The Good: 2 times faster productivity speeds of leading competitive ink jets, exceptional print quality, inexpensive for a high quality all-in-one home/office printer, easy set-up, built-in Wi-Fi or Ethernet networking. User friendly 2 ½ inch tilting LCD display screen. Memory card reader for easy file transfer compatible with; CompactFlash, Microdrive, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo, MagicGate, Memory Stick, MagicGate Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick Pro Duo, SD, SDHC, MultiMediaCard, xD-Picture Card, xD-Picture Card Type-M, and the xD-Picture Card Type-H.
The Bad: I would like the Auto Document Feeder paper capacity increased from 30 sheets to 100 sheets.
The Bottom Line: The Epson WorkForce 610 is a very competent all-in-one printer that will improve the efficiency of any home/small office printer while producing high quality printing with easy set-up, great software all for under $200 by a reliable Epson company.
Reviewed By: Bruce Downs
Reviewed On: October 26 – November 18 (24 days)
Installation: I installed the Epson software to my Windows XP desktop via the included CD with ease. Epson offers three ways to link the printer up to a computer: direct using USB 2.0, wired Ethernet, and Wi-Fi. All of the drivers you need to install the printer using a wired connection come on the driver disc, which also includes a network set-up utility that guides you through the process of establishing a Wi-Fi connection right on the front panel. Basically all I had to do was enter my router password and it was configured and ready to go.
Like many other printers on the market, the Epson's setup first asks you to keep the USB 2.0 cord plugged into a computer while it creates an ad-hoc connection to your wireless router. After you establish a connection, you're free to remove the cable and continue printing wirelessly using a PC or a Mac.
Software: Although you are allowed to custom install the software from the driver disk I would recommend most people to install everything, which takes some time but easy to do with set by step directions. And the software works like a dream with pop up menus when you make a selection of what function you want to do. In fact it is so simple that my 12-year-old son was up and printing school projects in no time with limited experience with home printers. But if you do need help with a project the software even includes a flash animation video that will walk you through common jobs and projects.
Print Quality: The Epson WorkForce 610 uses four individual (cyan, magenta, yellow, and a high capacity black ink) cartridges with DURABrite Ultra Ink which provides instant-dry smudge, fade and water resistant documents instantly. The printer also doesn't dissatisfy in terms of photo print quality in fact I would say that the WorkForce 610 more than lives up to the quality of the Epson name. Plus with many printer options to choose from, Epson makes it easy to cater to your prints in the most efficient way possible. While using the preset settings, the prints produced evenly saturated colors and shapes with good smooth quality line weights without graininess or blotchy facial tones with clear readability with small font size text.
Print Test: In my speed tests, the WorkForce 610 did good job when it comes to printing 4x6 photos, in about 1 minute, and an 8x10 photo in a little less than 3 minutes. When printing black and white text documents produced 15 pages per minute in text mode, but in draft mode the output speed increased to 20 pages per minutes on 20-pound white paper; first page in 6 seconds. Speaking of draft mode, I would recommend using the draft mode for black and white printing (without images) for everything except display work, or final production documents.
Scan Test: The Epson Scan software is very easy to operate and offers three scanning modes (home, office, and professional) to choose from the pop-up menu which allows you to save your scan to a PC, flash drive, or email. The built-in 30-page Auto Document Feeder in the rear of the machine worked as you would expect and without jamming during my three week test. The Auto Document Feeder supports A4, Letter and legal size documents, so I would recommend scanning narrower paper without the use of the auto document feeder. The scanner is a 48-bit color flatbed with optical resolution of up to 2400 dpi.
Fax Test: With using the fax software, you can send a black and white or color fax from a file you have on your computer without having to print the document first, which saves you time, ink and paper. If you use the 30-page Auto Document Feeder the output fax speed is as fast as 3-seconds per page. The fax memory is an impressive 180 pages and you can store up to 60 speed dial numbers.
What’s in the Box: Instruction manual, CD-ROM with drivers and software, power code, telephone cord, and 4 DURABrite Ultra Ink cartridges; one 97 Extra High–capacity Black ink cartridge and three 68 High–capacity color ink cartridges: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow.
Warranty and Support: Epson backs the Epson WorkForce 610 with a limited two-year warranty with registration within 60-days of purchase. Added support is offered with a toll-free customer support line (weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT), online through a troubleshooting guide, FAQs, e-mail support, driver updates, and document downloads.
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