the output and the ease of use. The b/w and color single sheet copy features are very easy to use - just put your item on the scanner glass and hit either the b/w or color copy button - it is that easy. One issue I should mention, on my WinXP machine, after I installed the drivers and other software and when my computer came back up after I was instructed to reboot, it didnt recognize the new USB printer device at first... I ended up powering down my system, unplugging the USB connection, and then after I rebooted my system, I plugged in the printers USB connection, and the system recognized the new USB device, and the rest of the printer install went smoothly.

I like this printer. It scans well, copies well, print quality is very good, and its relatively quick. I like that the ink doesnt run when wet and that each of the 4 colors has its own cartridge, so you dont have to replace all colors when only one color is out. I had a CX6400 which lasted 3 years and then just gave out. The CX4200 is one year old now, and there have been no problems.

I think it is a fantastic machine. I previously owned a more expensive epson photo printer with the 5-color ink tank and it was much slower and had all sorts of issues such as nozzle drying. I dont print every day and the inks in my cx4200 have never dried or clogged. Furthermore, they last forever--it has been 6 months since I purchased this printer and only now is my black ink cartridge showing a low level while my color tanks are more than halfway full. The individual ink tanks are a great plus for saving money. Its worth mentioning that the printer feels nice and solid and isnt glossy or cheap looking. Ive seen other comparable all-in-ones which are much bulkier or seem to have flimsy buttons and tacky coloring. The dark grey color of this epson is professional looking and simple. The standalone photo copying is awesome and very quick. Using photo paper, the copies are good enough to send to friends or family or to make postcards or greeting cards. The fully-automated scanning works like a charm and it identifies whether you are scanning a photo or document all on its own. I recently figured out I can create a .pdf document within minutes with the Epson scanning software, without having to upgrade my Adobe Acrobat reader. I use both a laptop running XP professional and an iMac G5 and can switch back and forth from PC to Mac with no problems. I would definitely buy this again and would recommend it to my friends. Best of all, if you buy this printer in combination with a digital camera, you get [...] back via mail-in [...] making the price very affordable.

I dont know what to say - but Ive bought Epson printers in the past and have good fortune with them. This one however - as other reviewers stated needs all 4 colors to be filled for it to work at all. You can only buy the cartridges from Epson now since they sued all the after marketers. A typcial price for all four colors cost over $50 now. I would not even by this printer dirt cheap - I plan to throw mine away and get another brand.

I, too, am incredibly aggravated that I cannot print with only black ink. I ran out of blue ink but all my other inks are full, and I just want to print a black & white document. The printer wont print at all even though I checked the various print only black printer options.

I just threw away an Epson CX5400, which is very similar to this CX4200. It stopped printing due to a design defect - an ink clog that occurs in a tube that is very difficult to fix. The bottom line is, it will last 1-2 years if youre lucky. Whereas an HP or Canon will last for many years longer. If you dont believe me, see the reviews for the CX5400, which has been out longer and has had time to accumulate a lot of reviews.

The printing only works when ALL the ink cartridges have ink - including pages that only require black ink. Here is how I found out: I just got a great deal on black ink for the Epson CX5400 that was clearence priced at Staples. I even bought an extra cartridge. After installing the black ink and then trying to print out a text document, I found out that the Epson company wasnt going to let me print text (black ink only) documents unless I also buy the cyan and magenta ink cartridges too. What a screw over! So I threw the Epson Stylus CX5400 in the garbage and will NEVER buy from Epson again.