Inkjet Printer: End of the Year Roundup

Epson C62

The C62 is based on the inevitable principle of "the less I pay for my printer, the less ink I get in my cartridges and the more they cost me." Still, the cost per page is not outrageous but actually pretty average. In fact, it is similar to the Canon S330 and lower than the HP Deskjet 3820. However, it is also twice that of the general-purpose Canons with separate cartridges. So the C62 should be considered as a spare printer and used sparingly.

As a 10x15 photo printer, C62 costs are again average, mostly due to the low price of Epson photo paper.

We ran the lifetime tests at the same resolution as the i320 and Deskjet 3820, that is, slightly higher than the default resolution, which we found a bit low. Meaning "Text & Photo" mode rather than "Text" mode.

Epson C82

So much is clear: in the default Text resolution, both color and monochrome prints are bad. More about this later. For the moment, we shall assume you would always work in the higher Text & Photo mode, and we estimated the cost per page accordingly. Stands to reason.

The result is that, in spite of Epson's claim to have slashed their ink prices (easily done if you work in a mode close to draft), the cost per page has hardly changed at all. In monochrome, it is exactly the same as on the C70 and C80. Not surprising, since the cartridge is the same. In color, the change of cartridge results in a gain of a cent and a bit, virtually nothing. Still, the end result is not too bad, with a cost per page halfway between the really economical separate-cartridge Canons and the costly HP Deskjet 5550. We just regret that we did not have enough cartridges to calculate how much a photo costs with this printer. Sorry about that.

  • lucyrssll
    Stinkyink now offer ink cartridges for the Epson Stylus Photo 830 ink. Oh and it's free delivery too!
    Reply