Epson CX5500 (AIO)

I recently bought the Epson CX 5500 which costs around RM260 at the PC Fair. The main point of attraction to me is the capabilities of printing 5760 x 1440 dpi (the resolution for printing which means dots per inch) and the black shiny surface (full black finish is my favourite colour). Furthermore, what else can we expect from RM260 to get an AIO (all-in-one) which comes together with a printing,scanning and a copying device all under one machine. Before setting my eyes on this model, I had already made a survey on Canon, Lexmark, HP and Samsung.

I had already kicked Lexmark AIO series out of my list as the design is too dull and I was quite suspicious about the AIO price tag as it seemed to be too low and it even came with a fax function. Moreover, the price for the ink cartridge is quite heavy to me compared to the Epson’s INKdividual technology which places the price for each ink cartridge sold separately which only costs around RM22. If the user knows the way to get cheaper prices at retail shop, he might even got it for RM19 or RM20. The INKdividual also topped the reasons in my shopping list as it is a budget-savvy material to me. I can change the ink cartridge separately which means I only replace the one that needs to be replenished while leaving the others to dry out first. This method not only saves big bucks in my pocket but also maintain the durability of the ink. Sometimes, ink might get dried up or unable to perform as usual as the user didn’t print for months. So, replacing the ink individually will maintain the “freshness” of the ink and also more economical.

With the DURAbrite technology unleashed, printing gets better and better and the printouts on papers will make it water-resistant. It was displayed where the printout was dipped into the water bottle and the ink is still fresh and vibrant. The DURAbrite afford to make the printout last for years to come.

To me, the printing speed is relatively slow compared to normal 1-in-1 printers. I am not quite sure why is this happening but you can write me a comment to guide me on this. Hehe…. As for the scanning quality, it is a 600 x 1200 dpi and the copier button ease all the pain as there is no need to turn on the pc and connect the printer via USB cable for copying colour sheets as it is too tedious sometimes.

The paper feed method isn’t my cup of tea as it generates fairly high noise during the paper feed time. Maybe it is due to the friction force and the printing noise level is about 47dB which is quite high when someone does the printing job in the middle of the night. The Canon AIO Pixma MP160 price is competitive to Epson CX5500 and the only thing that drew me away from it is the silver finish which I am actually quite bored of that colour for years already. I am not quite sure about the printing quality that the Canon Pixma MP160 can give but I guess it is a quite powerful machine as I am also using Canon Pixma ip1000 at home.

Overall, I would say that the Epson CX5500 is sometimes quite frustrating when it comes to the printing speed and the noise level created. However, with the price of RM260, I found out that it is quite OK (laughing foolishly…..).