Remote Office Tech

Upgrading my Epson printer to the Epson WF-2650

PJ

I recently upgraded my home office printer to the Epson WF-2650 and I'm very happy with my choice. I tend to do a lot of research before making a purchase of more than $100 and it was the same for this purchase. I also like to go with brands I've had success with in the past and also like recommendations from friends and colleagues. In this article I'm going to review my thought process and discuss the pros and cons of the printer I purchased.

Picture of my old Epson R220 and my new Epson WF-2650 printer

The old Epson R220 is on the left and the new Epson WF-2650 printer is on the right

What to consider when purchasing a new printer

I've been using the Epson Photo R220 printer for more years that I can remember. It's always been reliable and got the job done. So Epson printers were at the top of my list, but I did look at other brands to make sure there wasn't something better out there.

There were three main reason I was looking to replace the R220:

  1. It was getting harder to find replacement ink cartridges
  2. I wanted a printer that could do double-sided printing
  3. I wanted an office photocopier

In the end I stuck with the Epson brand and purchased the WorkForce WF-2650. This is a nice printer for home or a home office. It's called a all-in-one or 4-in-1 printer. This is because it supports:

The R220 has 5 different color ink cartridges and 1 black cartridge. The WF-2650 has only 3 color ink cartridges and 1 black cartridge. Because of the 2 less colors I was concerned that printing in color would not look as good. In the end I decided to take a chance. I mostly print documents and don't do a lot of color printing, but it is nice to have a color printer for some documents. I also don't print a lot of photos on my printer. So this wasn't a consideration for me.




After purchasing my new printer, I did a few test to compare the results of both printers. To my surprise the WF-2650 printer did a better job of printing color documents than the R220. The images were clearer and the colors stood out more. I guess newer technology makes up for the 2 less color cartridges. And the added bonus I only need to purchase 3 different color cartridges instead of 5.

Pros of the Epson WF-2650 printer

Compare to my old printer the WF-2650 has a lot of nice features that work very well. Here's my list of pros:

  1. Double-sided printing. I still feel good when I can save paper and print on two sides. Documents are thinner and look professional.
  2. For the price I paid the print quality is great. Again I mostly print documents.
  3. WiFi network connection. And I was able to set it up with my home network. One less cable in my home office.
  4. Built in photocopier. Super convenient and no more running to use my children's printer.
  5. Built in scanner. Which I haven't used yet, because I'm still using my old Canon LiDE 210 scanner.
  6. Document feeder when copying or scanning documents. I don't copy a lot of documents but it will be nice for scanning receipts.

Cons of the Epson WF-2650 printer

  1. Initially the steps to replace the ink cartridges is a bit confusing. You need to manage your way through various menus to get it ready to swap cartridges. I've done it a few times now and it's a lot easier. The first time I had to use the manual 🙂
  2. When in sleep mode it doesn't always print a document. Sometimes I need to power cycle it and send the print job again.
  3. The physical foot print is bigger than the Epson R220.

Quick specifications

Selection of the specifications for the Work Force 2650. The full specifications are available on the Epson website.

More information

For more information on purchasing a new printer, here's a great article from CNET: CNET printer buying guide.

Looking for a deal? Check out this printer on Amazon: Epson WorkForce WF-2650 All-In-One Wireless Color Printer

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