Background:
When I started my small business, I initially used our home HP Photosmart 7520, which was a solid photo printer and has consistently done a great job of printing product labels. For my particular business, we also have a need for color-accurate photocopies. As the business has grown, the cost of replacement ink cartridges for the HP 7520 has become a significant issue. Although HP claims 750 pages with color per XL ink cartridge, the number is more like 100 (or less) when photocopying full-color pages and printing sheets of product labels. Because the genuine HP cartridges are now $20-$25 each, we use them until they run out, not just until the printer recommends changing it, to maximize the ink use. We've been going through a set of color cartridges every 4-6 weeks.
Evaluating Options:
Our specific requirements for a new printer were:
An improvement in replacement ink/toner cost over the HP 7520;
Less frequent cartridge replacement (to avoid the time wasted determining exactly which cartridge finally ran out);
Reasonable responsive to copying and printing requests.
High-quality color printing on non-photo media - Avery matte and gloss labels.
Accurate color photocopies - this one is particularly challenging because it's never covered in reviews. It depends on both the ability of the scanner to properly detect the colors of the original and to match those colors with correct output selections.
Eternet was highly desirable but not a 'must have'
An automatic document feeder (ADF) for the scanner was a nice to have but not important.
In order to evaluate color copy quality, I went to different brick and mortar stores that carry demonstration models. This was still a challenge as I found most stores (Staples, Office Depot and Best Buy) didn't keep their demos properly stocked with ink and paper, or they intentionally place a letter-sized sticker over the copier bed. The Epson EcoTank printers proved to be the most difficult to evaluate, because not a single store had one with ink. I was told the reason for that was that people steal the ink by siphoning it out of the tank. However, a Canon MegaTank printer at the same Office Depot store had a full tank of ink, reportedly because the Canon sales rep loaded it.
Calculating Upfront and Running Cost:
I included the upfront cost of each printer and used a page count of 10,000 to evaluate all products in the same manner. All page capacities for ink and toner were based off what the manaufacturer claimed, and the pricing for replacement ink and the printers was based off the best available Amazon price on April 23, 2018 using only genuine OEM ink/toner.
Color Copy Performance:
In evaluating color copy performance, I used a test image selected as a representative challenge for our copying, and used that original document with all tests performed on all equipment. I generally found most laser printers to be significantly inferior to the HP7520's output, which was our baseline. The Canon MF632cdw/MF731cdw laser printer family was the only laser printer to perform adequately enough, but the cost analysis for toner estimated it would only improve our consumable rate by a 25% savings. Both Canon laser printers fell at approximately $1,550 in our evaluation (the 731 was slightly lower due to its larger capacity cartridges and slightly more favorable price point per page).
For inkjets, I evaluated an HP 8710 and a Canon Pixma G4200 as having comparable quality copying output, but the time it took to generate a copy was unacceptable. The HP 8710 took 1 minute, 6 seconds to produce a color copy (tested on two different 8710s at different stores and got the same result) and the Canon took approximately 45 seconds. The HP8740 (same family as the 8710 with additional features) was a significant improvement in projected ink cost ($1,135 vs the HP 7520's $2,056).
I did not include any of the numerous other printers I tested which produced color copies that were completely unacceptable for our purposes.
At the end of the testing, I wasn't able to evaluate the Expression Premium ET-7700 prior to purchase. Since the printer was $449.99 at the time I bought it, this was a big leap of faith, because printers, like most electronics, have highly restrictive return policies if allowed at all. Based on overall good reviews, I still selected the ET-700 for these reasons:
-by my cost analysis, it was $490, a 75% savings over the HP7520 and second only to the Canon Pixma G4200 (which was $360).
-user reviews reported excellent copy quality and color prints, and times
-the fact that it used a photo black lent itself to producing better color prints (based on both user reviews and my experience with the HP7520, which is also a 5-color inkjet)
-it had Ethernet (it does not have an ADF)
-because the ink bottles refill large tanks, you never need to drain a cartridge or fiddle with cartridges running out (a big bonus particularly with a 5-color product).
After buying the ET-7700, I have to both rate it 5-stars and provide a basis of comparison for the testing. I rarely write product reviews, but because of the effort I went through, I wanted to help other potential buyers.
The ET-7700's color copy output was superior to all other all-in-ones tested, and slightly better than the HP7520. It copies and prints full color noticeably faster than the HP7520, and was faster at copying than all other inkjets evaluated (the Canon laser printer was the fastest with acceptable quality). The quality of the product labels produced on the same Avery labels was outstanding and not visually different than the HP7520.
Loading the ink with the bottles, in my opinion, was trivially easy and clearly thought was put into the system in this regard (the bottle stops filling the tank when the tank is nearly full, and didn't leak during removal even when the bottle had ink remaining in it). I do like how they keyed the bottles to only mate with the correct color. Although I'm very careful, I can't imagine trying to 'fix' putting the wrong color in a tank.
In the end it's been a big relief so far that I took the leap and selected the ET-7700. The printer's been in use for one week - if there is an issue overtime I will update my review. The ET-7700 outperformed every other unit I tested quite handily, while still providing us the improvement in efficiency we were hoping for by reducing cartridge fiddling and a staggering reduction in ink cost without compromising quality. It's really a shame people can't see how good the output looks in the brick and mortar stores, because these would really fly off the shelf. Nice job Epson.
4 stars and above
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From the manufacturer
The Wide-Format Wireless EcoTank All-in-One with Cartridge-Free Printing
Wireless | Wide-format | Print | Copy | Scan | Photo | Ethernet
Featuring 5-color inks, the wide-format Expression Premium ET-7750 wireless EcoTank all-in-one offers revolutionary cartridge-free printing with easy-to-fill, supersized ink tanks. It includes up to 2 years of ink in the box (1), equivalent to about 30 ink cartridge sets (2). That’s an incredible amount of ink — enough to print documents up to 9,000 pages, or thousands of 4" x 6" photos (3). Plus, it features Epson exclusive auto-stop ink bottles, with each color uniquely keyed for easy filling of each tank. And, you save up to 80 percent on ink with low-cost replacement bottles (4). The ET-7750 also prints up to 11" x 17" and includes paper and photo trays, plus built-in USB/card slots (5).
1. Based on average monthly document print volumes of about 300 pages.
2. Included ink bottle yields based on the ISO/IEC 24712 pattern with Epson’s methodology. Actual ink yields will vary considerably. All ink colors are used for printing & printer maintenance & all colors must be available for printing. For details, see our official site.
3. Cartridge sets estimate based on print yields of included Black & color ink bottles as compared to Epson standard-capacity ink cartridge sets for similarly featured cartridge printers as of March 2017.
4. Savings comparison based on purchase cost of replacement ink bottles & cost of enough cartridges to achieve total page yields of bottles. See product description below for details.
- Up to 2 years of ink in the box (1).
- Print documents up to 14,000 pgs bk/9,000 clr (3).
- Equivalent to about 30 cartridge sets (2).
- Save up to 80% on ink with replacement bottles (4).
- Uniquely keyed auto-stop 5-color ink bottles.
- Print docs & photos up to 11" x 17".
- Paper/photo trays plus rear feed (6).
- Built-in USB & card slots (5).
Key Features
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Cartridge-Free PrintingComes with up to 2 years of ink in the box (1). |
Includes Ink to Print up to 14,000 Pages Black/9000 Color(3)Equivalent to about 30 ink cartridge sets (2). |
Save up to 80% on Ink with Low-cost Replacement Bottles (4)Plus easy-to-fill, supersized ink tanks. |
5-color InksFor printing high-quality documents and photos up to 11" x 17". |
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Versatile Paper HandlingDedicated paper and photo trays, plus a rear specialty feed (6). |
Easy PC-free PrintingWith built-in USB and memory card slots (5). |
Large, Easy-to-Read 2.7" Color LCDSimple setup and navigation. |
Complete Wireless SolutionEasily print from iPad, iPhone, Android tablets and smartphones (7); includes Wi-Fi Direct (8) and Ethernet. |
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| ET-2750 | ET-3700 | ET-3750 | ET-4750 | ET-7700 | ET-7750 | |
| Ideal for | Productive home printing | Fast, high capacity home printing | High quality business printing | High quality business printing | High quality documents & photos | High quality wide-fromat documents & photos |
| Functions (Print, Scan, Copy, Fax, Photo, Wide Format) | Print, Scan, Copy | Print, Scan, Copy | Print, Scan, Copy | Print, Scan, Copy, Fax | Print, Scan, Copy, Photo | Print, Scan, Copy, Photo, Wide Format |
| Enough Ink to Print up to | 6,500 pages black / 5,200 color (Bottles) | 14,000 pages black / 11,200 color (Bottles) | 14,000 pages black / 11,200 color (Bottles) | 14,000 pages black / 11,200 color (Bottles) | 14,000 pages black / 9,000 color (Bottles) | 14,000 pages black / 9,000 color (Bottles) |
| Speed PPM | 10.5 Black / 5 Color | 15 Black / 8 Color | 15 Black / 8 Color | 15 Black / 8 Color | 13 Black / 10 Color | 13 Black / 10 Color |
| Auto 2-sided | ||||||
| Automatic Document Feeder (Capacity) | No | No | 30 sheets | 30 sheets | No | No |
| Paper Handling | 100 sheets | 150 sheets | 150 sheets | 250 sheets | 100 sheets / 20 photo paper | 100 sheets / 20 photo paper |
| Display & Size | 1.44” color | 2.4” color | 2.4” color | 2.4” color touch | 2.7” color | 2.7” color |
| Connectivity Technology | USB, WiFi, WiFi Direct | USB, WiFi, WiFi Direct, Ethernet | USB, WiFi, WiFi Direct, Ethernet | USB, WiFi, WiFi Direct, Ethernet | USB, WiFi, WiFi Direct, Ethernet | USB, WiFi, WiFi Direct, Ethernet |
| Mobile Printing & Standalone Printing | From smartphones and tablets, AirPrint, Print directly from memory card slots | From smartphones and tablets, AirPrint | From smartphones and tablets, AirPrint | From smartphones and tablets, AirPrint | From smartphones and tablets, AirPrint, Print directly from USB & memory card slots | From smartphones and tablets, AirPrint, Print directly from USB & memory card slots |
Customer reviews
Warning: Maintenance Box is now an expense so they can rip you off
Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2018
The first thing that caught my eye when I removed the printer from the box was a "Maintenance Box Service Life" box. I thought to myself what is this? Now each time I print, I notice that the ink levels are not going down very fast but the life of this mysterious thing called a "Maintenance Box Service Life" keeps going down remarkably fast.Update: my printer is telling me I will need to change this box... RRRRRRRRRRRRR this makes me mad.Also, I have never had a printer that so easily smears the ink on the pages. It seems to clear up when I clean the print head, but it is anoying.
Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2018
Images in this review
Top reviews from the United States
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ET-7700 selected after exhaustive comparison of color copying and printing performance for small business
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2018Style: ET-7700Verified Purchase
Top reviews from other countries
Client d'Amazon
Good printer, will save you $$ in ink
Reviewed in Canada on January 9, 2019Style: ET-7750 (Wide-Format to 11"x17")Verified Purchase
Marc
Nice ink supply -- almost comically bad design of cassettes - get ready to be a disk jockey
Reviewed in Canada on September 13, 2018Style: ET-7700Verified Purchase
Jon
Great image quality and scanning function, a few catches though
Reviewed in Canada on October 1, 2019Style: ET-7700Verified Purchase
Dr Karl F. Ehrlich
EPSON AND CANOPY WARRANTY - BAD PURCHASE EXPERIENCE
Reviewed in Canada on January 7, 2020Style: ET-7750 (Wide-Format to 11"x17")Verified Purchase
Stephen Mills
very very disapointed in the product and lack of competent customer service
Reviewed in Canada on February 3, 2019Style: ET-7750 (Wide-Format to 11"x17")Verified Purchase
