If you are planning to buy a printer, you would definitely be hunting for some printer, which has a larger ink tank. The simple reason—the ink usually runs out after a few hundred pages and you have to refill it or replace the ink cartridges, which are not cheap. Well there are a few inkjet printers out there which can accommodate larger tanks which can go on for almost four to five times the original capacity. The tanks are simple reservoirs with the 4 – 5 times the original ink capacity or volume. But these too are basically good enough for just a few months. What if we told you that there is a printer which does not need refilling the tank for a whole two years?
Well, Epson seems to have brought to the market a printer with a huge in tank, which can print for almost two years together, without having to change/refill the tanks.
The new EcoTank range of Epson printers are built with a big ink reservoir, which can supply you enough ink for a whopping two years. However, this will completely depend on how many pages you would print each day. Epson has averaged out a sum of 300 to 800 pages per day, which calculates to supply you around 20,000 pages on a single tank. The calculated days are exclusive of weekends and holidays. Each black and colour tank can churn out 20,000 pages each, depending on the printer variant.
As with many printer manufacturers today, the usual cartridge shipped with the unit is a starter tank, which includes minimal printing ink for a few weeks. You have to replace the cartridge thereafter. This is done to reduce the cost of the equipment, but in the long run the expensive ink tanks make the printer an expensive affair. On the contrary, Epson ships the EcoTank printers with the complete 2-year supply-ready tanks.
Epson is transforming the $40 billion North American printing market, addressing one of the biggest pain points for small businesses and consumers: running out of ink. Under its new EcoTank brand, Epson today unveiled five new all-in-one color printers featuring large ink reservoirs – what Epson defines as the Supertank category – that come loaded and ready for up to two years of prints without replacing the ink.
EcoTank color printers combine the high-quality printers Epson is known for with dramatic in-box cost savings and ultra-low ink replacement costs. In addition, EcoTank printers eliminate the common frustration of running out of ink at inevitably the most inopportune time. Less ink refills also means less waste. When comparing EcoTank to a traditional printer, the ink included with the EcoTank is equivalent to about 20 sets of ink cartridges or more, depending on the model.
Epson has introduced five new printers in this category, but are only based on inkjet technology.
WorkForce Pro WF-R4640 EcoTank All-in-One: Powered by PrecisionCore, the printer is aimed for the small business, with an in-box ink yield of up to 20,000 black and 20,000 color pages and print speeds of up to 20 ISO ppm (black) and 20 ISO ppm (color). The WF-R4640 is said to deliver a performance beyond laser-based printers, producing print-shop quality prints with up to 70 per cent lower total printing costs vs. color laser. It features a 580-sheet capacity, auto 2-sided printing, copying, scanning and faxing and a 4.3-inch color LCD.
WorkForce ET-4550 EcoTank All-in-One: This one too, powered by PrecisionCore, is aimed for the home office, with an in-box ink yield of up to 11,000 black and 8,500 color pages, high-speed, laser-quality black text, and print speeds of up to 13 ISO ppm (black) and 7.3 ISO ppm (color). The ET-4550 features 2.2-inch LCD, auto 2-sided printing, a 30-page Auto Document Feeder, and a 150-sheet paper capacity.
WorkForce ET-4500 EcoTank All-in-One: This one is also aimed for the home office, with an in-box ink yield of up to 4,000 black and 6,500 color pages and print speeds of up to 9.2 ISO ppm (black) and 4.5 ISO ppm (color). The ET-4500 features a 30-page Auto Document Feeder, a 100-sheet paper capacity and a 2.2-inch LCD. It also includes built-in Wi-Fi Direct 10, and easy printing from iPad, iPhone, tablets and smartphones.
Expression ET-2550 EcoTank All-in-One: Aimed especially for home use, the printer includes an in-box ink yield of up to 4,000 black and 6,500 color pages and print speeds of up to 9.2 ISO ppm (black) and 4.5 ISO ppm (color). The ET-2550 features a 1.44-inch color LCD, PC-free photo printing with a built-in memory card slot, and a 100-sheet paper capacity. It also includes built-in Wi-Fi Direct 10, and easy printing from iPad, iPhone, tablets and smartphones.
Expression ET-2500 EcoTank All-in-One: Also aimed for home, includes an in-box ink yield of up to 4,000 black and 6,500 color pages and print speeds of up to 9.2 ISO ppm (black) and 4.5 ISO ppm (color). The ET-2500 offers easy one-touch copying to get high-quality copies fast, and a 100-sheet paper capacity.
Pricing and Availability:
The Epson Expression ET-2500 EcoTank ($379 MSRP), Expression ET-2550 EcoTank ($399 MSRP), WorkForce ET-4500 EcoTank ($429 MSRP), WorkForce ET-4550 EcoTank ($499 MSRP), and the WorkForce Pro WF-R4640 EcoTank ($1,199 MSRP) will be available from September 2015 onwards. As for now, there is no information about the availability in India.
