The Epson Stylus B42WD office printer fares well against its larger competitors in the small and home office market.
It's a simple, lightweight A4 printer that has minimum but easy to use features, and is very quick to set up and configure. It's suited to the small office that requires high-quality colour and black and white printing, without breaking the bank.
The printer delivers what it promises, and while it might not provide the extra flashy features of its high-end competitors, it impresses with its print speed and productivity, and can print up to 38 pages per minute.
The print quality is very impressive. I found the full-colour inkjet prints were bright and had a slightly glossy finish to them; similar to what one would expect from laser printers.
The printer has a 250-sheet front-loading paper tray and also provides double-sided printing. However, I found that it was difficult to load paper into the tray, as I had to repeatedly adjust the paper to get the printer to grip on to it.
The printer uses Epson's DURABrite Ultra Ink individual cartridge system, which means only the colours that run out need to be replaced. It also has a pop-up application that warns which ink cartridges are low. It can accommodate different cartridge sizes, including XL Stag inks for high-volume, low-cost printing.
The device is compatible with Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Apple MacOS X 10.4.11. It also comes with Energy Star's green stamp of approval for its energy efficiency and duplex printing.
It comes with a software pack, including Epson Easy Photo Print, offering photo-editing tools, layout tools and printer setting interface.
Overall, I found the printer reliable and very easy to use, and would recommend it for any typical mom-and-pop business that might not have technical support, as one just needs a quick glance at the manual.
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