I bought this printer yesterday evening, because my ancient Canon Pixma is finally failing ( it's so old, I can't get drivers for it anymore OR even remember kind of when I got it!). The set-up process for the new Epson took longer, by far, than any printer I have ever purchased (and I've been buying computers and printers for more than three decades). This morning I tried printing, and the print quality is terrible! Compared to my dinosaur Canon, which had older technology by many years, the Epson just doesn't even come close. It would be absolutely fine for text-based use, but the claimed photo-quality output is definitely not there - or even in the neighborhood. The ink saturation, even on "best" quality, is sorely lacking so that the pattern on a digital paper print is hard to even decipher in the lighter areas (but it is super clear on the Canon printout from a couple weeks ago). Another digital paper (again printed on "best" quality) is much lighter than the actual paper design, and lacking in the richness and saturation that makes that paper beautiful. I printed that one a few weeks ago as well, and it printed sooooo much better on the dinosaur, technologically out-dated Canon. I bought this printer exclusively for paper crafting - primarily handmade cards - and it simply does not do the job. When I put hours into designing and hand-making a card for someone, I need my papers to contribute to a beautiful, caring product rather than taking so much away from it.
As for the set up process - yes, I read the instructions and they were easy to follow. However, the process took nearly an hour - during which time it said not to turn the printer off, so I couldn't really just quit and start over in the morning. No printer has EVER taken me more than a few minutes! What's more, the little screen on the front requires a lot of arrow-ing to move around. The alignment process requires printing out the absolute worst, hardest to decipher, quality check sheets I've ever used and you have to do it about five times! I am in my mid-sixties, and even with my glasses on I had an extremely difficult time seeing the difference between the lines or squares closest to correct. I could not tell if 4, 5, or 6 had the least gap or number of lines, or overlap even though I took the printouts over to where I had both an overhead light and a desk lamp shining on the paper. Because the printer is in my craft room, it sits on a small table rather than a desk so every.single.step required my senior citizen knees to kneel and start the process, then get back up to take that prints across the room for checking, then come back and kneel in front of the itty-bitty screen to arrow through the responses. I've had Epson printers before, with no issues, but I hate this one!