Epson Artisan 800

November 30th, 2008 |

Tis the season of many pictures, now I just need to print, Oh Santa help!

I recently had fun using a Epson Artisan 800 All-in-One printer. It’s perfect for creative projects and ideas that will spice up gifts and holiday décor. From greeting cards to holiday labels to custom gift wrap, the possibilities are immeasurable. It’s black mirror-like image is slick and gives off the appearance of an high-end home theater product. Features include a built in wired and wireless networking, ultra fast print speeds (38 ppm), 6-color ink, a 7.8” cool touch panel, a 3.5” LCD screen, standalone photo capabilities, faded photo restorations, and a smart ink system. The Artisan 800 is no bigger than a tower PC on its side. It comes an ethernet cable, power cable, driver/software disc, user manuals, some sample paper, USB cable, phone cable and the necessary printer B&W & color cartridges.

It’s so easy to setup that it took me less than 15 minutes to do so. The touch screen panel pulls up at an angle and tucked away again making it easy to use as an ATM. You can load photos from a card reader and USB port.

The compartment on the bottom is for loading standard printer paper, glossy photo paper and other types, which can be adjusted for all the paper sizes and envelopes. On the top is the automatic document feeder, capable of holding up to 30 pages for faxing or scanning. Below that is the flat bed scanner that will scan and can be used as a plain copier.

The good: Prints fast supurb high-quality color photos and documents, But I really liked the faded photo restoration feature, I used to essentially clean up a yellowish 1942 photo of my mom and dad. You would swear it was taken in 2009, and was just printed. Moreover, it can print CD’s if you have a printable disc. Just push a button and the CD tray slides out.

The bad: If I had a pet peeve, it would be the cheap plastic output tray and the delicate input tray prone to paper jams. So don’t be ruff with it.

The verdict: The Epson Artisan 800 is a fun printer to use, and makes impressive color prints, photos, and text documents, and prints fast. But don’t just take it from me on a recent Rachael Ray show as part of a daily, holiday gift series, everyone in that audience received an all-in-one so they can also create unique holiday gifts for family and friends this year.
Price range: $230-$320,