Our old all-in-one printer had been with us for 5 years. We came to a point where the scanner would no longer work, the the copier didn’t either, and the feed would jam if we had more than one sheet of paper inserted. We were ready for something new and updated to say the least.

We were looking for something easy to use this time around as our two older children are using the computer and internet for homework related projects. With a few brief tutorials, my 3rd and 6th graders could get an assignment done and printed on their own, that could be great! We were introduced to the new Stylus NX series of ink-jet printers from Epson, a big name in quality electronics.

The Epson Sylus NX515 is the fastest printer in its class and is believed to be two times faster than it’s competition. With true smart features, the printer has s 2.5 inch tilt-screen LCD-for selecting, copying, and printing without a computer. It also offers Wi-Fi (and Ethernet) printing, ensuring users can print wirelessly, making it a great solution for multiple computers within a household (we have two). This also works amazingly well with our iPod Touch, printing from even that device proved to impress us!

Installation
Installation was quick and easy. My husband had it done within a less than a half hour and he’s fairly skilled with electronics.

Printing
It was obvious that the printer was speedy, we had a set of 4 documents done by the time we realized the printer was queued and the Wi-Fi was working the first time around. Grabbing the sheets from the tray, I was used to saying, “wait, it may be wet” regarding the ink, but we noticed that it dried quickly and was smudgeproof.

The quality of the printing was extraordinary. We took a photo from my daughter’s magazine and scanned it and it printed so crisp and clear that when side by side (see below) you can cannot tell which is the original. The same goes for photo printing. There are multiple paper settings as well as quality settings and photos on glossy set at “best photo” come out just like you picked them up from a photo lab. For fun and non-school related documents we use “draft” mode that gives us a quality printout of what we need with the minimum amount of ink.

DURABrite Ultra Ink
The ink cartridges are usually the most costly part of the longevity of any printer/scanner/copier. This one comes with each individual color, black, blue, yellow, and red (the primaries that make all other colors). After a few weeks printing photos and projects, testing the quality of the printer, we’ve used about 60% of the cartridge, but we’ve really used it!! At each printing you get a pop up screen with the amount of usage on each color cartridge. Essentially you can change out each color as needed.

Scanner
The Epson Stylus NX515 scans directly to email and easily converts to PDF or JPEG files with a single touch. I heard my husband let out a “WHOOP” when it did this so quickly with a document he needed to scan and send to work. Plus it didn’t take up a lot of space in the email and loaded quickly, sent easily. Also using the “home mode” (there are 4 total modes, full auto/home/office/professional) able to restore old, faded, discolored photos back to their original state with or without the computer!

Cost Efficient and Eco-Friendly
With the ability to print two-sided sheets manually, you’re able to save up to half of your paper supply. This is encouraged when our older two kids use the printer, my 11-year-old is eco-conscious thanks to her schooling so it’s not hard to convince. The machine is Energy Star qualified.

A few other things we love about the Epson Stylus NX515 is once we had a paper jam, the body beneath the scanner lifts completly up to get to the paper feeder. I won’t deny having shoved long narrow objects into our old model to help get paper unstuck! Also the paper feeder adjustment is easy to use, with a slight squeeze and slide, even the kids and go from printing regular sheets of paper-8.5X11 to 4X6 sheets of photo paper in a snap!

We love our new all-in-one, and know if you are in the market for something top-of-the-line for
an affordable price (SRV $149.99) while including all the newest technology, check out the Epson Stylus NX515!! It’s absolutely family friendly. (My older two children are 8 and 11).

We received a product from Epson for purpose of this honest review. The opinions are our tried-and-true experience and were not influenced by any source. We were not monetarily compensated for this post.