Q- buying refurb'd printer (epson) SAFE?

[Brian]

I'm in the market for a newer and better printer. My room mate has an Epson
Stylus C84 and it prints real fast, and the photo quality is awesome (I
printed on best setting w/ photo paper - beautiful results). I am not ready
to pay top dollar for a printer though.

I am on Epson's website and I see that I can get the C82 printer for $74.00
with free shipping and a free USB cable. Heck, on eBay it looks like it'll
be about 85-90 shipped, then the USB cost on top of that. So I am wondering,
will a refurbed printer be just as good as buying a new one? I know that it
is one other persons problem, but the refurbs are factory fixed to be good
as new are they not? For the price, it seems like a GREAT deal.

Also, for ink, would generic (non-oem) cartridges work just as well as EPSON
branded cartridges? I see generic sealed colors are much cheaper than EPSON
marked ones. How would these perform?

If anyone could help with these two questions I would appreciate it. I'd
really like to get a good printer like this and this seems like a really
good one and a good deal. What are your thoughts on this?

Thanks,
Brian

 

[Safetymom123]

I have have very good experiences with refurbed products. The C84 is only
$99 though. The C84 has a better black ink for printing on glossy paper.
At this stage I don't think the refillers can match that ink. It all
depends on what you are using the printer for.

 

[Kennedy McEwen]

I'm in the market for a newer and better printer. My room mate has an Epson
Stylus C84 and it prints real fast, and the photo quality is awesome (I
printed on best setting w/ photo paper - beautiful results). I am not ready
to pay top dollar for a printer though.

I am on Epson's website and I see that I can get the C82 printer for $74.00
with free shipping and a free USB cable. Heck, on eBay it looks like it'll
be about 85-90 shipped, then the USB cost on top of that. So I am wondering,
will a refurbed printer be just as good as buying a new one? I know that it
is one other persons problem, but the refurbs are factory fixed to be good
as new are they not? For the price, it seems like a GREAT deal.

Two schools of thought on this:
1. Refurb is better than new because there is a small number of printers
which do leave the factory with faults - and a refurb should have had
its fault fixed.

2. Refurbs cannot be guaranteed to be as good as new because they are
not setup using the standard factory equipment, only to meet the
manufacturers specification and, since most manufacturers of volume
products operate six-sigma manufacturing practices, the vast majority of
new product is manufactured to well within this specification.

You choose which school you adhere to depending on experience,
geographic location and finance and the risk you are prepared to take.
Personally, I hold with the second school of thought on this when it
comes to choosing between a refurb and new - although I appreciate you
are not in that position.

If you look on the back of the printer it says "Made in Japan" but on a
refurb that could well mean "Then disassembled and rebuilt in some
Arkansas backwater" for all you know. These refurbs are NOT sent back
to the manufacturer's factory to be fixed, although Epson America would
like you to think they were - its just too expensive and problematic.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on which way you look at it)
the only thing Epson America make is marketing spin, and historically
they have proved themselves to be woefully inadequate even at that.

You have no idea what the original defect on a refurb was - it could
have been anything from a missing instruction manual to a wrecked print
head or transport mechanism or worse: an unidentified fault, meaning it
is probably still faulty.

On the other hand, can you trust Ebay sellers? Some, perhaps, but at
least a refurb will have a warranty - as well as an initial set of ink
carts and some demo sheets of paper.

Given the comparison you are making, I would go with the refurb, but you
should be comparing that with the price of a new printer. Epson's (and
now most manufacturers) business model for these printers is to give you
the machine for next to nothing once the cost of inks and other included
consumables is discounted - then get their money back on the consumables
you use. Given that business model, there is little sense in taking the
risk on a refurb for a few bucks off the new price.

Also, for ink, would generic (non-oem) cartridges work just as well as EPSON
branded cartridges? I see generic sealed colors are much cheaper than EPSON
marked ones. How would these perform?

Most *generic* ink is crap and will not perform as well as OEM ink,
especially in terms of colour matching in photo images and longevity -
assuming it doesn't clog the printer first. Some non-OEM ink is very
good, even better than OEM, but this is usually ink that is provided
with a specific profile to ensure accurate colour rendition.

 

[Steve Sherman]

I recently purchased a refurb'd Epson scanner and printer (820) from the
Epson website. So far I have been pleased with both purchases. Both
items work well and cannot be distinguished from new.

However, I would note that in this Sunday's Ad fliers, one store (Office
Max or depot I beleive) was offering a C82 for $50 after rebates, which
is less than Epson's price for their refurbished ones...

HTH

 

[Brian]

REALLY? I don't have office depot near me. I see on officedepot.com though,
they have the C82 listed for $98.64, with a $20 rebate. I also have a $20
off $100 coupon code. However if I try to add it to my cart it says there is
a problem and that it is Discontinued.

Office Max doesn't have it either. Am I missing something? I really want
this printer now and you got me hype'd over this sale I cant find :-/

Brian

 

[Brian]

Hate following up on myself. I see on staples.com the C82 for 59.98 ($20
instant savings - 79.98 upfront, and a $20 mail in rebate). I'm heading to
staples tomorrow morning to try to get my hands on one Do you know if
it'll include ink with it already like I am hoping/assuming for immediate
use?

 

[Kennedy McEwen]

Hate following up on myself. I see on staples.com the C82 for 59.98 ($20
instant savings - 79.98 upfront, and a $20 mail in rebate). I'm heading to
staples tomorrow morning to try to get my hands on one Do you know if
it'll include ink with it already like I am hoping/assuming for immediate
use?

I don't know of any new Epson printers which don't ship with ink carts -
at least that is the case on this side of the pond. However, you should
be aware that you will not get as many pages from the first carts as you
should expect from subsequent ones because some of that ink is used to
prime the printer - filling the print head to the point where it
functions properly.

 

[Brian]

Staples didn't have any in stock :-/ I ordered one from epson direct and am
awaiting its arrival! Can't wait.

Brian

I don't know of any new Epson printers which don't ship with ink carts -
at least that is the case on this side of the pond. However, you should
be aware that you will not get as many pages from the first carts as you
should expect from subsequent ones because some of that ink is used to
prime the printer - filling the print head to the point where it
functions properly.
--
Kennedy
Yes, Socrates himself is particularly missed;
A lovely little thinker, but a bugger when he's pissed.
Python Philosophers (replace 'nospam' with 'kennedym' when

replying)