Rating: 
Summary: Slow/Noisey Printer
Review: This printer messes up all the time. I do not recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: A real cash drainer
Review: I am disappointed with the Epson 820 for the simple reason that it eats up ink like creazy! I don't print in colour and I can see the ink go down just as fast as the black ink. And guest what...when the colour is empty, the printer refuses to print. (How nice for Epsons pockets) If you read on the internet there seam to be a problem with the consistency of the chip (i.e. sometime it shows to be empty when it's not).
I can't complain about the quality of the pictures that has come out of the printer except for the ink consumption
So if you don't plan on printing in colour DON'T BUY EPSON 820 and even if you what to print colour, chances are that you will find it cheaper on the long run to go to any store such as Future Shop, London Drugs, Staples, ... then printing with the Epson 820.
Rating: 
Summary: Great value!
Review: I just found this printer outside the dumpster at my apartment complex and thought, hey, might as well try it out to see if it works. After installing the plug-and-play drivers from Epson's website, the printer immediately informed me that it was out of ink. I went online to eBay and found a rather inexpensive set of cartridges (black and the 5-color color cartridge both) for $10.18, free shipping. http://private.abacus24-7.com if you need to buy ink. It's the only way to go.
Two to three days after my original order I have my ink cartridges installed and ran a test to see how well it was printing and it performed flawlessly. Much faster than my HP OfficeJet 5110. I haven't tested its quality on photo paper, but I'm excited about this printing to the edge thing like a "real" photo printer.
Overall, for a free printer, I've been very impressed. Ink guzzling aside... at $10 for both color and black cartridges, that's not that bad at all. About how many photos can it print before running out of ink?
Rating:
Summary: Slow/Noisey Printer
Review: I bought this printer after my father raved about his higher end-epson with 6 colors for priting photos. This printer had most of the same specs, except was louder (which I could live with), and couldn't take as large of paper (also doable). Apparently the differences go beyond the specs.
Piece of crap is the best way to describe this printer. When it is brand new, with a new ink cartidge, it print awesome photos. BUT...(and it is a big BUT), if you don't print frequently (daily), the ink will dry in the jets, and it get clogged up, and prints garbage, wasting your expensive phot paper, and ink. Did I mention the ink for the printer is expensive? And it drinks the stuff. Epson's suggestion for fixing printing problems is install new expensive print cartridge!!! Actually it can be unclogged with a que-tip, rubbing alchohol, and some canned air (with the cartridges removed). But it will clog up again soon. I have many pictures I would like to print, but am hesitant to install $50 worth of ink cartridges, to print a small number of photos before the jets get clogged. Cheaper to go use the local Kodak photo kiosk. What a PIECE OF CRAP! I am leary of buying another Epson printer. Too much frustration!
Rating:
Summary: High maintenance but good results
Review: I think the criticisms of this printer are unduly harsh. No, I would not recommend this printer to the casual user but if you're an enthusiastic photographer on a limited budget looking for more that 3 inks, this printer could be what you're looking for. I'm not going to deny that this printer sometimes clogs but there are precautions and fixes and it's an ink jet after all and clog is what ink jets do best. The first precaution is to turn the printer off when you're not using it. This will park the heads in a tray that helps to stop them from clogging. Despite this precaution, after a month of inactivity I do find the heads clogged sometimes when I return to the printer. In this instance I use a trick that will, no doubt, void your warranty but seems to work well without harming the printer; I press the button to move the heads into position for cartridge replacement. I then put a couple of drops of windex on the park tray pad and then turn the printer off so the heads go and sit on the windex for 5 minutes or more. When I go back to the printer I run check print head utility and the clean print head utility once (if required). Usually that takes care of any problems and I'm ready to go. I always use epson ink and high quality paper. I don't use the printer for anything but photos (I have a great hp laser for everything else). I have taken the time to color profile my monitor and I print my photos via photoshop letting it take care of the printer's color profile. I always use the highest settings available to print photos - yes, it takes a bit more ink, but the results are worth it. I estimate each 8.5x11 glossy print I do costs me a bit over a buck but the control and great results I achieve are worth it. I can even get pretty good and neutral B&W prints out of this machine using Epson's own driver set to monochrome (don't use the 'black ink only' option - let it use all the inks and the results are very good). I'm not advocating that you go out and buy this printer at this point (mid-2004) - there are now better options available. I am advocating that you don't give up on this printer so easily - it is worth investing a little time and effort in.
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