Tens of thousands isn't a large enough number to be reassuring. I use an Ecotank 4500, and because of the nature of my work buy paper five reams at a time. So f

Tens of thousands isn't a large enough number to be reassuring. I use an Ecotank 4500, and because of the nature of my work buy paper five reams at a time. So far I have 13k sheets on the clock. If the printer fails at 20-30k, I'm going to be seriously annoyed. Fortunately it seems that aftermarket waste ink collectors exist, though there is always a concern that Epson might shut these down with legal or technical measures. However this doesn't address a major concern: I bought this printer for availability. Cheaper running costs are important, of course, but what really matters to me is that it should not suddenly refuse to work. Yes, I have another printer on a different site, but I don't want to have to trog over there late at night because some damn fool has (a) not designed for maintenance; (b) put in a misleading error message; and (c) not designed in a warning of the lines of "this printer will cease to function after approximately 5000 more sheets.