Epson EcoTank ET-18100 evaluation

Read Time:10 Minute, 45 Second

2023-03-17 16:49:45

At a look

Table of Contents

Skilled’s Score

Execs

Cheap photograph prints
Nice print high quality
Mess-free ink refills

Cons

No show
No scanner / copier
Costly to purchase

Our Verdict

The ET-18100 is able to glorious print high quality, and really quick prints when required. However it’s costly to purchase so is simply for many who actually need to print loads of A3 pictures

Value When Reviewed

Not out there within the US

Epson’s EcoTank system has been with us for nearly a decade now. It answered the issue of low-yield cartridges that led to comparatively high-cost pages by introducing large-capacity ink tanks within the printer that may very well be refilled individually.

This additionally solved the issue of getting to throw away unused ink in color cartridges that mixed all three colors into one.

The draw back, after all, is that EcoTank printers value extra to purchase within the first place and must be used pretty recurrently so their nozzles don’t clog up with dried-out ink.

The brand new ET-18100 is aimed toward photographers (and different creatives) who need to print bigger than A4 and don’t need their printer to double-up as an workplace workhorse. That’s why this specific EcoTank doesn’t have a scanner or doc feeder and doesn’t print on each side of the paper.

Options & Design

Six ink tanks
Handles as much as A3+ media
Can print ID playing cards & CDs

Contemplating it’s an A3+ printer, the ET-18100 isn’t as large as you may anticipate. Nevertheless, it does want a good quantity of desk house when the paper trays are absolutely prolonged.

In contrast to some EcoTank fashions, there’s no show on this one. As a substitute, you’re anticipated to arrange and print from a cell system, along with your cellphone or pill changing the printer’s display.

You’ll be able to print from a PC or Mac, after all, and you may go correctly old-school in the event you like and hook up the ET-18100 with a USB, though Epson doesn’t embody one within the field.

You do get a full set of ‘107’ ink – six 70ml bottles – which is greater than sufficient to brim the tanks with ink left over.

They comprise: black, cyan, magenta, yellow, mild cyan and lightweight magenta.

Jim Martin / Foundry

The paper tray is on the rear, however because it isn’t coated, it’s finest to insert photograph paper solely while you’re able to print. The advantage of a rear feed is that the paper doesn’t should be turned 180° on itself because it does with a entrance feeder and this lets you use thicker inventory.

As you may anticipate, the ET-18100 can print photographs proper to the perimeters of the paper no matter dimension.

One uncommon inclusion within the field is a plastic tray that may maintain a CD / DVD and two PVC ID playing cards. This looks like an anachronism in 2023, however in the event you nonetheless burn CDs or house films then it might show helpful.

Setup

If you unbox the ET-18100 there’s loads of folded paperwork with no apparent quick-start information. However as soon as you discover the sheet in your language and realise you’ll be able to scan a QR code you’ll be able to obtain the Epson Sensible Panel app which guides you thru setup.

Jim Martin / Foundry

It really works like a chatbot, explaining every step to take and warning you to not go away the printer alone. Emptying the ink from the bottles to the tanks is straightforward: every one has a coded sample and can solely match into the right slot for that color, so it isn’t attainable to unintentionally pour within the fallacious color.

No ink escapes the bottle while you flip it the wrong way up: it empties solely when seated into its slot, and routinely stops when the ink reaches the max. line.

Jim Martin / Foundry

After this, the printer initialises the ink system which primes the printer – you’ll see the degrees drop a bit within the tanks. This occurs on the primary time when the printer is new, and also you’ll get much more photographs from subsequent bottles.

The app by some means makes organising Wi-Fi a 30-step course of, however as soon as that specific irritation is out of the way in which you’ll be able to then begin printing.

It’s value noting that you just don’t want a smartphone or pill: it’s attainable to comply with the directions on the included sheet to fill the tanks and prime the system.

After that you would be able to go to the web site within the closing instruction and obtain the Home windows or Mac software program which you’ll want in an effort to arrange Wi-Fi.

Nevertheless, in the event you configure Wi-Fi by way of the cellphone app first, Home windows will discover the ET-18100 in your community and routinely set up a driver so no further software program is required. You’ll in all probability need to set up at the least Epson Picture+, although, because it makes it simpler to print photographs in addition to letting you print photograph collages and, after all, these CDs and ID playing cards.

Jim Martin / Foundry

Efficiency

A3 print in underneath two minutes
6x4in print in 30 seconds
7ppm for normal high quality A4 pages

Even when velocity isn’t your precedence, the ET-18100 is impressively quick in its ‘Customary’ mode, which is the default in each the cell app and Picture+ desktop software program. A borderless 6x4in photograph takes simply 30 seconds and a full A3 photograph just one:50.

Crank it as much as the very best high quality and a 6x4in snap takes 60 seconds and an A3 print roughly 5 minutes – faster than different A3 printers we’ve examined.

Jim Martin / Foundry

If you must print A4 paperwork on plain paper, they’ll seem at about seven pages per minute at customary high quality (an eight-page doc took 70 seconds), however that velocity will increase dramatically in the event you solely want draft high quality.

It slows down in the event you select to collate a number of copies of a doc, however since it is a photograph printer it’s extremely unlikely you’ll be doing that very a lot.

It additionally explains why there’s no auto-duplex: you’ll be able to print on each side of the paper, however you’ll have to reinsert the pages into the enter tray.

Total, the ET-18100 is a improbable photograph printer

As all ink – together with black – is dye-based, textual content isn’t fairly as darkish as you get from pigment black, however to place it merely, if doc printing is a precedence, that is the fallacious printer for you.

Jim Martin / Foundry

What’s essential is that photograph high quality is superb. Feed it a picture with a suitably excessive decision (at the least 300 dpi) and also you’ll have the ability to see a surprising stage of element in prints. Colors are correct, too, with grass, skies and pores and skin tones showing just about precisely as on my iPhone display.

Should you’re printing from a laptop computer or PC, it’s best to ensure that your display is calibrated utilizing a colorimeter if color accuracy is essential within the closing prints.

And whether or not you’re utilizing a cellphone, pill, laptop computer or PC, do not forget that display brightness impacts how pictures look: it’s straightforward to suppose they’re vivid sufficient however prints seem too darkish. There, a histogram (present in a reliable photograph editor) is your pal.

You’ll see a warning when printing from Home windows that enabling borderless mode may result in smears across the edges (a message you don’t get on cell) and there have been a couple of events the place a tiny quantity of black ink appeared in remoted locations on edges. Definitely nothing actually noticeable, although.

I attempted printing a couple of pictures that weren’t photographs to see if blocks of color matched their on-screen counterparts. They did normally, however yellows tended to be a bit darker and extra orange than they need to have been.

Nevertheless, total, the ET-18100 is a improbable photograph printer.

Initially, the absence of a display appeared like a disadvantage. However after printing over Wi-Fi from a cellphone or PC, I didn’t miss it in any respect: the apps supply effective management over precisely how you can place the picture you need to print, so even when it doesn’t match the paper’s side ratio, you’ll be able to management what will get lower off.

Wi-fi printing is totally dependable, too.

If there’s a criticism it’s that the templates supplied in Picture+ are fairly primary and aren’t editable. It’s effective in the event you just like the format, however though one template seems to be prefer it could be for passport photographs, it isn’t named as such and also you’re left to try to work out which paper dimension to make use of to get the appropriate photograph dimension.

Value & availability

Epson’s official worth for the ET-18100 is £699.99. Nevertheless, it wasn’t available for purchase from Epson’s web site in March 2023.

Because it was model new on the time of evaluation, it wasn’t being bought by many retailers on-line. Park Cameras, Harrison Cameras, Carmarthen Cameras and Digital camera Centre had it for £649.

It isn’t bought within the US, Canada or Australia.. at the least but.

EcoTank printers could be costly to purchase, however they’re low-cost to run

If the ET-18100 is simply too costly for you, then you could possibly go for a four-colour A3 printer (such because the ET-14000, though that’s extra for paperwork than photographs) or an A4 mannequin such because the ET-8500 (though that’s not likely less expensive).

Should you just like the ET-18100 however need a scanner as effectively, the ET-8550 can be an A3+ mannequin, and that was on sale direct from Epson at £729.99.

You can even see our suggestions for different fashions in our roundup of the finest printers.

Working prices

EcoTank printers could be costly to purchase, however they’re low-cost to run. Every ink bottle prices £9.99 and may print 2,100 6x4in (10x15cm) photographs. You may get multipacks (a full set of all six) however these I discovered had been dearer than shopping for bottles singly.

Every 6×4, then, prices just below 3p, not together with paper.

Epson doesn’t give yields for A3, however A3 is about 8.3x bigger than 6x4in, that means you’ll be able to anticipate to print round 250 borderless A3 photographs earlier than needing one other set of ink.

Utilizing this estimate, every A3 photograph prices 24p in ink, once more not together with paper.

The included preliminary set have a decrease yield of 1,500 6x4in prints, as a result of some ink is used to initialise the system.

Should you solely printed paperwork with 5% protection, every bottle would final for five,700, that means a black-and-white A4 doc prices simply 1p.

If that web page had 5% protection of all six colors, that’s 6p.

These costs are increased than for Epson’s A4 ET-3850, however if you’re after a printer for churning out a great deal of A3 photographs, it’s aggressive.

Verdict

The ET-18100 is an uncommon printer, as a result of it’s fully targeted on low-cost photograph printing and doesn’t actually do anything. House customers will in all probability discover the printer’s worth a barrier, even when working prices are low, as a result of they merely gained’t have to print photographs on the type of quantity the ET-18100 is designed for.

Certainly, Epson gives solely a one-year guarantee on it, or 50,000 pages, whichever is reached first.

However when you’ve got a facet hustle on Etsy or ebay and wish the choice to print paintings and photographs larger than A4, it’s an awesome selection.