Print Quality and Speed
Should you expect the Epson WorkForce 600 to fire off copies as fast as the $5,000 Xerox copier at your downtown office? No, obviously not. Should you expect the photo printer function to be as crisp and clear as printers that are dedicated to this function? No, probably not.
That’s not to say that this printer disappoints. Dialing it down into draft mode, I was able to print off standard black-and-white documents as fast as I needed them. Even using the default settings, each page of text only took about three seconds. There is naturally a bit of a delay over the Wi-Fi connection, sometimes as long as a minute, but that’s more the fault of the network than anything else.
When I switched over to printing a colorful picture, the Street Fighter IV image depicted above, I was very impressed with the quality. Printing of that full-color full-page image took about 13 seconds. I’d say that’s still pretty quick. This was on plain paper too. The performance on “real” photo paper was even better. The average home office or small business user will be perfectly satisfied with both the quality and speed of this printer.
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
If you are looking for industry-leading print quality or the ability to handle 5000-page documents with the greatest of ease, you’ll need to look elsewhere. The Epson WorkForce 600 was never meant to handle the enterprise or corporate environment, but for the small business owner or the person with a home office, it offers so much for so little money.
The list of features is literally a treasure trove that will keep you smiling for a very long time. It’s unfortunate that the fax feature does not come with a handset, but there is a telephone pass-through if you’d like to attach a phone. The copier feature works fantastically, as does the scanner and the color printer. Given that this costs a mere $150 or so, the Epson WorkForce 600 is easily one of the best values in the all-in-one market.
Pros
- Exceptional value for the price
- Feed and flatbed scanners
- Wi-Fi connectivity is a major plus
- Lots of bonus features and functions
- Very easy to use and setup
Cons
- No support for duplex printing
- Feed scanner can result in bunched paper on exit tray
- Good, but not great print quality
- Plastic materials feel kind of cheap
Overall Rating: 9.0 / 10.0
Discuss This Review in the Futurelooks Community Forums