Supertank printer lives up to its name.
When I think back to the first printer I ever used, I don’t recall what it was exactly, but I believe it was probably a dot matrix printer with that infamous endless connected paper. It always seemed like printing a single page took forever. Ever since, I’ve been searching for that ‘perfect’ machine that would not only provide a quick print, but also a quality print. I’ve usually only seen that with the huge, professional-grade printers — not the small business all-in-one machines like the ET-8700 from Epson.
Details
The WorkForce Pro ET-8700 EcoTank All-in-One Printer is a wireless, cartridge-free machine that will change how you feel about print jobs. It’s ‘feature-rich’ and includes up to 2 years of ink in the box with the machine. You can maximize productivity with the ultra-efficient ink and print up to 16,000 pages black/11,000 color on one full tank of ink. As for speed, the ET-8700 will print at a speed of 24 ISO ppm in black or color. There are multiple paper trays (front holds 250 sheets/back holds 80 sheets) which help provide an added benefit of not needing to load the printer as often. It will print two-sided pages automatically. The printer has a large 4.3” color touchscreen and easy to use menus.
This machine is an all-in-one and includes four different devices — printer, copier, scanner, and fax machine. The printer is powered by PrecisionCore printing technology and it has full wireless capabilities. It’s very easy to print from iPad, iPhone, and Android tablets and smartphones. The ET-8700 includes Wi-Fi Direct and NFC capabilities for added connectivity benefits.
The printer ships with a manual, CD-ROM for product set-up, power cord, and DURABrite Ultra pigment ink packs (Two R02X ink packs: Black, Three sets of R02L series ink packs: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow). The ET-8700 all-in-one printer is compatible with Windows and Mac operating systems as well as the mobile platforms.
SPECS
- Printing Technology: 4-color (CMYK), drop-on-demand inkjet technology/PrecisionCore 4S printhead
- Minimum Ink Droplet Size: 3 ink droplet sizes, as small as 3.8 picoliters
- Maximum Print Resolution: 4800 x 1200 optimized dpi
- ISO Print Speed: Black – 24.0 ISO ppm, Color – 24.0 ISO ppm
- 2-Sided ISO Print Speed: Black – 15 ISO ppm, Color – 15 ISO ppm
- Ink Type: DURABrite Ultra pigment ink
- Ink Palette: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black
- Ink Configuration: 4 individual ink packs
- Replacement Ink: R02L – Standard-capacity ink packs: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black13; R02X – High-capacity ink pack: Black only13
- Ink Yield Information: R02L – Standard-capacity ink packs: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black: 5,000 pages13; R02X – High-capacity ink pack: Black only: 10,000 pages13
User Experience
The printer arrived in a very large Epson branded box. It had a lot of information on the outside of the box and even though the printer itself is larger than a standard consumer-grade machine, it’s not as big as the box makes it seem. It does weigh around 40 pounds so it’s recommended that you lift it with a partner. There is a lot of packaging around the machine to keep it safe during transport. Once you remove all of it and the printer from the box, you will see that there is quite a bit of blue tape stuck to the outside of the machine. It’s in place to keep all the different compartments closed while it’s packaged. That tape peels off easily and doesn’t leave a sticky residue.
Once you get all the tape removed, you will need to install the ink pouches. This was an interesting process for me because I’ve only ever installed cartridges or inkwells in the case of large industrial printers. So, I was surprised to find what looked like juice pouches inside the boxes of ink. When you install them in the ET-8700, you simply lay them inside the specified ink trays. Once the ink is installed, you can power it up and start the wireless connection process.
The interface with the ET-8700 is very easy to walk through. The gorgeous 4.3” display is very readable and responsive. I’ve used printers before with a touchscreen, but they haven’t been very easy to use. I’ve ended up having to use a stylus to control those. The screen on the ET-8700 is touch-sensitive and I’ve not had any issues with it responding to my finger presses. When the printer is finished initializing, you can go into the settings and connect it to your WiFi network. Again, I’ve used wireless printers before that had to continuously be reconnected manually. This Epson printer was simple to connect and I’ve not had a problem with it staying connected.
I printed from my MacBook Pro and iOS mobile devices. Epson provides packaged software for download on their website, but it’s not necessarily needed for Mac users. I downloaded the package, but my fiancé didn’t and he was still able to connect. Connecting to the iPhone and iPad were easy as well since the printer connects to the WiFi network. If you want to print from your phone, you simply select “print” from the options menu on printable items on your phone and then select the “EPSON ET-8700 Series” from the printer menu. We printed from different points in our house and never had an issue with the printer capturing the item we were printing.
Print quality from the ET-8700 has been absolutely amazing. Text prints out crisp and images are bright and full of color. Aside from the classic dot matrix printer I mentioned before, I’ve worked with industrial, commercial-size laser printers, inkjet printers, consumer-grade laser printers, and of course, I’ve seen the quality that a professional print shop can produce. The ET-8700 is just as good as, if not better than the printer that we use at my current job. I would not be embarrassed by to show a client something that was printed from this Epson printer.
We’ve not come close to using the ink provided with the printer and while Epson mentions a 16,000/11,000 page life cycle for the included ink, I think it will last us much longer than the estimated 2 years. As far as speed goes, I thought the ET-8700 printed exceptionally fast. To test its speed, I created a document filled with Lorem Ipsum text. The document was 24 pages long with text from the top of the page to the bottom. There was a 1-inch margin all the way around each page. I made the document 24 pages long since the specs of this printer call out 24ppm for its speed. So, I timed the printing using the stopwatch on my iPhone and tapped start at the same time that I clicked print on my computer. From start (sending the document to the printer) to finish (the printer pushing out the last page and spooling down), printing 24 pages of black text took 1 minute and 8 seconds.
I had a good opportunity to test out the scanning/copying function of the ET-8700, too. Shortly after getting the printer set-up, a friend needed to have a copy made of a 30-page (front/back) booklet with information about his house. This booklet was comb bound and the comb had to be carefully removed before scanning the booklet for copying. After the booklet was separated from the comb, we sent it through the copier portion of the printer to be scanned and then printed out. I set up the 2-page booklet to print out as a 2-page booklet and hit start. The entire process took less than 10 minutes from start to finish and even our friend was surprised at how well it worked and how good the copy looked.
Conclusion
As a marketing professional, I can say without a doubt that this is the easiest, most efficient printer I’ve ever worked with. Not only does it not take up a lot of desk space, but it also prints incredibly well no matter what type of task it’s given. I’ve been in awe of this devices since it arrived and I’ve never been able to say that about a printer. The WorkForce Pro ET-8700 EcoTank All-in-One Printer is an investment at nearly $1,000, but it’s one that is worth it. The set-up is easy and the quality of the prints are beyond compare. I really can’t recommend the Epson ET-8700 enough.
For more information, visit epson.com.
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