Epson Workforce 545

I bought this Epson Workforce 545 printer a few years back for around $200.

Worked great for a little while.

But cartridges cost a fortune. Waaaay overpriced. $60 to over $100 each, and they don’t last long. I print very little. And I only print typewritten matter. No photos. No pictures. Nothing that requires a lot of ink. Yet I was having to replace cartridges monthly.

So I found some by a different manufacturer that performed much better and lasted 6 months or more, for a fraction of the cost. Printer then worked fine.

Then I connected it to wifi and let it update. It’s been a problem ever since. The updates make it impossible to use cartridges not made by Epson. And you can’t just reverse the updates.

At first I was able to open the printer up and leave it open then unplug it and leave it sit for about a month. This erased the updates and it worked fine again for a while. Then I reconnected to wifi but this time I refused updates.

It updated anyway. Again making it impossible to use the affordable cartridges. And this time it can’t be reversed.

After already spending $200 on the printer I refuse to shell out $60 to over $100 monthly for cartridges when much better cartridges are available for around $10.

The printer I paid for accepted nonEpson cartridges.

Epson forced updates that altered it to only accept their overpriced cartridges.

Epson will not get one more cent from me. Not ever.

I see now the price of this printer is a whopping $1115. on the most popular website for variety shopping.

Epson corporation is the epitome of corporate greed.

Anyone wanting a 545 can have mine for free. Just come grab it out of the brown curbside bin on trash day. No thanks necessary. I promise day will come when you despise me for giving you this piece of trash printer. It’ll suck dry your children’s college fund.

I bought this printer from Staples as a home office printer. I wanted something that could print black and colour, scan, print photos occasionally and send faxes to those still trapped in the 1980's. Having had Epson and other printers at home and work in the UK, I had enjoyed my last Epson purchase more than any other, but hated the software integration in MacOS. I decided to give Epson another try, bought the Epson Workforce 545, and I have to say I am impressed. Printing and scanning from MacOS Snow Leopard and Lion, Windows 7 and an iPad has been effortless.

The printer was fairly cheap and the ink is not too expensive for an inkjet. It seems to lat fairly well too, once you get past the initial minimum fill cartridges supplied with the printer. Overall print quality is good rather than excellent, but printing is quick, and this printer is at the lower end of Epson's range. I am on a budget and when buying this printer factored in the cost of ink.

Network setup was also effortless. I have given the printer s static IP address on my network and by both wired and wireless networking it works faultlessly.

Recently, due to business developments, I have had to correspond a great deal by letter and have had to scan many documents. I have given this printer an absolute hammering, scanning, faxing, printing colour and black & white on various paper types. It has performed very well and hasn't so far even needed a nozzle clean or a realignment - somteing that with other manufacturers I have had real problems with.

Do I like it? Yes. Would I buy Epson again based on this purchase? Yes.