Epson Stylus SX515W High-Speed All-in-One Printer with Individual Inks and Wi-Fi
Posted by Notcot on Apr 8, 2010 in Peripherals & Accessories |
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I bought this printer from a high street store starting with Ar and ending with gos, at the same price. Thought I’d share a quick review.
You can by the SX200 without wifi for half the price, and the specs seem roughly the same, so basically you’re paying double for the wi-fi aspect. Is it worth it? In a word, maybe. More on that later.
However, the printer itself looks great, and was very easy to set up. I just followed the quick setup guide and it took about 10 minutes to unpack and install the cartridges. Having individual cartridges will certainly work out cheaper in the long run. I also note that you can buy compatible cartriges everywhere, so it doesnt look like Epson has ‘chipped’ their cartridges like Canon and HP seem to have done to ensure you buy original branded ones only.
After the printer was ready to go, it was time for the software and wi-fi configuration. Again, I just followed the separate networking guide. To set the printer up to with it’s wireless settings, you do have to connect it to a my laptop for the first time via the USB cable (which is even included in the box). A bit odd, but it works effectively nevertheless. I ran the installer on the CD, which installed the drivers, some optional utilities, and then used the option to setup the printer on my wireless network. It did this by picking up the details of the connection from my laptop, so I didnt even need to enter the network name or password. Very good, very quick, and very easy. Took less than 5 minutes to install the software and print a test page wirelessly.
I then installed the software on two other laptops and used the option that the printer was already setup previously. It then automatically found the printer via the wireless network and added it to the computer. Again, painless and effective.
I printed out a couple of documents, and plain black text on normal copier paper looks good. I also printed out a 6×4 photo on the supplied photo paper (you get 10 bits of glossy paper in a sample pack of assorted sizes in the box), and again it looked very good.
It’s not as noisy as I thought it would be reading through various reviews. Sure, it makes a fairly loud noise when it first grabs the paper, but from then on printing is quiet, and quick.
It’s VERY handy having wireless printing, as the printer now sits in our living room, and our two kids laptops can connect from their bedrooms, while we can print on our laptop in the living room. So we can keep an eye out on the kids printing habits (no more “Who used all the ink printing photo’s of their mates?”).
The printer has memory card slots for various card formats, as well as a USB slot for digital cameras or USB sticks. This makes it really easy to print photos, as they appear on the built in screen where you can select what to print.
All in all, I’m quite pleased with this printer, and can recommend it to anyone who will be doing a low to moderate amount printing, and wants the convenience of wireless printing.
Rating: 4 / 5
Bought this to replace an Espon RX500.
It was lighter and smaller than my previous printer and it took about 2 mins to unpack and put the inks in.
On to the set up, disk into the PC and wait, put on kettle for a coffee, 3 mins later the PC asked me to connect the USB cable for set up. Did this.
Another 2 minute wait and it asked for the network key, did this, 2 mins later it was done and worked perfectly.
Why can’t all hardware be this simple to set up, well done Epson.
Printed a test page and it flew out, this prints about 4 times faster than my old printer.
I am very impressed.Epson Stylus SX515W High-Speed All-in-One Printer with Individual Inks and Wi-Fi
Rating: 5 / 5
I can highly recommend this printer (we didn’t buy it from Amazon as it was out of stock at the time). It was very quick and easy to set up the software & wi-fi connection on two laptops. Once the software was installed on the second machine there was an option to indicate that the printer had already been set up & the software then found the printer via the wi-fi network – really simple.
The printer is astonishingly quick (so much better than our old laser printer). We will probably print most things in black & white so the ability to replace individual cartridges will be a boon. There are lots of options available e.g. with or without borders, auto-sizing, etc., which should suit most users. The ability to print photos in various sizes is very useful (a small pack of photo paper included) as is the ability to print from various types of memory card.
Having looked at various printers in shops I think the Epson is a bit more robust than some too. We looked at one Canon machine where the paper holder was very rickety and the lid was very flimsy. The Epson seems pretty well put together.
All in all we are very pleased with this printer and at the £77 we paid for it, it’s an absolute bargain. (PS You don’t need to buy a USB cable for the initial set up as one is already in the box – the retailer we bought from tried to get us to buy a cable even though it was unnecessary.)
Rating: 5 / 5
The printer is an excellent bit of kit but the WiFi set-up was something else on Windows 7. Firstly there are no instructions for Windows 7 but I followed the Wi-Fi instructions enclosed for Windows Vista. I got as far as section 2 and number 9 and that was when the problems started. I got a message saying Epson Net setup has stopped working and then any further instructions disappeared off my computer and I’m left thinking, ‘Now what?’. Well I don’t count myself as knowing too much about WiFi so I tried using Windows Help and the Epson website. I had a live link up with an Epson Service agent who said he would send further instructions by email, which I never got. After about 4 hours and getting to the point where I was ready to send the item back, I then got some divine intervention. A voice in my head (no I’m not loosing the plot . . . at least I don’t think so) told me to go over to the printer and press the setup button, which I did and that guided me to setting up the Wifi (up to a point). I then went back to my laptop and realised it still wasn’t working, so I double clicked on the printer which was now showing in my Network and Computer Devices and it started to load some drivers. I then went to do a test print and changed the printer settings to show the new printer, which was given a different ID when the WiFi was set up and finally it worked. Now I don’t know if I have explained everything right but it may help anyone else who have had problems. The Printer is a bit loud but who cares if the print out is good, which it is. Oh by the way you have to setup the scanner in Epson Scan to recognise the WiFi.
I did get the following from an Epson Service Agent a few days later. Unfortunately I can’t show the photos that came with it as this review won’t allow me.
Setup Guide for SX515W
This is a guide on how to set up without using the set up CD & USB cable.
1) From this main screen press the Spanner/Screw driver button.
2) Scroll left or right until you see Network Settings & press ok.
3) Press ok on Wireless LAN Setup.
4) Then select Advanced Setup.
5) Then select manual Setup & press ok for the next screen.
6) As you are connecting through a router via Wi-Fi you will need to select Infrastructure Mode and then press OK.
7) Select Search SSID & this will search for their wireless network.
8) Ask them if their wireless network is showing & if it is make sure it is highlighted then press OK.
9) Then you will need to enter the encryption type which will sometimes depend on the length of the wireless key. WEP 64 Hex (10) WEP 64 Alpha (5) WEP 128 Hex (26) WEP 128 Alpha (13). Any router that has 8 characters we would normally select WPA PSK TKIP UNLESS they know that the key is WPA PSK AES.
10) Now you will need to ask the customer to input there key depending on which type it is. Example below; WEP 64 Hex which is 10 characters.
11) Once the key is in correctly you need to press OK. You will then see a Confirm Settings screen. Press OK on this screen and YOU MUST WAIT 30 SECONDS for the printer to establish a wireless connection with the router. After the 30 seconds please go down to Confirm Settings and press OK. This will tell you if it has successfully connected to the router.
Rating: 4 / 5
Am really pleased with this item. The quality of printing is really good, it’s pretty fast. Haven’t tried printing photos yet, but hope to soon. Noticed that printing can be quite noisy, especially when doing just black, but in the printer settings if you select “quiet mode”, then this makes it a bit easier. If you’re using the printer for just home and occasional printing, then it’s not really an issue anyway.
We have owned 2 Epsons before. But as we now use 2 laptops, having a wireless one seemed the obvious choice. It is a breeze to set up, there is a USB cable included in the box which is only required for first-time set up, after that you can print from wherever you want. You also get a set of ink cartridges to get you started and a small pack of Epson photo paper. With this you have the freedom of 4 separate cartridges, so not a problem if one colour runs out, replacing the ink is not that costly as well. Would definitely recommend this printer for general home printing. The only grip I have with it is that it’s a real dust magnet.
*EDIT* After 6 months the printer is now suffering from constant paper jams, black ink cartridge has leaked everywhere, that little sponge bit on the bottom of the printer has completely come away and keeps getting caught on the cartridge carriage, now I cannot use the printer at all. Am taking it to the Epson repair centre tomorrow as I can get it repaired under warranty.
Rating: 5 / 5