Epson Stylus Photo RX500 All-In-One InkJet Printer

An excellent score for an All-In-One photo printer? Well, make sure that your expectations are correct, first. I bought this because I'm an avid photographer, I'd like to make an occassional photo print, I need to scan something every now and then, and I print a document about once a week. If you're looking for a serious photo printer, this is not for you (there are better Epsons). If you have a heavy print cycle, this will not be for you (personal lasers are wonderfully cheap). But if you need something that does a little bit of everything, this is it.

All-in-ones are straightforward -- we've probably all used them before. Overall, there's nothing that this printer does that no other printer can do. It does it all and does it well. Six independent color cartridges saves you ink, which is a nice touch. The built-in media readers is something that I didn't think that I would use, but it is convenient because it's right there -- one less thing to keep around on my desk. The printer isn't small, but it doesn't use much more than its footprint. If you forget to open the output tray in the front while printing, paper can actually sit inside the printer without jamming. Speaking of jams, I've had none in the past year.

Don't bother with the Epson RX600, which only adds a color LCD display. I always tweak photos on the computer before I print, so I'd never use the LCD. HP printers are nice, but overpriced. Epsons are widely-regarded as the best photo printers and the RX500 leverages a lot of that industry-dominance to have a very good (but not excellent) photo print capabilities. Ink replacement cartridges from Epson are expensive, but I've used 3rd party cartridges with no problems.

If I wanted to improve something on this printer, it would be a) quieter paper feeding (it's not obnoxious, but it's not silent) and b) lighterweight client software (not required to be installed, but it does provide some nice functionality).