Today is commercial day. But it isn’t political, so you can breathe easy.

Every once in a while someone will contact me about sending me something free to review. I like it when it’s something fun (like a car) or something that I can use (a printer). Since lots of my business revolves around printing, faxing, copying, ect. beyond the standard office stuff (invoicing, ordering), I was excited to see what the Epson could do.

Is this where I confess that I am loyal to a certain competitor of Epson? The competitor whose all-in-one I purchased just six months (thanks to the sale at the big box store), which insists on uninstalling itself every time I boot up? Maybe I am starting from a bitter place with this review. I mean, this Epson printer will be ahead of the game if the software just stays installed.

It did stay installed. And it works like a charm. I may have switched loyalties, is all I’m saying. You crafty people? This might be one for you. I make all of my magnets that I sell at the festivals and craft fairs and this printer kicked them out and the quality was rocking. You can make all manner of cards and can turn photos into coloring paper. I know that lots of printers have fun little things these days but for once, I don’t need a 200 page manual to figure it out. The huge 7.8″ touchscreen panel makes it easy to find everything (especially for a pregnant woman who can’t find her own, well, you know). It’s idiot-proof. But what about the pictures?

Epson is renown for having vibrant colors on photos. This printer boast Ultra HD photos. Rather than finding a technical explanation for you, I will just tell you that means your photo of your child actually looks like your child. Go all crazy and print up pictures of flowers that look better than the ones you took. Thank heaven for corrective software, right? And the printer has corrective software. I wish I had this printer two months ago when I printed up photos of all the kids in Ethan’s class and made the photos into magnets for a school fundraiser. Maybe I’m just a photo snob but I want my blues to be blue. With 35,000 pictures sitting on my hard drive, my mother-in-law may not need to keep bringing those yard sale 1970’s pictures of dead presidents to hang on my wall anymore.

Downsides? It is the exact same complaint I have with the last three printers I have purchased (okay, I buy printers. It’s cheaper than jewelry, right?) The ink cartridges are small. In Epson’s defense, all the competitors have this same problem. I have instituted the same product-saving measures I have in the past. Using the draft setting on unimportant printed docs. I’m saving up the ink for important things (like transparencies for my screen printing or an 8″ x 10″ matte black and white of me and the Mister on our wedding day).

So if you are in the market for an all-in-one that has great features (including the ultimate lazy feature, Wi-Fi–Yay!!!!!!) and can actually print up a gorgeous photo, you may want to check out the Epson Artisan 800. Retails for $299.99.

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