Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

UPDATE: 3/27/2017 Well well well - wouldn't you know. I still have this printer. It's still running well, sort of. I now notice when I don't print anything for 15-20 days, and I start printing again, the nozzles become clogged and require a cleaning. I actually had to perform 3 cleanings in a row to get the printer to pass the nozzle check. The nozzle check is a utility built into this printer to verify that all print nozzles on the machine are spraying correctly. You get a grid of each color on a piece of paper to verify that it's printing correctly. 3 cleanings later, and tons of ink used, the printheads are printing again. Please bear in mind that I am using GENUINE Epson Ink tanks in this machine. This can be costly. Other than this annoying thing and the fact that the maintenance box requires replacement every so often, this is not the most economically engineered machine. However, it's form factor and ability to print from its internal built in battery still makes it a favorable travel companion when printing reports and the like. UPDATE! 9/5/2015: So, you're probably wondering, how is my printer REALLY doing all this time. Well, let me tell you. It's nice and it's a conversation starter everywhere I go. HOWEVER, in terms of cost of ownership - I have to knock a star off of this device. Why? The print heads clog WAY too easily for both black and color - especially if you don't use it for about a week or two. Now, I take this printer with me nearly everywhere within reason. I have a makeshift carry bag and I take this along with my Microsoft Surface. It's a great combination, but it's annoying when you really need to print something, and then you notice your prints do not come out correctly. I have to clean the print heads on this printer about once every 3 weeks or so. Especially if I do not use it for about 7-10 days, I have to run a cleaning. This also consumes a bit of ink AND runs down my maintenance box, too. I have NEVER exposed the printer to temperatures above 85 degrees F. In fact, underneath the printer there is a striker that specifically tells you not to operate or expose the printer to temperatures UNDER 41 degrees or over 104 F! Okay, a quick call to Epson technical support was useless. I was told somewhere along the lines that "printhead cleanings are considered part of regular maintenance and usage of the printer." Considering that a color and black tank runs you nearly forty bucks, this is annoying when you only get about 50-70 page yield with 5% coverage and NO cleanings. Ha! Aside from this annoying feat, I still like the printer, but no longer "LOVE" it. My prior portable HP printer was a little bulkier but never had this flaw. Okay - you're thinking, "Well, this must be only YOURS, right?" Well - I even hit up somebody that I know that has one of these, too. They're going through the same exact thing. I'm not sure if this is intentional or not, but I think it's important that you fellow Amazon shoppers know that the heads clogging are something that appear to be common. Especially if you're trying to control yours costs on mobile printing, I think you should know this. Sure - it's saved me numerous trips to a nearby print shop and also saved me many headaches from "fighting" for a computer / printer at the college print lab, but man! This thing is thirsty! I have now learned to carry EXTRA set of inks ahead of time and an extra maintenance box in my bag in case. Btw: these maintenance boxes are about seven smackers a piece, and as of today - NOBODY except Epson direct will sell it to you. So, if you want to pay shipping on that as well, you're lucky. Or - you wait for a free shipping on ink offer and they'll usually ship it free with your ink purchase. Oh, and I've blown thru 2 maintenance boxes since owning this printer in May (4 months!) - yeah. Figured I'd warn you. --------------- So, you're probably thinking, "Hmm, what makes this printer so special?" I was wondering the exact same thing. I'm a very mobile user, I work full time and go to school at night and also sell products on the side in my spare time, so I'm never "home" to print what I need to print. One wouldn't think you need a printer until you've got one - like this Epson WF-100! I've used Canon and HP before for mobile printing and although they were all "good" - the Epson WF-100 really, really stands out and here's why. I wanted something truly portable and mobile - which means I'm not always near a power outlet. Before, I've purchased the rechargeable batteries for my Canon or HP printer - it adds some bulk and it's an extra accessory to carry. This Epson stands out, because the lithium ion rechargeable battery is BUILT INTO the printer itself - saving space and utility all in one. The printer is so portable, I was able to stick it in my laptop bag. I have a 17" Amazon Basics notebook bag, my 13" MacBook Air inside it and the printer, with about 50 sheets of printing paper, my USB cable and some spare ink cartridges for this printer and not to mention still extra room for a notebook, pens, chargers, etc. This printer is very very quiet. In fact - when running on battery power on this printer - it appears to go into "conservation" mode and prints a little slower, but quieter. Now, if you're printing like 50 sheets at once, on battery power, it's no speed demon but for a few pages, speed is acceptable. When plugged into AC power - it's pretty zippy! You get about 40 - 50 sheets of color or 70ish pages of black and white on a full charge in my experience. Another thing I really like about this printer is that if you don't have your Epson wall charger w/ you - it can and WILL charge from MicroUSB! It comes with a small MicroUSB cord in the box, but if you have a MicroUSB cellular charger, or Car Charger - it WILL charge (ONLY WHEN TURNED OFF). So, you can always find ways to keep this puppy charged up. Another thing I like, is that to my knowledge, unlike another mobile printer - this printer has access to online printing cloud service like Google CloudPrint, Apple AirPrint and EpsonConnect (available when connected to WiFi). For me, this is huge. If you want to print from your iPhone or iPad and you're on the WiFi network along w/ your Apple device, they see each other. If you use GoogleCloud Print, it's available to receive print jobs from there. If you like Epson's "EpsonConnect" cloud print service where you e-mail print jobs to it, it will do it! Just remember, this application would require the printer to be connected to WiFi and you're more likely to have the printer in a stationary setting at this point. Still useful though, in my opinion. You also get WiFi "Direct" but I did not test that functionality out. A competing printer allows for Bluetooth connectivity, but who uses that anymore? Many laptops don't even have Bluetooth available. The printer ink tanks look small - and they are! But don't let that deceive you. So far, I've printers nearly 35 pages the first day of use (initial ink tanks) and barely placed a dent in the cartridge. During printer initialization, the printer will take some ink out but the rest left is available for printing, so I'm sure a "full" cartridge may yield even more prints. I can't comment on estimated page yield because I haven't run it down just yet - but so far, I'm pleasantly surprised. One thing about this printer I think you need to know is that this printer, along with many other "Epson WorkForce" Series printers, this machine also uses a "Maintenance Box" or "Maintenance Tank" inside - which MUST be replaced every so often. This is a good and bad thing. The good thing, the printer will use this consumable to store wasted ink for things like head cleanings, borderless prints, and more. Also, the printer used about half of the maintenance tank (there's an ink level + maintenance tank life meter on the screen) during the initialization process. This did seem alarming to me, but a call to Epson support suggested this is ONLY for the 1st time printer is in initialization. The representative couldn't advise me how many ink cartridges or other factors to determine estimate maintenance tank life would be. The BAD part is - if the tank "runs out of life" and you don't have a spare on hand- the printer WILL refuse to operate. It will demand that you replace the ink maintenance tank before continuing. Don't think you can just "empty" it and replace it back into the printer. There's a smart chip on the maintenance tank underneath the printer that tells the printer it's scarred for life once it's estimated life has been depleted. Fortunately, Epson has included a 2nd maintenance box in the package. Replacements as of today's date are three bucks shy of ten on Epson's website but they are backordered - so beware! The printer can handle envelopes (#10, I've tried and it's neat!) and photo paper as well as legal paper, too. Do not let the printer's size fool you! This little sucker can do a lot. The printer, when running on battery power, will automatically shut itself off after so many minutes of inactivity, which I appreciate because you could forget to turn it off. When you shut the lid on the printer while it's on, it will enter sleep mode until you open the lid. This printer cannot do automatic double sided printing. I do worry that one day this machine could have a clogged head, because previous Epson's I've owned were plagued with this in some fashion - but I bought an extended warranty thru SquareTrade, so I am comfortable for at least 3 years with peace of mind in case it does fail. All in all - this printer is wonderful. I can print reports and last minute papers at school without having to run to the "print center" or "library" to print and hope the computers / printers there aren't "Down" --- because now I have my own! It's so portable and the utility of this printer should not be overlooked. I do, however, wish this printer had a scanner head because if I could scan w/ this - I'd truly be in heaven at this point! Way to go, Epson. You have a serious, deadly competitor to the other mobile printers on the market in my opinion.