I was recently approached by a representative for the New Epson Artisan 710 Color Inkjet All-In-One Printer who wanted me to give the new printer a try in my own home. Over the past several weeks I’ve been testing out the Artisan 710 printer that Epson sent to me. This offer honestly couldn’t have come at a better time. Since I started homeschooling this year, I’ve been on the lookout for a printer that would do a good job of printing everyday homeschool items like coloring sheets, instructions for art projects, lessons, and of course photos!

Wireless Printing

Right off the bat, one of the cool factors that I found in the Artisan 710 is that it is wireless! Hurray for wireless. I heart wireless gadgets and this printer takes the cake. One does have the option of attaching the printer to a computer via a usb if they so choose but the usb cord does not come with this printer so one would have to buy it seperate. I believe this printer was specifically designed to be used wirelessly though so that is why we set it up this way for testing in our everyday situations. The set up of the wireless capabilities was easy. The unit came with step-by-step instructions that made it clear on setting everything up. I am a bit of a techy though I do not think I had to rely on my tech-savvy skills when connecting the printer to our various computers. I did the whole set up in as little as a few minutes on our secured home wireless network. My husband also connected to the printer via “the man cave” so that he can send his prints upstairs anytime he runs out of ink on his printer.

What I find to be great about the wireless printing is that I can print from my mini-laptop in another room or even from outside so long as I have a wireless signal (the printer needs to be on the same wireless signal to do this). Often times I find myself in another room doing work, I just don’t like be confined to one home office :), so not having to log onto the computer that the printer is next to is a great help. Hubby likes this factor as well for those times his printer runs out of ink and he doesn’t feel like going to the store to get more.

Scanning

The first time I scanned with the Artisan 710 was a bit of a shock because honestly I didn’t think that it worked. It was SO QUIET! But after checking my computers documents it had infact scanned and saved the document to my computer without a bunch of fuss. Just like one would print wirelessly with the Artisan 710 the same goes for scanning. There is nothing that one has to do on the computer prior to scanning with the buttons on the front of the printer you can easily scan to a computer that is currently on in your wireless network.

Photo Printing

What I find to be neat about the Artisan 710 is the photo printing capabilities. With printers in the past, despite them being able to print photos, I always had the hardest time lining up the paper in the correct place and getting the photo to actually resize to fit the 4″x6″ paper. So far I haven’t had a problem with the Artisan 710 for what I believe is a simple fact that involves the paper tray. Instead of stacking the paper up in the back of the printer it is sort of underneath in a neat pull out tray drawer. It holds two kinds of papers, a standard letter page or other large sheets of paper as well as a seperate compartment on top specifically for photo paper. This is convenient because when I need to print a photo I don’t have to worry about loading it properly it is already sitting in my paper tray ready to make the switch. I found this feature very easy.

Card Reader and USB charger?

Another cool feature of the Epson Artisan 710 is the card reader and usb charger. On the front of the unit are two SD card slots for reading and printing off of memory cards directly from your camera. Next to it is a usb port that actually charges devices like an iPhone. Since my iPhone likes to be charged with a usb wire connected to a computer, the Artisan 710 allows me to plug my iPhone into my printer instead of the computer for charging purposes. Hey it frees up usb plugin space on my computer and gets my iPhone charged….totally a win, win for me. I think this is perhaps one of the coolest features and the one that I use the most often on my printer.

Final Thoughts?

The Epson Artisan 710 printer that was given to me by Epson has done nothing but improved the digital life in our household. Its easy and convenient and that is what I like in any gadget.

What kind of printer do you have?

What are your favorite features of the current printer that you use. What do you find yourself using it the most for?

Disclosure: this post is sponsored by Epson. A review unit of the Epson Artisan 710 was given to me to test out in my everyday routine. Everyone’s opinions are different, this post is an example of what worked for me and my family. For more information regarding these products, product claims, etc. please visit epson.com.