This is the EcoTank for a household that has started to behave like a small business. The ink economics are identical to the cheaper models, so the only question on this page is whether the hardware earns its price.
Cost to run
Epson lists the ET-4800 as taking 522 ink with replacement yields of 4,500 ISO pages black and 7,500 color — the same family as the ET-2400 and ET-2800. At the prices we read, that is about 0.4¢ a black page and 1.1¢ for four-color.
We have deliberately not published a three-year total-cost table for this model, because Epson did not show a list price on the page we read and the printer’s own cost is the dominant term in that sum at household volumes. A total-cost figure built on a price we invented would be worse than no figure.
What the extra hardware actually buys
The document feeder
This is the feature worth the money, and only if you use it. Scanning a ten-page contract on a flatbed means ten lid lifts. Through a feeder it is one action. If you scan or copy multi-page documents even a few times a month, this alone justifies the model.
Wired Ethernet
Underrated. Most household complaints about a shared printer are Wi-Fi complaints wearing a printer costume — the machine drops off the network, somebody power-cycles it, everybody blames the printer. A cable removes the entire failure mode.
Fax
Almost certainly irrelevant, unless a specific institution in your life still insists on it. Some medical and legal offices do. If none of yours does, treat it as a feature you are paying for and will not use.
The duplex question
Epson’s specification page for this model did not state automatic two-sided printing, so we do not claim it either way. If a duplexer is a requirement for you, check the current specification before buying, or look at the ET-3850, which lists a duplexer, a feeder and Ethernet together.
Who should buy something else
- You scan twice a year. Buy the ET-2800 and pocket the difference. Same ink, same cost per page.
- Your office printing is black text and lots of it. The Brother DCP-L2640DW is faster, duplexes, has a 50-page feeder, and its toner will not care that you went on holiday. It costs roughly eight times as much per page, and for text-only work at moderate volume that still often comes out ahead.
- You want a duplexer confirmed on the spec sheet. The ET-3850.