When doing research a couple of days ago before helping my Mom buy a new printer, that particular Epson model earned an astonishingly consistent 10 out of 10 thumbs down from CNET reader reviews. Epson has produced inexpensive printers before, but I don't recall seeing that much negativity about the quality. You'd think that they'd start being a
little concerned, considering that so many computers are sold these days with the cheapo Epson printers as part of a bundle, so many people's first impressions of Epson may be formed by these printers. Not a good marketing move if the impressions are so bad!
The trouble with using 3rd party ink is that if you have problems with the printer, you often can't tell if the ink is the problem or contributed to the problem or if the printer is at fault. Though I guess if you treat the printer as a disposable item, it hardly matters.