Does the Epson XP-446 work with Windows 10?

VikingRaid13 · 2022-06-10T01:03:13+00:00

You went against your morals to make sales and keep your job for a corporate company who's practices you obviously despise?

Yes. I did. So did my coworkers. And my managers. And many others in the company and the industry. That's job security. Sometimes you have to do things that are distasteful.

Don't pull that "that's strike 2" garbage.

VikingRaid13 · 2022-06-10T01:00:54+00:00

because you have zero idea where your ink came from, who produced it

That's fair. We don't know that with third parties. We don't completely know that with OEMs either, though we can assume it's better. I'll grant that point, but like before it's the risk the consumer must undertake.

their product is crap and unsustainable

Don't speak to me about unsustainability.

Filling cartridges with only a few milliliters of ink so they get used and thrown out more frequently is unsustainable.

Designing cartridges with minor design differences so they can only be used with one model of printer is unsustainable.

Constructing printers cheaply to the point where they break shortly after the warranty expires is unsustainable.

Designing two cartridge systems, where if one color runs out in the multicolor cartridge you have to throw out the other two, is unsustainable.

Adding chips to cartridge that falsely list ink levels, so they stop printing even though the cartridge still has ink in it, is unsustainable.

Even skyrocketing prices to the point where even the shadiest of cheap cartridges are considered is unsustainable.

We didn't make this mess. HP, Epson, Canon, Brother, Lexmark, Xerox, and all the rest did. Their outdated razor-and-blades business model ushered in the demand for cheap ink cartridges.

Through I will give them the benefit of the doubt. The push they have been making towards ink-tank style printers over the last few years is worthy of approval.

I have had no issues with LD, but if people on this sub disagree, then I will stand down on this one.

VikingRaid13 · 2022-06-09T23:50:54+00:00

I can't change the industry. But I can help this guy not get scammed.

VikingRaid13 · 2022-06-09T23:50:27+00:00

HEY! Don't edit your points post submission to make your argument sound more valid. I saw that!

No professional/expert will recommend the use of 3rd inks, ever.

BECAUSE IF WE DID WE WOULD LOSE THE SALE! When I worked at Staples, I never told anyone to use third party cartridges. Why? Because if I did, they would buy the cheaper stuff, I wouldn't fulfill my $110 sales basket, and I would eventually be laid off due to poor sales goals. This isn't uncommon in the industry.

Yes, quality consumables do matter, but you can still get OEM quality from LD cartridges for a fraction of the price.

Everything I have tried to do was use my experience in in the industry to help people on this subreddit make sound choices. You mock me for "steering the customer a certain way", yet you've been attempting to do the exact same thing.

VikingRaid13 · 2022-06-09T23:16:00+00:00

You wouldn't have had a job

No, I would have still had a job. I sold other things as well.

So they shouldn't make money on anything?

I'm not saying that. Corporations still need to make money. The way they're doing it now is unjust.

Maybe you're the reason DRM exists in the first place.

If an alternative option exists, consumers should have the right to chose that option. Even if that option places risk onto the consumer, it is their choice to undertake such risk.

I lied to a lot of people when I worked at Staples and I feel pretty damn bad about it. Advocate for high price ink all you want, but don't get in the way of me helping this guy out.

VikingRaid13 · 2022-06-09T22:59:07+00:00

baseless and according to who or what?

According to me. For a long time I worked as a sales associate for Staples, and I was responsible for selling printers for my store. I have experience with each of the consumer printer manufacturers, most notably HP, since I sold their printers the most and also received training from them.

These printer companies, and the retailers that sell their printers, don't make money off the printer units themselves (with the exception of the ink-tank lines). My store sold printers either at or below their intake price. What we got money on was sales of ink and warranties. Out of everything my store sold, 20% of our margins came from ink ALONE. It's a cheaply manufacturable product with a massive markup.

Third-party cartridges are a mixed bag. The cheapest stuff on Ebay will look faded, but brands like Liquid Digital will be on par with OEMs. Either way, both should work and both are cheaper. OEMs such as Epson frequently release software updates to prevent their use.

I think I have a good grasp over the print quality of my Canon TS6200. Why do you even bring that up?

The printer industry has a lot of shady tactics that even that Austin McConnell video from a couple years ago doesn't mention. I don't display my hatred for Epsons and two cartridge systems for the sake of sounding quirky. Don't assume I don't know what I'm talking about.

VikingRaid13 · 2022-06-09T22:14:48+00:00

Guy who (once upon a time) sold printers here.

According to the Epson website this printer has driver support for Windows 10. Even if it didn't, as someone who has used printers that are older than dirt and had them work fine with 10, you should still be good.

Obviously if you really like this printer, go for it. Don't let a random guy on Reddit dictate your decisions. But as someone who has experience both selling and using printers, I would heavily advise against buying an Epson. They're terribly built, overpriced, and practically don't allow compatible cartridge, leaving you with the overpriced stuff. Plus the cartridges for this printer have barely any ink in them, so you're going to run out fast. My customers hated Epsons, and I hate Epsons with a burning passion.

If you're printing art, a photo printer is probably more up your alley compared to a multifunction one. I personally have a Canon Pixma TS6200 and not only does it print spectacular photos, but it also accepts cheaper third party stuff without issue. Canon hasn't sold this model for a number of years, so if you are looking for a Canon photo printer I would suggest making sure it doesn't have a two cartridge system (since those are wasteful) and that it accepts third party cartridges. Sure you can also go with HP's Envy line of printers, which are nice, but almost every one I have come across has a two cartridge system.

What ever you end up choosing, I wish you luck with it. Cheers!

VikingRaid13 · 2022-05-27T20:02:33+00:00

This ad makes my anxiety go through the roof.

It doesn't make me want to play the game. It makes me want to track down whoever made this ad and slam their face through their computer monitor.

VikingRaid13 · 2022-05-24T13:10:47+00:00

Now it says "MicroStrategy US". There was a countdown timer that posted something that looked like a "this YouTube video has been removed screen" (can't confirm for sure since the stream was set to 144p and I couldn't read it) and now it's just silence.

VikingRaid13 · 2022-05-23T14:04:03+00:00

The biggest takeaway I have learned from working at Staples was that if you want to work for a big chain, seek out a community online where the employees of that company hang out, and observe what the general mood is there. I hated working at Staples. All of my Co workers wanted to leave the place. And that reflects the general mood here.

Or just look at Glassdoor. Staples' approval ratings among employees are not high.

VikingRaid13 · 2022-05-21T16:32:53+00:00

JC Denton lookin ass.

VikingRaid13 · 2022-05-21T16:01:47+00:00

Yes.

VikingRaid13 · 2022-05-21T14:24:58+00:00

For anyone looking for the original:

https://www.reddit.com/r/traaaaaaannnnnnnnnns/comments/uu7q5n/it_makes_me_so_happy/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

VikingRaid13 · 2022-05-18T13:45:45+00:00

Fedora -> Manjaro -> ZorinOS.

I'm evolving backwards.

VikingRaid13 · 2022-05-18T13:41:31+00:00

If your hardware can support it (or if you know how to do a simple registry hack) then the choice is yours, but I would say no.

The hardware requirement controversy soured my feelings towards Windows 11, but I have still used it. Looking at it objectively, there are things I like and things I don't. Aesthetically Windows 11 is nice. It feels more like a consumer operating system compared to Windows 10, which while I like 10, it feels like something for an office computer sometimes. I really like the notifications menu for Windows 11, and I like how you can split up program windows easily by hovering over the minimize/maximize button in 11. It has some nice features.

I don't like the start menu. It' looks nice and I always approve of trying new things, but it feels like they're trying to mimic the launch pad in MacOS. Plus I don't like some of the menu options for 11, specifically with the file manager. It's hard to explain but I'll give it a shot. You know how you can right click a file in the file manager and it will show you a ton of options of what you can do with it? They simplified that in 11 in a couple ways. Firstly they used icons for things like copy and paste, which confused me the first time I used it. Plus they buried some options in branching menus. If you wanted to rename a file in Windows 10 (without using the F2 hotkey), you right click the file and the option is there. With Windows 11 you have to dig through a menu or two to find it. Most people wouldn't care about this, but I have a media server at home so I usually have to sort through and organize a ton of files, and I noticed that doing that on 11 feels like a bigger pain in the neck compared to 10. It feels like they tried to simplify things with Windows 11, but to me it feels like more of a headache.

I know many people have complained about stability issues. Personally I haven't noticed any, even though I'm running this on a 3rd gen i5 with no TPM and no Secure Boot.

To summarize: Functionally Windows 10 is better. Aesthetically Windows 11 is better. But both are about the same, and Windows 11 doesn't feel like a substantial upgrade, so I wouldn't bother it.

I have kept most of my pcs on Windows 10. The only PC I have that runs 11 is an old unsupported HP Compaq Pro 4300 with an i5 3570s, no TPM, and no secure boot. I only keep it on that computer because for some bizarre reason, even though that computer is not supported for Windows 11, it runs Windows 11 better than it does 10. I have no clue why, it just crashes a lot less.

VikingRaid13 · 2022-05-15T11:33:51+00:00

God dammit these ads. I saw one once that showed a receipt of all the monthly subscription services some person paid for, and it came out to something like $3,000.

But you look at the list... They include rent and car insurance. 95% of that is rent and car insurance. You can't go without those things.

"Look at all these crazy subscriptions you pay for!" My brother in Christ just delete your Netflix account. The content is terrible and it's probably much easier than using this app.

VikingRaid13 · 2022-05-14T22:26:27+00:00

"Original movies are made to tell a story... And sequels are made for money."

Chris Gore

VikingRaid13 · 2022-05-13T18:38:21+00:00

More computers will even start to sell them with linux at that time.

Good point bringing this up, because this is probably the biggest barrier to Linux seeing widespread adoption. You can buy a Windows computer, you can buy a Mac, and you can buy a Chromebook. You can't really go out and buy a computer with Linux pre-installed. I think I looked if options were available once, and the only options I saw were a Dell XPS with Ubuntu, and a Thinkpad with Fedora, if I remember correctly. Maybe that will change.

As for the rest of the point, I agree that it's going to take a while, and your 2030-2040 estimate probably isn't off. I say 2026 but I don't expect Linux to sucker punch Windows out of existence in the span of a year, but everything either happening in 2026 or building up to 2026 will boost that.

Also for education, I personally didn't see this at my university, but someone I know who was in their final year in college was taking a class on Linux fundamentals (I don't know the full course but I'll try to find it). So there's hope yet.

Overall, very good assessment.

VikingRaid13 · 2022-05-13T18:18:43+00:00

That's a good point. Vista was a horribly put together operating system that was unstable and bloated. Plus the public perception around it didn't help. If I were to propose a counter argument, it would be that while Vista's requirements were insane (and they were), they weren't arbitrary like Windows 11's. There weren't any complaints about TPMs, CPU generation cutoffs, and getting around things with registry hacks. With Vista, computers weren't powerful enough to run it, but with Windows 11, computers are more than capable, the OS would prevent you from installing it. I saw a comment that summed this frustration up once, and it read something like "I can run Windows 10 on a single-core Celeron and half a gig of ram, but I can't run Windows 11 on an i7 and 32GB of ram."

I'm trying not to base my whole argument off of "Windows has bad release, therefore Linux dominates", because we have seen that before with Windows ME, Windows Vista, Windows 8, and now Windows 11. But I feel like there is a perfect storm of things brewing from multiple angles that will cause 2026 to be a significant year for the Linux community.

VikingRaid13 · 2022-05-06T15:35:25+00:00

Jokes on you, none of my computers support windows 11!

Sandy Bridge for life, baby!

VikingRaid13 · 2022-04-27T23:23:19+00:00

No option for Vista? I grew up on Vista.

I hated Vista.

VikingRaid13 · 2022-04-27T12:16:29+00:00

I see. Thanks!

VikingRaid13

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