Phil Hanson says all-in-one printers have come a long way but wonders if cramming so much technology into one box delivers the quality of prints photographers expect.
Quality photo printers that take up to A4 paper have become an endangered species.
These days, people wanting a printer to work with the smaller paper sizes find they have to buy a workbench space-wasting A3 or go for a multi-purpose machine that prints, scans, copies, faxes and makes the coffee. Manufacturers obviously see advantages in offering desktop Swiss Army knives, instead of single-function dedicated printers.
The Epson TX700W is an upmarket member of the TX family whose $120-ish TX200 D-Photo reviewed last year, and which effectively dealt to scepticism about whether all-in-ones could be any good.
Costing roughly three times as much, the TX700W ups the ante in all areas and adds a really useful bonus: wireless (and Ethernet) connectivity for both PC and Mac. It’ll also print on suitable CDs.
First appearances
Styled in Italy and finished in gloss and matte blacks, the TX700 is of generally sturdy construction, although the double paper trays feel flimsy. Controls are nicely arranged on a tilting panel around an LCD screen that guides the user through various modes and maintenance functions when not working the device from a computer.
At 44.5cm wide and 38.5cm deep, the TX700W doesn’t occupy too much space.
A wide range of media devices can be accommodated, including SD, xD, Compact Flash cards and USB memory sticks.
Up and running
Those who follow the simple setup instructions will be printing within minutes. I found the separate wireless connection instructions somewhat confusing, but managed to get there.
The printed manual isn’t up to much, but the on-screen version is excellent. Full marks too for Epson’s on-screen utility that allows such an easy interface for such things as maintenance and ink management.
Six of the best
The TX700W uses six cartridges of Epson’s Claria photographic inks, which D-Photo matched with the gorgeous 300gsm Epson Ultra Glossy photo paper. Letting Photoshop handle the colour management, the machine produced excellent prints from JPEGs and TIFFs — and did so at blazing speed. The results easily exceeded the TX200.
Moving right along
No nasties spoiled the scan and copy functions. It’ll scan up to a decent 4800dpi, and Abbyy OCR software is included for getting documents into a word processing program. As with printing, it scans at impressive speed. Copying is also quick and easy.
Conclusion
This is a very good machine. Who’d have thought three or four years ago that you could get a multifunction unit that produced this kind of quality work for four hundred bucks?
EPSON STYLUS TX700W – SPECS
- Printing method: Piezoelectric inkjet
- Minimum ink droplet volume: 1.5 Picolitres
- Resolution: 5760dpi (using resolution performance management)
- Paper sizes: A4, Letter, Legal, 8×10, 5×7, 4×6, 3.5×5, 5×8, A6, A5, B5, Half Letter Envelopes: No10, DL, C6
Scanner
- Scanner type: A4 flatbed colour image scanner, CIS sensor
- Pixel depth: Input 48 bits
- (16 bits/colour); output 24 bits (8 bits/colour)
- Scanning resolution: 2400 x 4800dpi
- Mono scan speed: A4 1200dpi 2.2msec/line
- Colour scan speed: A4 1200dpi 12msec/line
Copy function
- Copy speed colour/mono text (A4): Approx 39cpm
General
- Operating systems/Printer drivers: Windows 2000/XP/XP x64/Vista, Mac OS 10.3.9 or later with USB
- Dimensions: 446 x 385 x 150mm (W/D/H)
- Weight: 9.3kg
CONTACT
PROS
- Stellar performance for its price
- Easy to work
- Takes relatively little space
CONS
- Below average printed manuals
Design 16
Performance 16
Features 18
Image Quality 16
Value for money 19
TOTAL 85/100
This article if from D-Photo issue 29.
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