Epson Stylus™ CX5400 All-In-One InkJet Printer

Prints well when it works. But, seems that it has a defunct life expectancy shortly after the warranty expires. Print heads begin to fade in quality, and within a matter of weeks the color print/copying goes south. Have checked several websites, and some repair facilities, and hear the same story from most: is a good printer when it works, but once it crumps, it will cost a bunch to replace the heads, and it's not worth it; buy a new printer. Have tried to resurrect at least one printer from three of these (don't buy used on eBay), swapping parts. Doesn't work. Finally bagged the whole deal and bought a new Lexmark to add to my suite of HPs. Can't rely upon Epson, at least not the CX5400; is a bad choice if you want longevity in color print quality.

By the way, cartridges can be bought cheap through companies like Abacus or PrintPal -- $3-4.00 each beats the heck out of commercial retail prices.

I LOVE MY NEW PRINTER. UPON RECEIVING THE PRINTER, IT DID NOT FUNCTION. I NOTIFIED EPSON, THEY HAD ME TO SEND IT IN, PAID SHIPPING AND SENT ME BACK A NEW PRINTER. IT HAS VERY GOOD RESOLUTION, IT PRINTS FAST AND QUIETLY. THE PRINT CARTRIDGES ARE EXPENSIVE THOUGH. I WAS REALLY IMPRESSED BY EPSON'S SERVICE.

After reading all of these reviews, some are fair and some not. I have used this same printer for personal and business use for over 2 years and absolutely love it. Print quality is excellent, photo quality is best I have seen in a multi-function printer, and scan quality is excellent.

As far as the ink clogging issue, it is like anything else, if you take care of it, you will not have any problems. Don't let the ink run out, change it when it tells you and don't try to refill them, they leak and cause problems.

As far as the Epson inks vs. generic, the generics work fine and will not damage your printer, that’s a marketing scam. It is my opinion that you should not use Durabrite or any resin-bonded pigment ink in your Epson multi-function printer. The main reason to use Durabrite would be if you are strictly printing photos on photo quality paper and you want the print to last forever (70 to 100 years) without fading or color loss. In this case, you should use a printer that is designed strictly for photos and not a multi-function. The difference between Durabrite inks and generics are the Durabrite inks are archival quality and resin-bonded and the generics are dye or pigmented, you can get archival quality in generics but almost as expensive as Durabirte.

With non resin-bonded inks, the printer will last until the print heads burn out, which they eventually do on all ink jets, but that will be many years from now.

I have stripped down many Epson printers to try and get them working again. In each case, the print heads were blocked in some or all the channels. Durabite inks are different in the way they dry out and what solvents will recover them, once the ink jets get dry not even the Epson solvents will clear them.

If you want to use Durabrite or a resin-bonded pigment ink, for archival reasons, in your Epson multi-function printer then I would suggest you do the following:
1. Use non resin-bonded pigment ink for most of your printing.
2. Switch to the Durabrite inks and print all your photos in one batch.
3. When done, clean the jet ports with solvent, clean the ink pump lines all the way to the waste pads, and then put the non-durabrite inks back in. I suppose you could try just putting the non-durabrite inks back in without cleaning the jet ports and let the non-durabrite inks flush out the durabrite inks but have never tried this, the time involved in researching this is not practical, so not sure how this will work.

Prints fast, copies fast, and in great quality. Color copies. Easy software installation. Expensive cartridges.

Super Printer...Here's the deal...several companies sell print head nozzle cleaning solutions. Basically, they are ink cartridges with cleaner in them. Epson Printers like Epson ink(but, even these will ultimately clog the print nozzles too). We dont like to pay epson prices. It's really simple. The use of the cleaners periodically depending on your use or non-use. This will determine the life of your printer. Additionally, I have resurrected two CX series printers. Otherwise, the Epson Printer is a fast and outstanding printer.

I AM VERY UNHAPPY ABOUT THIS PURCHASE WHEN I RECIEVED THE PRINTER IR DID NOT WORK I TRIED TO RESOLVE IT WITH THIS SELLER BUT AS OF YET HE HAS NOT COOPERATED THANK YOU

We bought our CX5400 new from a major retailer 2 1/2 years ago. Worked great until the black ink head totally ceased working, and the yellow and blue were spotty.
Despite troubleshooting via the online manual and spending an hour on the phone with the obviously overseas helpdesk, the heads could not be uncloggged. The Epson rep offered only a 'loyalty discount' by buying a new printer from the Epson webiste. That, or I send at my cost the defective unit to one of 3 centers in the northeast, the closest an hour away.

DO YOURSELF A FAVOR- take the time to go through this forum thread:
http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/forums/inkjet/29681

Then do yourself a second favor- skip Epson entirely- their units last just past the warrenty, then die, then Epson tells you to go buy a new one.

BOUGHT BRAND NEW, OR WHEN IT IS IN PERFECT WORKING ORDER, THIS ALL IN ONE PRINTS FABULOUS PICTURES, COPIES FAST, AND SCANS LIKE A DREAM.

HOWEVER THESE ARE THE REASONS WHY YOU NEED TO BE CAUTIOUS BEFORE YOU PURCHASE ONE:

#1: INK CARTRIGDES VERY EXPENSIVE UNLESS YOU GO OFF-BRAND WHICH CAUSES LARGE GAPS IN PRINTING AND USES MORE INK FASTER ANYWAYS. $80-$90 FOR EPSON, $35 FOR OFF-BRAND INK.

#2: INK JETS CAN CLOG AND CEASE TO WORK (UNREPAIRABLE)

#3: PRINT QUALITY GOES SOUTH AND YOU GET STREAKS OF INK THROUGH YOUR PAPER SO PHOTO PRINTING IS IMPOSSIBLE AND GAPS IN REGULAR PRINTING.

#4: COSTLY TO REPAIR WHEN IT IS ABLE TO BE FIXED

I BOUGHT THIS PRINTER AND IT DIDN'T WORK AND HAVE YET TO RECEIVE MY REFUND AFTER I PAID FOR RETURN SHIPPING. THE SECOND ONE I PURCHASED FROM ANOTHER SELLER (BECAUSE I ALREADY SPENT A FORTUNE ON INK FOR IT SO I BOUGHT THE SAME MODEL) WORKS GOOD BUT HAS GAPS AND STREAKS OCCASIONALLY WHICH RUINS MY PROJECTS AND COSTS ME MORE INK.

I like the fact that everything is there all in one place.

I bought it because I was looking for a scanner printer combination.

When I received the CX5400 it printed only yellow. The seller had said that the printer was printing black lines. I replaced the ink cartridges and did some research on the internet which lead me to begin a daily regiment of cleaning the print nozzles by hand. The printer is now printing legible black text. There is still a graininess from some clogged print nozzles but it is at a "utility" level of printing. Not good enough for business documents but legible for casual printing.

I feel I got a good deal on this Epson CX5400. I wish the printer had been designed to avoid the ink blockages in the first place!

I needed a printer of this make and model, because my current printer of the same model stopped working. I just spent $70.00 on new ink cartridges and I didn't want to waste the ink.
The seller has not contacted me once regarding the status of the item that I purchased. I have sent numerous e-mails, and still no contact.

My experience has not been great.
Josh Trainor

Don't let the ink go dry in any of the four ports or it can cause printing problems but other than that, this is a great printer and scanner and copier, etc, with a great software package for it's use.

One good thing about it that many other printers lack is the fact that the ink cartridges are all separate. you don't have to throw away unused ink because one of the other colors is used up.

For photos, I strongly recommend sticking to the Duraprint cartrides. They provide good color and long life to the prints that other inks may not do.

Bought two printers and both of them don't work. I don't trust the explaination of the product anymore.

I bought the printers because I had one just like that. Its a good printer but the company doesn't make it anymore. Buying a used one, I thought, was a good idea, but not again.

I GOT IT FOR A YOUNG GIRL BECAUSE SHE HAD ONE AND THE PAPER FEED GOT BROKEN AND IT COST MORE TO FIX SO I LOOK TO GET ONE FOR LESS MONEY AND THIS WAS THE ONE I FOUND

It is a very high quality printer, when it works. Problem is the Epson printers seem to have their Ink Jets get clogged/dried. Requires dismantle and patience to fix the problem. This happened to me after about 3 years. Also the printer tells you you're out of ink when you know its still half full (It wont simply Print until it is out of ink, when the chip tells the printer its out, Printer will not print until changed. Pros: VERY high quality. Cons: Drying/Clogged ink jet tube issues.

Purchased this printer twice. Both times, when the ink runs out, the printer dies. If you don't replace an ink cartridge prior to it being empty, the heads get damaged and are unrepairable. First time, I thought it was a fluke that it broke. Second time, I realized its a flawed product and bought an HP printer instead. Too bad I have good, unused or just opened print cartridges of all colors - wasted $80. I'll stick to HP printers from now on.

It was sent in good condition. I am happy with Ebay. I needed a printer
like the one I bought. I will purchase from Ebay stores and auctions again.
I like the way you do business and they are always friendly at Ebay.

I am out over $100 for this playstation. I sent it back and she is claiming that she did not get it. First she did not know what I was talking about, then she wanted numbers and how it was shipped. I do not believe that she did not get back. I did not believe her when she could not understand what I was talking about.

This makes me wonder about ordering on ebay. When you loose nearly $200 so close together.

Irma