Epson Stylus aims at photographer, but a
mixture of good features and reasonable price will make it a very good
supplement for many people at home. Designs and beautiful black color give it a
certain attraction although it chooses modern approach for all its facets.
Epson
Stylus Photo PX730WD
There is no touch screen interface. The
machine uses a hybrid system combining a 2.5in color screen with a series of
light blue buttons. It works pretty well although we miss the lively sense of
the model with touch screen. The screen has bad viewing corner, but Epson is
pretty good as a printer without PC. Smart design added 120-sheet paper tray
with a second place to store 200 photos. The printer can transit paper smoothly
from a tray to another tray when the situation requires. We also see its tray
is easier to use than some other printers.
PictBridge is included for the USB drive,
and Epson also has a multifunctional memory card. Wi-Fi connection is very
useful, but you also have one Ethernet port to add Epson in office network. You
can also connect it to mobile devices thanks to Epson iPrint memory, and print
paper directly on compatible disks.
An accompanied package includes ABBYY
FineReader Sprint for OCR task. Many modes of it help the normal person or
experts to access easily. For scan task regarding to the extract of different
factors from one page, Epson is a safe bet.
Traditionally, Epson increases speed index
with draft mode, which seems to clear all colors. Beside draft 19.4ppm mode,
which is fast but almost useless of PX730WD, this is a very strong printer. We
recorded 11.5ppm speed in the middle mode where the output has good quality,
with sharp and clear characters.
Color graphic is also very good, with the
middle 5.8ppm mode. However, Epson really shines in photo printing. The speed
of 80 seconds is quite good, but the output can blow up the paper, along with
Owl Photographic ink the printer ensures great result. However, the cost is
high with 3.4p for text page and 9p for color pages.
Traditionally,
Epson increases speed index with draft mode, which seems to clear all colors.
Copying is very quickly, PX730WD maintains
the speed advantage here. However, it is better if the copy file looks
realistic and accurate as the source document. However, the scan lid is not as
strong as we want.
Info
§ Price:
$286
§ Supplier:
www.epson.co.uk
Verdict
§ It
is quite expensive while operating, but the printing result of Epson is very
good. In addition, the scalability and software package also help. However, a
better screen quality will be very appropriate.
§ Designs:
4/5
§ Features:
4/5
§ Performance:
4/5
§ Value:
4/5
§ Total:
4/5
HP Photosmart 5520 e-ALL-in-ONE
Being a reduced version of HP 7520, $129
5520 version provides some amazing features. Against the layered design of the
HP 7520, 5520 looks normal. It is more elegant, the wrinkled hips make it more
interesting than typical versatile printer. This is not the complete success -
it took us a while to find the open slot for the scan lid.
HP
Photosmart 5520 e-ALL-in-ONE
80-sheet paper tray is not the widest, but it’s
simple and hard design makes us have some matters of paper supply. Unlike 7520,
this printer does not have additional photo tray, so you have to get used to
mixing A4 paper with photo paper if you want to use multiple formats. Beside
scan/copy component, you do not have any addition such as ADF and fax facility.
The printer has memory card slot which is cleverly hidden behind a panel, but
it does not have PictBridge port. The absence of it is annoying if you intend
to print from a USB drive.
The 2.65 in screen is much smaller than the
screen we've seen, it is less than 2/3 of the 4.3in screen of 7520. However, in
many respects, it is a miniaturized version of this display model, for the
touch screen. It is a good monitor to use with familiar color graphics and fast
response time to help you navigate. It does not lack of options, and you can
still access application library of HP. Indeed, 5520 is a very good connection
with a cheap printer like this. It has Wi-Fi and USB 2.0 interface, and you can
also interact with mobile devices by using HP ePrint.
Based on the low price, the output of 5520
is not bad. It can handle text pretty well and in 3.1ppm standard mode, the
output only is not smooth when you look closely. Color graphics look bright and
fresh, despite the palette is not sophisticated, and the depth of detail is not
very good. However, it has the advantage of speed and Normal 3.1ppm mode only
loses 0.1ppm compared to 7520 printer, which is more expensive. With photo
paper, it lacks of shocking feature that helps recognize the best photo
printers.
The
2.65 in screen is much smaller than the screen we've seen, it is less than 2/3
of the 4.3in screen of 7520.
5520 gets benefit from lower printing cost;
it costs 2.4p per text page, and 4.8p for a color page.
Copy utility is quite good, although our
results indicate some lacks of feature. 5520 is one of the slowest models in
this respect, and the hard lid also lacks of space for big documents.
Info
§ Price:
$129
§ Supplier:
www.hp.com/uk
Verdict
§ Nice
touch screen and attractive price make 5520 be a strong rival here; low
printing cost is also beneficial. However, the performance of HP is only stable
more than amazing.
§ Designs:
3.5/5
§ Features:
3.5/5
§ Performance:
3.5/5
§ Value:
3.5/5
§ Total:
3.5/5
