Epson Stylus Photo RX500 All-In-One Inkjet Printer

An excellent score for an All-In-One photo printer? Well, make sure that your expectations are correct, first. I bought this because I'm an avid photographer, I'd like to make an occassional photo print, I need to scan something every now and then, and I print a document about once a week. If you're looking for a serious photo printer, this is not for you (there are better Epsons). If you have a heavy print cycle, this will not be for you (personal lasers are wonderfully cheap). But if you need something that does a little bit of everything, this is it.

All-in-ones are straightforward -- we've probably all used them before. Overall, there's nothing that this printer does that no other printer can do. It does it all and does it well. Six independent color cartridges saves you ink, which is a nice touch. The built-in media readers is something that I didn't think that I would use, but it is convenient because it's right there -- one less thing to keep around on my desk. The printer isn't small, but it doesn't use much more than its footprint. If you forget to open the output tray in the front while printing, paper can actually sit inside the printer without jamming. Speaking of jams, I've had none in the past year.

Don't bother with the Epson RX600, which only adds a color LCD display. I always tweak photos on the computer before I print, so I'd never use the LCD. HP printers are nice, but overpriced. Epsons are widely-regarded as the best photo printers and the RX500 leverages a lot of that industry-dominance to have a very good (but not excellent) photo print capabilities. Ink replacement cartridges from Epson are expensive, but I've used 3rd party cartridges with no problems.

If I wanted to improve something on this printer, it would be a) quieter paper feeding (it's not obnoxious, but it's not silent) and b) lighterweight client software (not required to be installed, but it does provide some nice functionality).

I really like this multifunction unit. If I weren't moving that I'd definitely would not have sold my unit on eBay.

It fuses a really really high quality photo printer, and a lower end scanner with a card reader together in one nice package. Low end is good enough for 90% of the people btw... (My main scanner is $500 unit from Epson.) The only thing that I can find wrong with this unit, (and true of all Epson printers made in recent years) is that the unit will not function at all if any of inks are out or too low to print a full color page. In order to refill the ink cartridges or reset the setting, one has to get a chip resetter, which is available on eBay for like five bucks, or by a completely new ink cartridge before the unit will function again.

The person that gave this review only two stars was printing on Kodak paper. Being an avid photographer myself, and selling prints for profit, I know that using Epson ink on Kodak paper is a waste of time and effort. For whatever reason, all the Epson printers, down from the dye inks all the way up to the ultra-chrome inks do not stay or last long on the Kodak papers. Generally, if you stick with Epson papers (with an Epson printer), you will get the results they promise.

The software that comes with this printers, very good. I love being able to place a document and press a button that would automatically send the scanned image into my folder choice or program of choice. I love that it all the detects what type of document it is and scans it appropriately. It is not perfect, but it is very, very useful.

As for me I can't wait to try out the next one, the RX700.

I have been using Epson RX500 for two months. I print my digital camera pictures and I get vey good result. I also have Epson R340 and pictures from RX500 looks even better than my Epson Photo R340. Built-In Memory reader has a sliding door so dust will not get into the openening. I use compatible ink cartridges that I buy from online for about $2-$3 per cartridge.

I have several printers between home and office--and this unit is proving to be a talented workhorse for the price. The color is clean, the setup and application is easy to configure and operate and the user defined setting allows for odd-sized printing capabilities. It occasionally pulls an extra sheet (or sheets) of paper--but this does not prove to be a serious complaint. Ink cartridges are long lasting and easy to change independently. Not too big--not too small.

Do not purchase this printer from Epson. This printer prints great quality photos but the ink runs out very fast and is expensive. Epson designs these printers to only print a certain number of times and then they will stop working. My printer is less than 3-years old. Excess ink has collected on the ink waste pads and it stopped working. Rather than provide a way to replace the pads, Epson technical support told me that I need to buy a new printer. What a waste, this unit will end up in a landfill, I am disgusted with the Epson company.