Printers are frustrating. This is the photo printer that I finally fell in love with as a pro photographer – and the price has never been lower

(Image credit: Matthew Richards/Digital Camera World)

Paper jams, weird colors, wonky connectivity – if there’s a piece of tech that’s highest on my Most Frustrating list, it’s printers. That’s exaggerated by the fact that, as a professional photographer, I need something that prints high-quality images with accurate colors. My search for a high-quality printer that doesn’t take up too much office space, however, ended when I found the Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8550 – and it just dropped to the lowest price I've ever seen.

See all of today's Cyber Monday deals for photographers

What first caught my eye about the Epson EcoTank ET-8550, besides the fact that it’s a printer that’s meant for artists and photographers, is the EcoTank capacity. Ink isn’t cheap, but the ET-8550 uses refillable ink cartridges, and the bottles that are included with the printer actually last quite a while.

While ink is why I wanted to try the ET-8550, print quality is why it has remained in my office for years. Paired with pro-quality printer paper, I get lab-quality results in sizes up to 13x19 inches. I’m a color snob, and I’m always pleased at how closely the colors on the prints match my edits on the screen.

During Cyber Monday, the Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8550 has dropped to $499 in the US and £491 with cashback in the UK. According to US price tracker camelcamelcamel.com, that’s the lowest US price yet for this printer, while the UK price is also the lowest that I've seen.

The printer is also discounted in the UK, where the price has dropped to £491 when you include a cashback deal.

But the memes are on to something – printers are often frustrating. Between the paper jams and connectivity issues, printers can be a persnickety bunch. I’ve had relatively few issues with the ET-8550, however. If I haven’t printed in a while, I’ll get some lines on my prints – but all I have to do is run a cleaning cycle (or two) using the troubleshooting on the touchscreen, and then I’m back in business.

Speaking of business, the ET-8550 has a scanner too, so I can scan old photos or make copies. It’s also more than capable of doubling as my office printer for printing out documents, like shipping labels and contracts.

I often recommend the ET-8500 as a more affordable alternative to the ET-8550, a nearly identical printer except for the fact that it only prints up to 8.5x11 inches instead of 13x19. But, the Cyber Monday deal actually makes the better ET-8550 only around $50- more than the option that only prints 8.5x11, so there's a clear winner here. (In the UK, the smaller ET-8500 is only about £32 less, so I still recommend the ET-8550 instead).

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