Epson Stylus CX4200 Inkjet Printer

I, too, am incredibly aggravated that I cannot print with only black ink. I ran out of blue ink but all my other inks are full, and I just want to print a black & white document. The printer wont print at all even though I checked the various print only black printer options.

Hi guys, I just got one of these printers for juts a few bucks. There are a few workarounds to the black and white printing issue. This may be helpful for those who have this printer. Heres a free program that will trick the printer into thinking it has a never-ending supply of ink: [...] Theres also an extensive blog post with solutions here: [...]

We were very pleased with our CX4200 through the first set of ink cartridges. It was easy to use, the print quality on text was good, the print quality on graphics was good. It installed without a hitch and worked with all of our programs. The scanner worked well. We were happy. But then after about 250 pages, it quit loading paper. It thought it was loading paper, as it continued to print by spraying ink inside of the printer. I tried different kinds of paper to no avail. We were using high quality HP paper too, not some generic low-grade stuff. Not one sheet ever got through it again.

I purchased this printer 3 years ago. It is the biggest ink-sucker Ive ever known! I finally switched to non-OEM cartridges because I went through them so quickly. Ever time you turn it on, go to print, end a print job, turn it off--it would just use up ink. The sponge at the bottom was always completely soaked with ink no matter how often I cleaned it off and dried it up. I barely printed anything before it was time to change at least one of the cartridges, and, once one was due for a change, the other 3 werent far behind. Ive experience numerous paper jams with this machine. And who knows where its going to print on the page?!? The colors would also come out funny, ESPECIALLY if you used the scanner. I would scan an image and the colors would be completely different shades! And the quality really wasnt good for all the photo-printing features it boasts. Finally, my printer started making a funny noise last week--like a grinding. Nothing was dropped in there and the troubleshooter was a waste of time. After the noise, Id go to print and it acted like it would, but then itd start to feed the paper and itd just jam up on the right-hand side. I finally called tech support because I couldnt figure out what to do by fiddling around or using the internet. The guy finally said he couldnt help me and gave me the number and address for a computer repair place in town (at least I wouldnt have to drive too far). He told me to ask for an estimate and, if that was more (hint hint!), then he asked if Id consider looking at the Epson website. I promptly informed him that, if it cost anything, then Id definitely be purchasing a Canon and Id already been researching in the week I havent been able to print. So I called the number he gave me and was informed there was an upfront $50 diagnostic fee, which would kindly be applied to whatever charges thered be after the guy was done looking at it. For $50 I can purchase a well-reviewed Canon Pixma iP2600. For a little more, Im looking at the Canon Pixma MP470 (currently on sale at BestBuy for $79.99). So, after 3 years of hating my printer, it rebels for the last time less than 2 months before I start medical school and have all these other stresses going on. This was just what I needed to finally warn the world about this terrible, horrible piece of equipment!!! Time to go buy the Canon I should have purchased last time...

Not only will it not print without Color ink. It will say your out of color ink when your not. Im not just saying this out of frustration. If you pick up an empty cartridge, you can tell from the liquid moving around in it that its nearly full. If thats not enough I put it on a scale, 0.1 of an oz difference. Expect to have to purchase ink every other time you want to print something. As for functionality of the scanner and everything else, well that all works fine. The scanner is not very fast but it works alright. Its prints okay pictures.

Below is the message which my boyfriend sent to their customer support. I am certain you can figure out the problem. I am incredibly offended by your ink policy regarding the Epson Stylus CX4200. In particular, I want to print a black and white text document, but am unable to do so without replacing my color cartridges. Not only that, but when I try to print, your Epson Status Monitor 3 pops up and reminds me that I dont have color ink, and wouldnt I like to buy some? When I visit your FAQ, and try to figure out how to explain to my printer that it doesnt need color ink in order to print my black and white document, the FAQ tells me that yes, I do. And wouldnt I like to buy some ink? No. I do not want to buy more color ink. I want to print my document. You do _not_ need color ink for this purpose. I find it overwhelmingly insulting to imagine a meeting where this policy was arrived at. Clearly someone must have suggested letting the printer print black and white documents without color cartridges, and the response must have been instead, we could really rip our customers off! Why any company would be willing to anger their customers so much is beyond me. I cannot imagine myself buying Epson products in the future. I am certainly _not_ going to buy color ink cartridges just so I can print my black and white documents. Im simply going to sit here and reflect at how incredibly stupid and insulting your current policy is.

The 4200 is slow printing, but reasonable in type appearance. Color is good. Seems OK so far. Replacement Ink cartridges are expensive.

I cant add much more to the chorus. This Epson is not only worthless, but actually offensive to the user. This made me change from having no opinion on Epson to despising them. Great strategy, Corporate Dudes! If you would like to know what people think of it, check auction sites where these printers sell for fifteen bucks. Positive(s): at least the scanner doesnt require ink (but I bet they fixed that with the next model). What a joke.

I like everything about this printer. Ive bought several for home and office use. I like the flat bed scanner, and ease of use. I dont use it for photos as it really uses a lot of ink. I like that I can use the copier feature for black or color - even if the computer is turned off.

I cannot recommend this printer. I second the reviews where one is not allowed to print B&W without 3 other functioning cartridges. My most serious problem is that after about a year of routine use, replacing cartridges when empty, etc, the heads on our printer are now clogged. They do not unclog with the head cleaning procedure because the darn thing is convinced its cartridges are empty. They are most certainly NOT empty, as we had just purchased a whole new set of cartridges. Arrrrgh! If I cannot get this printer to work pretty soon Im gonna unplug it and put it in the trash.