Epson Stylus NX515

Pros: The wireless setup was surprisingly easy. Picked up the 4 SSID's I rotate between periodically and my next door neighbor's. Control panel layout and navigation are well designed. LCD display bigger than most I've seen in most price ranges.

Cons: Epson scan software falls well short . Poor scanning communication control between scanner and PC. Slow scanning speed to PC using printer control panel. Noisy, both during operations and transitioning from power off to power on and vice versa.

Summary: My decision to purchase the Epson NX510/515 was made for me when I recently found an unused display at a well-known member discount warehouse for less than 50% of the average selling price. All shipping contents werer available and still sealed. I had just decided to go with an AIO to replace a 10 year old HP DJ930 that was still working but very slow printing with today's standard. I wanted a wireless, network AIO to go along with an HP LJ1200, the DJ930 and a Photosmart 375 I have netwoked on a TRENDnetTEW-P21G wired/wireless print server.

Wireless installation could not have been easier. My 4 network SSID's were detected and displayed along with my next door neighbor's. Keying in the passkey was relatively easy once you understand the control panel keying sequence. Documentation could have been a little more user friendly, but was of little inconvenience, I performed the install without almost no reference to it, but I would not recommend it. Printer setup and printing of a test page was successful on my 2 PC's, both Windows XP SP3 machines. It is at this point, issues beging to surface, all related to scanning.

The installed Epson scanning software is at best basic. It worked well on the PC that did not have a scanner or scanning software installed, except it would not recognize the PC and send a scan from the scanner to the PC using the scan function from the control panel. However, if I controlled the scanning from the PC, it worked. PC # 2 was a challenge. Paperport 11 was the scan manager software and I wanted to keep it. The Epson scanner replaced a Visioneer 8100. The Epson software installs the scan driver and scan manager software. However, it does not open because of the twain conflict with Paperport which will not operate the NX/510/515 as a twain, it is listed as a WIA Twain, not recommended by Paperport 11, but it works. You must install the NX 510/515 using the USB connection for this to work. You cannot scan to the PC using the scan function on the printer with this setup, but you can scan using the scan utility in PaperPort 11. I have worked out the scanning to PC issue on the PC without PaperPort installed and wirelessly, however, there is still an issue, you cannot scan back to back without making a change in the scan control, either selecting another PC then switching back or pressing the back button and starting the scan operation from that point. This is a very odd and annoying quirk. Scan times need much improving. From the scanner to the PC wireless, an 8 1/2 " x 11" document as a pdf took 30 seconds, the same dcoument in picture mode took 1 little more than a minute. Luckily, I don't do a lot of scanning or I would have to reconsider connecting my Visioneer 8100.

The printer is noisy; power on, power off and printing operations can be heard several rooms away. My 10 year old HP DJ930 operates much quieter than the Epson NX510/515, even today. In and out paper trays are adequate but a little flimsy. Avoid any excessive weight on the out tray extensions, they feel very fragile. The larger than normal LCD screen and font makes the display very easy to read. The control panel design and layout is nearly perfect in my opinion. The ability to operate it in both wireless network mode and usb connection between 2 PC's is a plus. Despite operational flaws that may turn away many, I highly recommend the Epson NX510/515 as a first buy wireless AIO. I like challenges and the ability make something work that may not be functioning as intended or designed is not a detraction for me. I don't know how anyone could be disappointed in this unit, even if they didn't get the bargain I did.