The Epson EcoTank ET-2850 is a supertank all-in-one printer intended for small or home workplaces. It is very identical to the discontinued Epson EcoTank ET-2760, with the exception that it lacks an SD card slot. This printer has a high page yield, a low cost-per-print, and a flatbed scanner, similar to other entry-level EcoTank versions. Sadly, it prints slowly, making it unsuitable for printing lengthy, multi-page documents.
1. Design
The Epson EcoTank ET-2850’s body is made of flimsy-feeling plastic, although it has a semblance of durability. There is a lid dampener that holds the flatbed scanner’s lid open and shuts it slowly without your assistance. Unfortunately, although the ink tanks are easily accessible, you must raise the flatbed to access the ink tank cover. It differs from the Epson EcoTank ET-2800, which allows you to remove the ink tank cover without repositioning other components.
The Epson ET-2850, like all inkjet printers, requires maintenance to prevent clogging. Printhead cleaning, power cleaning, printhead alignment, printhead nozzle check, and paper guide cleaning are among the built-in maintenance duties. It is simple to access the ink tanks, although lifting the scanner is required to access the ink tank cover. As the nozzle of each bottle is designed to fit exclusively with its matching tank, refilling them is simple, and you won’t have to worry about accidently filling the wrong tank. The technique can be untidy, but its extremely high page yields make it unnecessary to repeat it frequently. The paper tray can only contain 100 pages, therefore if you need to print numerous lengthy documents, you must add more paper. Remember that after refilling the ink tanks, you must reset the ink level counter each time because the printer cannot precisely measure how much ink remains. The sheet rollers can be accessed by removing a back panel or lifting the flatbed scanner.
After nearly two months of inactivity, the magenta and cyan printheads became clogged. Four consecutive printhead cleanings and 12 hours of printer rest were required for the printheads to function as planned. But, if you routinely use your printer, you will not suffer this level of congestion.
The Epson ET-2850, which replaces the Epson EcoTank ET-2760, offers a flatbed scanner but no automated document feeder. The Epson Scan 2 program allows you to scan your documents as a text-searchable PDF, allowing you to easily locate and copy the text inside the scanned documents. If you require a document feeder, consider the Epson EcoTank ET-3850.
Because to its supertank mechanism, the Epson ET-2850 can produce a staggering number of pages. Instead printing utilizing small, conventional cartridges, this printer features four tanks that can be refilled with ink bottles. Nevertheless, supertanks lack an ink level sensor, therefore they cannot determine the exact amount of ink remaining. Instead, it monitors ink usage internally to predict when ink levels are running low, so you’ll need to keep an eye on the ink levels and manually change the printer settings whenever you refill the tanks. If you allow the ink levels to drop too low, air bubbles could form in the print tubes and cause damage to the printheads.
Cyan ink produces far more pages than magenta or yellow. Although it is unknown why this is the case, it is ideal if you frequently print blue images for a graphic design project employing a certain color palette or for landscape photographs featuring the sky or ocean.
2. Document
The print speed of the Epson EcoTank ET-2850 is comparable to that of other EcoTank printers. Printing is slow, which is not ideal if you have a 50-page report to produce. Additionally, it takes longer to print a single page after an hour of printer inactivity.
Epson ET2850 supports the vast majority of conventional paper sizes. You may also specify bespoke dimensions with widths between 3.5″ and 8.5″ and lengths between 5″ and 47.24″.
3. Photo
The Epson EcoTank ET-2850 is capable of printing a variety of colors. The zigzag line is visible throughout the photo, with the exception of the transitions from red to pink and orange to red. It indicates that the printer has difficulty printing highly saturated colors in these tones. The transition from black to color is smooth, and it has a good dark hue, albeit it should be less blue. The transitions from white to color and between hues are effective, albeit a little rough.
The Epson ET-2850’s color accuracy is subpar. When adding color to a report or assignment, there is no problem. However, it is not suitable for photography because most colors appear differently than their originals. In addition, there is a yellow patch in the bottom left corner of the color grid where ink escaped during printing. It only occurred on two printed pages, therefore it should not occur frequently. If you own this printer and have this issue, please let us know on the forums.
All View
The Epson ET-2850 is suitable for home or small business use. Even if you’re printing hundreds of pages every week for your business, you won’t need to purchase new ink bottles for quite some time. This is because of the supertank technology. In addition, the ink bottles are rather inexpensive for the amount of ink they contain, which helps you save money in the long term. It does not feature an automatic document feeder, so it is not ideal for scanning large volumes of documents. Also, it prints slowly, which is not ideal when time is of the essence.
