New Heat-Free Epson EcoTank Printers – Turn Down the Heat

Photos courtesy of Epson

If I had to name two things that almost universally worry dads, I would say: “the future of our kids”, and “the hip pocket”. The future is naturally a broad concept, encompassing issues such as health, safety and happiness. Many of us are also becoming more and more aware of the environment, and the idea of destroying it for our kids for our own convenience now just doesn’t sit well.

The hip pocket is more straightforward – save every dollar possible, whenever possible.

Unfortunately for us dads, these two worries often conflict. The environmentally friendly choice (take electric cars, for example) can be much more expensive than the traditional alternative. That is, unless a company has made a real and genuine commitment to introducing forward-thinking, environmentally-friendly technology at a cost equal to, or even better than traditional alternatives.

Epson are doing just that with their EcoTank line-up of printers. The EcoTank concept is not brand-new – I wrote about the the impressive Epson EcoTank Pro ET-16600 last year. But with the latest generation, Epson have upped the eco-credentials yet again. The new heat-free Epson EcoTank Printers further reduce power consumption in addition to the environmental benefits of fewer replacement parts than traditional inkjet or laser printers.

 

Turn Down The Heat

Heat-free printing might sound like a small change, but keep in mind the vast global coverage that a company like Epson has. When you ship 50 million cartridge-free refillable ink tank printers in a year, small changes have a huge impact!

Importantly, Epson have partnered with National Geographic to launch the Turn Down the Heat campaign, to promote the protection of the world’s permafrost (the frozen ground beneath the polar regions of the earth). This area has been identified by scientists as critical to Earth’s temperature regulation. National Geographic Explorer, Dr Katey Walter Anthony, estimates that up to 10% of the projected global warming this century could come from thawing permafrost. In other words, this campaign is very important.

 

 

The New Heat-Free Epson EcoTank Printers

Epson have just added four New Heat Free Epson EcoTank Printers to their line-up. They include:

Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5150 and Ecotank Pro ET-5170

The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5150 and Ecotank Pro ET-5170 are cartridge-free printing solutions for the high-productivity home office. They provide home offices and small businesses with an affordable EcoTank Pro option for high-speed, high-volume cartridge-free printing.

At less than two cents per colour ISO page, and with replacement ink bottles from $24.99, the potential savings are apparent. Even better, the new EcoTank Pro printers can print thousands of pages straight out of the box. Epson state that the EcoTank Pro Series allows users to save up to 90 percent on replacement costs vs standard capacity black and XL capacity colour laser toner cartridges.

 

 

Epson’s PrecisionCore Heat-Free Technology uses less power than laser printers. It is also fast – just 7 seconds to the first page out. Both printers also include a 35-sheet Auto Document Feeder (ADF) and fast, auto 2-sided print. The Epson EcoTank Pro ET-5170 also offers a high-capacity 250-sheet paper tray, 2.4″ colour touchscreen and wired & wireless network printing for turbocharged productivity from almost any device.

The EcoTank Pro ET-5150 (RRP $639.00) and EcoTank Pro ET-5170 (RRP$649.00) are now available now at www.epson.com.au and retailers.

 

Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8500 and EcoTank Photo ET-8550

 

The Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8500 and EcoTank Photo ET-8550 are aimed at keen amateur photographers and creative enthusiasts. They both use 6 colour Epson Claria ET Premium inks and can print an impressive 2,300 high-quality photos with one set of ink bottles. Alternatively, the Ecotank Photo ET-8500 and ET-8550 can print a whopping 6,700 pages in black and white or 6,200 pages in colour. That represents incredibly low running costs!

Both new printers come with the new 6 colour Epson Claria ET Premium ink set – equivalent to approximately 185 individual cartridges (dependent on a range of factors). Those inks are designed to produce high-quality, long-lasting borderless photos of up to A4 size on the ET-8500 and to A3+ with the ET-8550.

 

 

The inks include a photo black and a new photo grey, which should produce detailed, high-contrast black and white photos with beautiful toning. A pigment black ink enhances the versatility of both the Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8500 and EcoTank Photo ET-8550 by producing sharp text and it is suitable for printing double-sided documents on plain paper.

Both printers offer flexibility in media handling, with five paper feeds to cater for a wide range of options. This includes CDs and DVDs, photo-size and A4 (in the two front trays), craft paper and card (rear tray), and a rear straight pass feed for cardstock and other specialty media up to 1.3mm thick. The Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8550 can even take paper up to A3+ size.

The Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8500 and EcoTank Photo ET-8550 offer flexible printing options, with onboard SD and USB connections in addition to full Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct and Ethernet connectivity. Both units are controlled through a large 4.3″ colour touchscreen.

The EcoTank ET-8500 and ET-8550 are now available from www.epson.com.au with an RRP of $999.00 and $1149.00 respectively.