Epson Artisan 800 All-in-One Review

We recently got a chance to test out the Epson Artisan 800 Wireless Photo All-in-One Printer ($299). I must say that we’re usually very cautious of these all-in-one types that promise the functionality of so many gadgets in one, but the Epson Artisan 800 really delivers. Not only does it print, but it copies, scans, faxes, and produces very nice HD quality photos.

Out of the Box:

Where as most printers look like kitchen appliances suitable for slicing vegetables, the Epson Artisan 800 out of the box looks more stylish and refined in its design. It is very sleek for a printer and doesn’t have too many exposed buttons or insert slots.  Most of the buttons and trays are hidden nicely tucked away behind nifty sliding compartments.

Installation:

We usually skip the quick start guide and just plug in a few things in, turn on the power switch and cross our fingers that it works. With the Epson Artisan 800, you have a few more installation pages and steps to navigate through to get it up and running, but nothing out of the ordinary or overly complex. Installing the ink cartridges was a snap and each of the ink colors were clearly labeled. The paper tray was easy to fill and fairly intuitive to figure out. Since one of the main cool features was that it was wireless we decided to give that a shot. We tested it with our trusty Sony VAIO laptop and then later via USB (cord not included) to a 7 month old Dell Inspiron (both running Vista). Both setups took only a few minutes using their installation CD.

Print Quality:

Of course the true test of any printer is the actual printing right? We tested a variety of print jobs to see how it would hold up. The color documents reproduced crisp black and white text along with some beautiful colors. The 4×6 photo we tested came out very nice as well. The colors were vibrant throughout and photos were dry to the touch as soon as they dropped on the tray.  We were also impressed at the shear speed of the printing.  The Epson Artisan 800 prints noticeably fast and was surprisingly quiet. This is a huge plus if you have a shared working environment and don’t want to turn up your Pandora station just to drown out the noise.

Things we especially liked:

• Photo image quality was impressive
• Wi-Fi capability meant we could print from anywhere in the office or home
• Prints directly onto CDs and DVDs which is great for multimedia projects
• Has very large LCD display (7.8″) with tilt
• Whisper quiet like printing
• It does not shake the entire desk while printing like our other printers do

Things we didn’t like:

• The installation was not as plug and play as we would have liked, but easily forgivable given the fact that this printer packs in more features.
• Paper trays and loader did not feel industrial strength (a wee bit flimsy)

The Final Verdict: This is great buy for anyone looking for a sophisticated looking printer that prints gorgeous photos. The extra fax/copy/scanning capabilities give it a lot of added-value points to its overall appeal.  The price point ($299) is right in that sweet spot for its level of utility and its clean lines won’t make it an eyesore on your desk.

The Epson Artisan 800 is available now at Amazon for $299.

Features of the Epson Artisan 800:

• 5-in-1 with Wi-Fi: Print, Copy, Scan, Fax, Ultra HD Photo
• Smart 7.8” Touch Panel with 3.5” LCD that lights up only the buttons needed to bring essential controls to your fingertips
  
• Prints directly onto ink jet printable CDs and DVDs
  
• Easily create and print photo layouts with various size photos on a single sheet of paper
• Turn photos or drawings into personalized coloring book pages
• Create personal notepaper with your photo as the background
• Wi-Fi and Ethernet networking
• 30-page Automatic Document Feeder
• Full-featured fax capability
• Print college-ruled, wide-ruled and graph school paper
• Fax Automatic Document Feeder
• Two paper trays always ready to print photos and documents

The Epson Artisan 800 is available now at Amazon for $299.