Epson expression premium xp 700 multifunction device. Epson RX700 is a bad MFP, a great photo printer. ⇡ Additional features

The subject of our today's study is Epson's multifunctional photo lab - Stylus Photo RX700, the oldest in model range RX and combines a photo printer, scanner, copier, slide module and card reader in a single housing. The novelty has a large built-in LCD screen and allows you to print photos from memory cards and USB drives offline, without connecting to a PC. Brief description models can be upgraded with PictBridge technology for direct connection of digital cameras, as well as the ability to print directly to CD/DVD.

You can talk as much as you like about the pros and cons of the release of "photographic combines", but the most stubborn thing in the world - statistics, says that year by year the demand for such devices is growing steadily. Moreover, in the case of buying such well-thought-out and versatile solutions, which are the models of the Epson Stylus Photo RX line, it is very difficult to think of tasks that they would not cope with, both in standalone mode and when connected to a computer.

The oldest and newest model in Epson's line of multifunctional photographic laboratories, the Stylus Photo RX700 has all the advantages of this series, plus, next to unique opportunities, which we will discuss below. Let's start our acquaintance with the new product from the traditional performance characteristics of Epson Stylus Photo RX700, taken from the manufacturer's website:

In fact, behind the dry figures of the characteristics lies a universal photo center with a 6-color printing system and support for resolutions up to 5760x1440 dpi, a CCD scanner with a resolution of 3200 x 6400 dpi, a universal set of interfaces, and support for all known formats of flash memory cards. Separately, it is worth emphasizing the system of separate ink cartridges for economical printing, as well as a high-end scanner: how much do you know household models, which have dynamic range optical densities? The Epson Stylus Photo RX700 scanner has this indicator, of course, not the highest, but not the lowest either, and the very fact that this indicator does not have to be shamefacedly hidden is pleasant.

The Epson Stylus Photo RX700 can not only serve as a high-quality full-color copier, but also provide direct printing of photos from films and slides using the built-in slide module, provide preview and image editing functions using a 2.5-inch LCD screen. The versatility of the model is emphasized by the ability to print on the surface of CD / DVD discs, as well as the presence of two trays for easy media selection.

Since the Epson Stylus Photo RX700 photo center came to our editors as a pre-sale sample, I think it makes no sense to dwell on its retail package. Let's proceed directly to the structure of the apparatus and the features of its operation.

First acquaintance with the printer

It is not so easy to acquaint the reader even with a conventional inkjet printer that supports photo printing. What can we say about the opportunities inherent in the universal photo center. It would seem that the set of capabilities of a universal multifunctional device can be described in a couple of sentences; in the case of such a complex system as the Epson Stylus Photo RX700, one could talk endlessly about the highlights of the device, all kinds of engineering tricks implemented in various nodes. Alas, we will have to limit ourselves to only the most important details.

Externally, the Stylus Photo RX700 model has a fairly typical design for the Epson RX series models: calm dark tones, smooth body curves, and a compact horizontal design. At the same time, the weight of the model immediately arouses at least respect: the photo center is not a beautiful box with Japanese imported air, but rather a complex device stuffed with electronics. The impression is enhanced by a large 2.5-inch flip-out color display that gives the RX700 full autonomy, as well as a solid set of controls.

What I have always liked about inkjet printers Epson is thoughtful, intuitive placement of buttons and other print settings. In the case of the Stylus Photo RX700, it came to a curious thing: as soon as all the necessary preparatory steps were completed before printing from a flash card, it was time to press the Print button, of which, as you can see in the picture above (lower right corner), there are two. How great was my surprise when, by poking almost at random, quite intuitively, I managed to "get" into the button for printing color prints. Only later, after reading the instructions, the scientific poke method was documented.

The Stylus Photo RX700 is a real all-rounder that allows you to print on any media, including "photographic" paper sizes - 10 x 15 cm, 12.5 x 17.5 cm borderless, on sizes up to A4, and finally on compact disks. By the way, a special input tray is provided for working with CDs. For users who are already familiar with printers and MFPs manufactured by Epson, such a bundle does not surprise for a long time, for beginners, a thorough approach to packaging sometimes seems like a revelation.

Pay attention to the complete set - along with the tray for CD / DVD discs, a frame for scanning slides and film is also supplied. Comfortable enough. The backlight built into the lid, of course, makes the folding structure heavier, but in practice it is quite convenient to use the scanner, and the extra weight of the lid is only a plus when working with uneven scan sources like books and brochures.

Six printer cartridges are installed in the most unexpected places - three pieces from each edge of the front surface of the photo center. Access to them opens after a simple tilting of the covers, the cartridges enter their nests without difficulty.

By the way, the location of the universal card reader, usually covered with a translucent cover, is clearly visible in the bottom picture. He nestled himself in neutral territory, does not interfere with anyone and is completely invisible until it comes to using it.

However, back to cartridges. It goes without saying that for a machine as powerful as the Stylus Photo RX700, using small ink bottles would be a ridiculous cruel joke. The manufacturer, knowing this very well, became generous with sufficiently capacious cartridges. Of course, each type, depending on the color, is equipped with a special system of volumetric grooves that serve as foolproofing and do not allow the cartridge to be inserted into a slot that is not suitable for it.

The back side of the photo center has a rather laconic design - only interface ports, power supply and nothing more.

Perhaps someone will be confused by the appearance of the USB interface cable that goes directly into the device. Is it a detachable cable? Of course, the removable interface port is located not outside, but inside the structure - all the same, when working with a PC, this cable will be constantly connected to the photo center.

For the convenience of connecting digital cameras and USB-drives directly to the photo center, there is one more USB connector on its front panel - you could see it in the photos above, above the left compartment for cartridges.

Access to the massive print head block of the printer opens after tilting the top of the photo center. The Epson Stylus Photo RX700 uses a new engine to print at resolutions up to 5760x1440 dpi and a minimum drop size of 1.5 picoliters. QuickDry water-soluble inks are optimized for printing on Epson photo paper. Photos taken with the Stylus Photo RX700 have improved ozone, light and water resistance.

Let's take a closer look at battery life photo center and its main "organ" - LCD panels with controls. The display, it should be noted, is very clear, contrasting and bright, the advertising description of PhotoFine technology does not deceive a single gram. The Epson Stylus Photo RX700 incorporates a screen already known to users from the Epson L-500V camera and the Epson P-2000 multimedia photo album. The screen resolution is 256 ppi.

The LCD screen is used not only to view photos, but also to control the device. All commands are displayed on it in Russian, so even a novice user can cope with the photo center. In the photo above - the printer is in service mode (the green indicator next to the "screwdriver" icon is on), the corresponding set of settings is on the screen. In general, each operation - scanning, printing, copying, etc., has its own indicator and its own corresponding button that switches the device to the appropriate mode. Simple and convenient.

wonder how much functionality set to offline mode. For example, it is enough just to insert a flash memory card into the appropriate slot, and after a short delay, the choice of printing all files in the form of icons will become available on the screen, as well as printing each of them with pre-processing, including minimal retouching, adjusting brightness, saturation, color balance , presence/absence of margins, paper type and much more. Domestic buyers will be especially pleased to work with this device due to the full and high-quality Russification of the on-screen menu. The photo center has such interesting functions as "Color Restoration", "Dust Removal", which allow you to automatically restore old films and photographs, as well as "Color Restoration" technology, which analyzes the image and improves its color. All these modes are available for quick mastering even for beginners when working without a computer.

Below are just a few screenshots of the photo center screen, clearly illustrating the capabilities of the device. In fact, you can take hundreds of such screenshots and still not finish the description of the menu saturated with all sorts of functions.

Installing drivers and software

From a Windows perspective, the Epson Stylus Photo RX700 is not the only system device, as is usually the case with a scanner or printer, but at once a whole set of devices on a single USB interface. That's why the installation process can take a decent amount of time. However, this applies to users who decide to perform a custom installation of components. For those who prefer not to bother choosing from a list of unfamiliar applications, the installation will take place in express mode and will not differ in any way from installing software and drivers for a conventional printer.

In any case, the installation process ends with the appearance of several characteristic entries about new devices in the "Printers and Faxes" folder, as well as in the device manager of the system menu.

The appearance of the drivers for the Epson Stylus Photo RX700 photo lab is quite typical for most other devices from this company. If you have at least once closely "talked" with some device manufactured by Epson, you are unlikely to confuse its software interface with someone else's. The screenshots below show some tabs of the Stylus Photo RX700 print driver as an example. Agree, except for minor details, you can meet such an interface in any 6-color photo printer from this company.

Testing

For a detailed acquaintance with the capabilities of the Epson Stylus Photo RX700 photo center, in other words, for testing the device, all possible resources were involved, the use of which is typical for working with devices of this class, that is, the maximum set of Epson photo papers.

The photo above shows only some packages of Epson photo papers, in fact, a decent list of media for various purposes, various densities and formats was tested:

• Epson Photo Quality Ink Jet Paper
• Epson Photo Quality Glossy Paper
• Epson Matte Paper
• Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper
• Epson Premium Semigloss Photo Paper
• Epson Double-Sided Matte Paper

In addition, regular office paper (for comparison), Epson branded ink cartridges with new technology QuickDry Ink, as well as a test table with raster and vector objects designed specifically for such cases.

I would like to emphasize that such a modern model, which is the Epson Stylus Photo RX700, simply cannot have flaws by definition - too many man-years have been spent on developing and improving the technologies used in the new product.

In fact, the whole range of tests carried out, including printing from a PC, offline printing of photos from a flash card with and without retouching, offline scanning, scanning to a PC, copying with and without scaling, with and without margins, monochrome and color photo output and much, much more showed excellent results. Perhaps my statement will sound a little awkward, but still I will say: the range of possibilities provided by the Epson Stylus Photo RX700 photo center is too wide to call it a device for amateurs, even very advanced ones. The excellent functioning of the scanner, high quality printing and the entire pool of services make it possible to call the Stylus Photo RX700 a universal device of a professional level. Or "prosumer" (from prosumer = professional + consumer)? Perhaps, if by this term we mean the most demanding consumer.

In order not to litter the material with numerous test results, I will give only the most interesting, in my opinion, fragments. Separately, I would like to note the flawless operation of the driver, with the exception of one single moment, when, when copying the previously obtained print onto Epson Premium Semigloss Photo Paper, a light cornflower blue (with vanishingly low brightness) background was obtained - instead of a white background, where there is nothing to print just didn't need to. You can hardly call such a situation a failure, most likely, an additional minor calibration of the device will allow you to get rid of this meager bias in Cyan forever.

Printing from a flash card. Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper

Printing from a flash card, special effect. Epson Premium Glossy Photo Paper
Best Photo / Photo Enhanced mode

The water resistance of the resulting prints was not tested in any particular way, but in general, attempts to smear the ink were doomed to failure. I have no critical remarks about the water resistance of the ink.

Conclusion

Buying a universal photo center Epson Stylus Photo RX700 is not a cheap pleasure. Choosing this particular model, the buyer gets at his disposal the maximum set of functionality for scanning, copying and printing from a wide variety of sources to a wide variety of media, including CDs. Spending a decent amount, as a result, you can get a relatively economical printing option through the use of separate cartridges with a decent resource.

It is difficult to say how effective the purchase of the Epson Stylus Photo RX700 photo center will be for the needs of your home or office. If you have such tools and you are not satisfied with the capabilities of less expensive alternatives like Epson Stylus Photo RX500 or Epson Stylus Photo RX620 - take the top model boldly, without hesitation, you are unlikely to be disappointed later.

Another thing is that I see the most effective purchase of the Epson Stylus Photo RX700 for the needs of some photo lab, including those that earn money by printing high-quality photos from various media, as well as for professional photographers satisfied with the A4 format. For such professionals, the Epson Stylus Photo RX700 would be the perfect companion for years to come.

Is it possible to put the high price of the Epson Stylus Photo RX700 into its cons? This is unlikely, the novelty is worth the money. Another thing is that you can traditionally blame the high price of branded cartridges and high-quality original photo paper. However, this story is no longer about the Epson Stylus Photo RX700...

As a result, we decided to award this Epson product with the 3DNews medal, which honors exclusive and original solutions: "Innovation Design - for innovation, creativity and engineering thought."

No rabbits were harmed in our testing of the Epson Stylus Photo RX700.

3 years ago

Very compact and versatile! The scanner is the best printer of its kind! You can then print the scanned photo even better than the original!-)) It prints photos on disks perfectly, do not find fault! Photos prints of excellent quality, even A4 format. Does not dry out for a long time (up to 4 months is always ready)

3 years ago

after a downtime of 10 years, I decided to start it. I washed my head and prints perfectly. I didn’t even believe that it would work

3 years ago

The quality of printing photos, text, reliability, design, color display, flash memory connections, replacement and installation of CISS cartridges, excellent scanner resolution, printing on disks (maybe not relevant) stands firmly on its legs.

4 years ago

Color reproduction Relative ease of installation of CISS Partially collapsible head There is a scanner Acceptable quality of color reproduction

4 years ago

SUPER!!! Only one plus

7 years ago

A very good MFP, I have been using it for about 6 years, there are no comments on work and quality. I am glad that his cartridges are not mobile, which is very convenient for connecting CISS. Competitors this device simply no. There is another pretty good model Epson has TX800FW, but its CIS scanner is clearly inferior to CCD both in quality and resolution. In general, I am very pleased with the printer!

Does everything it's supposed to do and very well. I have been using it for over three years. I immediately put the CISS with InkTec ink, I immediately bought a liter of each color. I print all the home photos, reports, drawings, office documentation of a small company - in three years I have not run out of ink yet. I already had the feeling that my printing is free. I print photos on the cheapest Lomond. I compared identical photos on original cartridges on Epson and Ink Tec paper on Lomond - there is no difference at all!

10 years ago

real harvester. scans, including slides, prints pretty high quality, as well as on disks (here someone said that no less than 20mm inner diameter is nonsense. printed on disks with a minimum diameter - everything is fine. just need to at least understand the program a little , more on that later). as if ideally created for systems of continuous supply of ink. convenient installation and a very long resource of the print head, in two years, judging by the sensors, I worked out only a fifth of its life.

10 years ago

Great all purpose combine. Scan of slides, negatives, print on CD. Enough handy program for labeling CDs. Quite convenient and fast software for scanning. CCD scanner, slide module.

3 years ago

But the photocopier let us down a little, the image is not quite clear, there are more gray tones than black and white. Printing from film is useless, it is better not to use it at all. It is better to immediately buy Inc Mate 1500 ink and a programmer for it. The original ink runs out very quickly.

3 years ago

BUT the problem is with the installation disk. The old computer was Windows XP and now 8. I tried to download the driver, only the scanner on the official website

3 years ago

It is not possible to print photos 13x18 (for me personally) without turning on the computer, there is no support for flash memory more than 2 GB

4 years ago

Too big Too poorly thought out in terms of engineering (see comment)

4 years ago

not at all

7 years ago

The lack of wifi, but this is not so critical for me, bring the laptop up and stick it into it USB cable possible without problems. Can also bluetooth adapter connect to it, but the adapter I have did not want to work with the printer.

8 years ago

Scanner: 1. The background layer is white. Absolute nonsense, in my opinion. When we scan documents, it cuts the sheet on its own. 2. Takes a lot of dough. 3. Very noisy. 4. Too long dull when turned on. You have to wait 1-1.5 minutes until this miracle turns all the gears inside. 5. Eats up paint amazingly fast. Original, I must say, not cheap. 6. Absolutely not friendly with Chinese cartridges. The print quality becomes lousy and the display shows "Printer Error Detected. Consult Documentation". What can be understood from this inscription? NOTHING .... which makes the LCD display a useless gadget built into the MFP.

9 years ago

Sometimes (rarely) buggy - treated Off. On For three years, it dried up once - I had to soak one color with a special liquid. Two days of hemorrhoids and everything was cured. Not very fast printing and copying. I suffered with diapers until I found a special program in I-net, now there are no problems. Two years later, the bottom paper feed almost stopped working, I cleaned it - to no avail, you have to push it with your hand. I scored, I use the top serve.

10 years ago

OUT OF PRODUCTION! and there are simply no more normal models for epson. and in fact no one has. search for jet-mfp. There are solid disposable devices for nothing. The RX700 was an EPSON blunder - because it is almost perfect, who will buy new models, and even expensive paint by the ton. yes, and also - the software is inconvenient and generally crooked, but in principle it copes with the task

10 years ago

It takes up a lot of space, but multifunctionality requires sacrifice. WITHOUT CISS, the cost of printing is very expensive, especially if you use original cartridges. A non-original cartridge for 100 rubles did not work. (maybe it's a coincidence)

Specifications declared by the manufacturer

⇡ Appearance

General view with open output tray

The device was developed strictly for home use, so the completely glossy black body, which is quickly covered with prints, the small capacity of the paper trays and the inconvenient change of cartridges are rather not shortcomings, but a feature of the segment. However, there is a downside to the drawbacks - the glossy case with an extremely low profile fits perfectly into a home interior, for example, in a construction site with audio / video equipment. Not too high capacity trays also has its advantages: there are two of them, so there is no need to constantly change media. At the same time, the height of the Epson XP-700 is only 141 mm. We are no strangers to low-profile Epson devices, because the TX700 series appeared quite a long time ago, but there the cartridges were installed in a separate compartment, and in the tested device - on the print head. In this case, reducing the total height is much more difficult. It seems that the designers and designers have found quite a reasonable compromise between all the characteristics of the device.

output tray

Cassette 1

Cassette 2

disc holder

On the front side is an inclined control panel, equipped with a touch screen and six touch keys, as well as a power button. The tilt angle of the panel is limited to 90 degrees, but it is fixed in any intermediate position. A little lower is a decorative folding panel that hides a pair of paper trays and a motorized output tray. The automatic drive, no doubt, gives a certain “wow effect”, but it does not bring much benefit - it would be faster to pull out the tray manually.

Memory card reader

At the very bottom is a disk holder storage slot. By the way, in relatively expensive Epson devices, a motorized drive is made not at the output tray, but at the disc holder, which really increases the comfort of working with the device. On the left side front panel located USB port and slots for memory cards hidden by the door. The trouble is that when you install any memory card, the door cannot be closed, which is not very convenient, moreover, you can accidentally damage either the door itself or a significantly protruding memory card.

Envelope Feeder

Envelope feeder in working position

The side surfaces are empty, and behind, closer to the right edge, there are connection connectors external power supply, USB connector (type B-F), Ethernet port, as well as a removable part of the sheet feed mechanism, which provides access to the insides of the MFP in the event of a paper jam. The removable part has an envelope feed slot with a folding holder and thickness adjustments.

Back view

⇡ Connection

Unlike the Epson WP-4515DN MFP that we recently visited, the tested device easily and naturally worked from a PC under Windows control 8 and all 64-bit versions of the Windows OS family. When connected directly to the USB bus, both Windows easily picked up the XP-700 as a printer and as a storage device, but for some reason refused to work with the scanner. However, not every MFP is automatically picked up even in print mode. Drivers for all modern versions of Windows and Mac OS are available on the disk supplied, as well as on the manufacturer’s website, and when installing from a disk, the setup wizard does not first install the existing ones, but offers to download the latest ones from the technical support site, which significantly reduces the setup time . It is also worth noting that for a network connection, all settings can be transferred to the MFP with a direct connection. After installation, the setup wizard offers to update the device firmware - this process takes place in full automatic mode and again does not require user skills to work with the device.

In the Linux OS (in our case, Ubuntu 12.10), the device is picked up automatically if the necessary print and scan packages are available. At network connection From scratch, you must manually set the required access point settings using the machine's control panel, and then specify the machine's IP address in the print package.

It is worth noting separately wifi mode Direct, which makes it possible to print from mobile devices directly, without using an access point, however, you can also print from any PC, which is very convenient.

The built-in web server is quite simple, it is significantly inferior in the richness of settings to analogs from HP. Here you can view information about the device, update the firmware, Apple setup AirPrint, Google CloudPrint, and Epson Connect, DNS and proxy server settings, and device information viewing.

In the case of a direct connection, the installed storage media are available on the PC as normal external drives, and at the same time you can access both the USB-drive and one of the memory cards (the first one installed). When connected to a network, the storage media is visible as two separate network drives.

⇡ Scanner

The scanner is based on a CIS sensor with LED backlight, and the maximum resolution is 2400x4800 dpi. In general, the scanner module does not differ at all from what was installed in the previously tested PX730WD model. The lid of the scanner module still opens at an angle of slightly more than 90 degrees without intermediate fixation positions, the height of the connecting loops changes within a small range - about 7-8 mm, so thick books or magazines cannot be scanned with the lid closed. It should be noted that the scanner module has a key that fixes the position of the module cover.

General view from open lid scanner module

As soon as you open the cover, the menu for working with the scanner appears on the control panel display: copying, scanning and other functions (copying / restoring photos, copying printing discs and printing coloring books). Epson XP-700 also allows you to scan images to the cloud (works only when registered with the Epson Connect service), scan to a PC, including PDF, scan to send an image as an attachment to a letter (using an e-mail program set by default). The so-called scan to Word mode is also available, in which the image is recognized on the PC side and saved as a doc file in the user folder. Sending images to a PC is possible either through a direct connection or through a network connection. Unfortunately, the device under test does not have the function of sending images to any available network folder (SMB/FTP), like Epson's office network MFPs. Surprisingly, in offline or semi-offline mode (when scanning an image using the control panel), the device does not automatically crop white edges, and the ability to manually select the scan area is not provided, so when scanning small images, the entire surface of the tablet will be saved.

The Epson Scan scanner control program has not changed much in recent years, so Epson scanner users are familiar with everything here. For beginners, there are no problems either - all settings are divided into groups, so there are no problems with them. In addition, there are four options for displaying settings - automatic, simple, office and professional mode.

Third-party TWAIN-compliant applications easily pick up the device under test, but only with a direct connection. For example, the most popular scanner utility, VueScan, completely refused to work with the device under test over the network, but automatically picked it up when connected to the PC's USB bus.

Testing

To evaluate the color gamut of the scanner, the Munsell Color Checker calibration table was used. The table was scanned at 600 dpi with color correction turned off, and then saved to TIFF format without compression. Based on the idealized model of the test table, a color profile, which allowed plotting color gamuts in the Lab system for ab coordinates with L equal to 25, 50, and 75. On the images, the green curve is the color gamut graph of the tested scanner, the white one is the standard sRGB color space.

Speed ​​indicators

To evaluate the speed characteristics, an A4 sheet was scanned with various color and density settings. Testing was carried out only with a direct connection in order to exclude the influence of possible delays when network access, although in practice, especially with a wired connection, there is almost no difference.

Measurements of the level of generated noise were made for the three most commonly used scanning resolutions in the 24-bit color mode. For the convenience of perceiving the results, they were combined in a table.

Results are in dBA

⇡ Printer

The device is equipped with five cartridges, but it should not be taken as a 5-color one: a set consists of four photo cartridges and a high-capacity black pigment ink cartridge, which is used for printing text. Color cartridges are water soluble, but as our testing showed, the color gamut of the tested model can be envied by many 6-color models. As already noted, despite the use of a classic design with cartridges mounted on a carriage, and not in a separate compartment, the device turned out to be low.

General view with the scanner module raised

The capacity of the trays is small - 100 sheets of plain paper for everyday printing or 20 sheets of photo paper for the main tray and 20 sheets of media ranging in size from 10x15 cm to 20x26 cm for the photo tray. It may seem that this is not enough, but after all, home users do not often print large amounts of text, and it is not worth sacrificing the height of the profile due to the larger capacity of the trays, which will come in handy once a year. The description of the printer states that even if the media weight corresponds to the supported one (from 64 to 300 g / m 2), then when working with photo media, there may be problems with picking up sheets, however, in practice, the printer easily swallows thick media from both the main cassette and and from additional. And in general, the MFP is completely undemanding to the state of the paper and without any problems captures heavily wrinkled sheets from an inaccurately folded pack that is not clamped by the sheet width limiters. During testing, the paper did not get stuck even once.

The output tray is the benchmark for all MFPs. And the point here is not in the motorized drive, but in its form, which, even when printing at maximum speed, allows you to fold A4 / Letter format sheets into neat stacks. In addition, when printing on photo media, the received paper falls into a recess exactly the size of a sheet of 20x26 cm, so the sheets do not scatter. In addition, there are small recesses that allow you to grab onto the photo carrier on the sides, without having to pry it from below.

The duration of preparing for printing is always different, but does not exceed 15 seconds, and often fits into 5 at all, provided that the output tray is in the working position, otherwise it takes another 6 seconds to pull it out. During the printing process, the printer does not stop for pumping ink, but sometimes it just thinks for a couple of seconds. Such stops are extremely rare, so it was not possible to identify a pattern. A feature of the device is the possibility of double-sided printing, which was hardly even expected from such a low-profile device.

With offline photo printing, you can select multiple pictures and set the number of copies, print using various layouts, and create greeting cards. From the settings, you can select the size (10x15 cm, 13x18cm, 100x148 mm, A4 and 16:9 format) and paper type (photo paper, glossy, high-quality glossy, super glossy), specifying one of three modes quality, enabling borderless printing, and imprinting the date. In addition, there are several options for photo layouts (2, 4, 8, 20 and 16 per sheet, one photo at the top, one photo at the bottom, ID photo) with the ability to select and specify a place in the layout for each photo. There are also a number of photo correction tools - auto-correction, scene detection and adjustment, red-eye reduction mode, overlay of basic color filters (sepia and b/w), as well as manual control brightness, contrast, sharpness and saturation.

The print setup menu is almost the same as other modern Epson printers. The settings are divided into 5 tabs - "Icons", "Main", "Advanced", "Layout" and "Tools". Last tab contains icons for launching various service procedures - checking nozzles, cleaning them, calibrating, replacing cartridges, as well as fine-tuning print settings.

Testing

To evaluate the color gamut of the printer, a Datacolor 1005 spectrocolorimeter included with Spyder3Studio was used. With the help of this device, a pair of ICC profiles was built - for ordinary office paper with a density of 80 g / m 2 and a glossy photo.

Based on the profiles for all types of paper and cartridges used, a color gamut chart was built for color coordinate system Lab in ab coordinates for lightness L=25, 50 and 75. On the graph: yellow graph - office paper, green - Epson Premium Glossy paper, and for comparison, a white graph of the standard sRGB color space is shown.

The standard 3dnews test patterns were printed on the same types of paper as the color gamut test. Test patterns scanned at 600 dpi and saved in the program Adobe Photoshop in JPEG format with minimal compression.

* Click on thumbnail to view full size image

⇡ Sample shots

Speed ​​indicators

To check the rate of fire, 10 sheets of a text template were printed, completely filled with the word "Test" (font - Times New Roman, size - 12, line spacing - standard). In draft printing mode, when the page was completely filled with the word "Test", the average page printing time, excluding the preparation time for printing, was 3.6 seconds. With a partial fill of 20, 15 and 10 lines, the average print time per page was 2.2, 2 and 1.6 seconds, respectively. When printing in the Text quality mode, the print speed drops noticeably, and when printing the same template with full coverage, on average, one page is printed in 5.4 seconds, and with partial coverage (20, 15 and 10 lines) it takes 3.4, 3.2 and 3.0 seconds per page.

Below are cropped fragments of printing in draft and text modes on plain office paper with a density of 80 g/m2.

Page fragment, printed in Draft and Text quality mode

The photo printing speed was measured in the maximum quality mode "Photo RPM (max. dpi)". Measurements were taken using A4 and 10x15 cm media, and in both cases the borderless print mode was activated, which slows down printing a little, but is still actively used when working with photo papers. Printing lasts 154 and 57 seconds, respectively, which is a very decent result.

The noise generated during printing is at an average level. When capturing sheets, the noise level reaches 62.5 dBA, when ejected - 60.8 dBA, but the preparation process turned out to be the noisiest, which reaches a value of 64.2 dBA. The noise level when printing text in draft quality mode is 54.0-62.7 dBA, in Tex quality mode - 48.4-52.0 dBA. When measuring the level of generated noise during photo printing (as Photo RPM), the level of generated noise was 40.8-41.6 dBA.

Printing on the surface of discs

In offline mode, you can select a photo from a USB drive or memory card. It is possible to print one photo on the entire surface of the disk and four photos, and a multi-photo print mode (up to 10) is also available. As with normal photo work in offline printing mode, the surface of the discs provides the ability to correct photos - automatic correction, scene detection and adjustment, red-eye reduction mode, overlay of basic color filters (sepia and black and white), as well as manual control of brightness, contrast, sharpness and saturation. To evaluate the result, it is possible preprint on paper, so as not to spoil the optical disc. It is also possible to copy the disc surface. There are no special requirements for the installation location of the original disk, but, as in the case of scanning, there is no automatic cropping, so after pre-scanning, using the virtual navigation keys, you have to adjust the schematic disk to the original, and only then start the copying process.

The program for printing on the surface of Epson Print CD discs is available on the disc included in the package, and is also available on the manufacturer's website, moreover, completely free of charge. The program allows you to print covers prepared in graphic packages, create simple covers directly in the program, or choose one of the many available templates. Printing on the surface of disks is also possible from any program that supports the printing function, but for correct printing from third-party packages, you have to slightly shift the image, so it’s easier to just create a picture in graphic packages and print it using the bundled software. In the print settings, you can select the type of surface - this is a regular disk and Premium Surface. When using the latter type, printing is possible in higher quality, but after printing on branded discs, it is recommended not to use the disc for more than 24 hours.

⇡ Copy

The function of copying without the help of a PC was originally one of the main bonuses of combining a scanner and a printer in one housing, thanks to which MFPs easily and quickly almost completely replaced classic SOHO-class printers and scanners. Of course, the functionality in the copy mode was constantly growing, but in the tested device, the capabilities of the MFP as a copier cannot be called exhaustive.

It is possible to activate duplex printing and photo recovery mode, select the type of paper and its size, select one of three quality modes and content type, control the density, and activate duplex printing. It is noteworthy that there is such a feature as a preview, but there is no scaling at all. What can we say about the lack of various format conversion options. The choice of copy layouts is not very wide: with a frame, without a frame, a couple of A4 pages on one, as well as copying book spreads. It is possible to copy the surface of discs and photos with color restoration. The same Epson has models with a much larger set of copier functions. Apparently, they were cut here so as not to interfere with the sales of these most sophisticated models.

Speed ​​indicators

For ease of perception, the results are summarized in a single table.

⇡ Additional features

Like many modern MFPs, the device under test has Internet access. Unlike office-oriented network devices, the XP-700 cannot send e-mail, but it can communicate with cloud services. For example, you can upload your scanned material to the cloud, but this feature requires prior registration with Epson Connect. There is also support for Google Cloud Print. If you have a Google account, connecting to the cloud printing service will take less than a minute. To make it easier to set up a connection to Google Cloud Print, the web control panel provides a corresponding menu item that launches a simple and intuitive setup wizard.

⇡ Cost

Epson XP-700 is recommended to sell for 12,900 rubles. The cost of any of the standard capacity photo cartridges with a resource of 200 pages is 556 rubles, black with a resource of 220 pages - 743 rubles, for cartridges increased capacity they ask for 949 and 1104 rubles (their declared resource is 400 and 500 pages, respectively). When buying a set of five cartridges, whether standard or high capacity cartridges, you can save 10% on the cost.

⇡ Conclusion

The Epson XP-700 really has a lot of advantages: two paper trays and a separate envelope feeder, duplex printing and printing on the surface of discs, support for Wi-Fi Direct technology, which allows you to transfer jobs directly from mobile devices. In addition, the device fits well into the home environment, besides it is low, which allows you to place it almost anywhere. The device also boasts a color gamut that even many modern 6-color printers would envy. The MFP is not picky at all and captures paper in any condition, the duration of service procedures and preparation for printing is minimal, the printing speed of both text and photos is quite high, and the noise level is low. Ideal?

Nearly. There are few drawbacks: the small capacity of the paper trays, which is not very important for a home device, the abundance of glossy panels that get dirty quickly, as well as the reduced functionality of the copier mode. There are some minor quibbles as well. For example, when inserting a memory card, you cannot close door. Not enough and automatic cropping of blank edges when copying and scanning offline. Well, the Epson XP-700 costs a lot, otherwise it is really a universal combine for home use.

We thank the Ukrainian representative office of Epson for providing the equipment for testing. As well as the company "Grafitech" for the provided set of colorimeters Spyder3Studio.

Price. Rivals (December 2012)

All prices in this section are taken from Yandex.Market (region: St. Petersburg) and are current at the time of publication of the review (mid-December 2012).

Our hero is not a cheap pleasure: on average, this device will cost a wealthy consumer 11,560 rubles. Its closest relative, the Premium XP-800, is probably even more expensive. How much - is still unknown: the device has not yet arrived in Russian retail. Recall that the differences between these two models come down to the maximum scanning resolution (2400x4800 dpi versus 4800x4800 dpi in favor of the older one), as well as fax and ADF, which are absent in the "seven hundred".

If you want something from the new series, but cheaper, you should take a closer look at the Premium XP-600 (7900 rubles) and XP-605 (8325 rubles). These MFPs differ from each other only in the color of the case plastic (black and white, respectively), and from the older models - a lower scanning resolution (only 1200x2400 dpi), a simpler control panel (color LCD is not touch-sensitive, only touch buttons around it), the lack of an Ethernet interface and a receiving tray that needs to be pulled out independently (in the older brothers it is motorized). In principle, nothing that you could not do without at home.

Even cheaper are the older models of the Home series: XP-403 (not yet on sale) and Home XP-406 (4890 rubles). What distinguishes them from Premium devices is their reduced palette: only three (CMY) cartridges are used for photo printing, not four cartridges. In addition, they have a larger minimum volume of ink drop: 3 pl versus 1.5 pl. There are also not so serious differences: for example, PictBridge is missing in the older Home.

It's time to go through the Hewlett-Packard five-cartridge MFPs. To date, three such models can be found on sale. Moreover, the manufacturer no longer considers two of them relevant. These are HP Photosmart C310 (4590 rubles) and C410 (6530 rubles). Third, but not superfluous - Photosmart 7510 (6560 rubles). These devices print with a maximum resolution of 9600x2400 dpi (against 5760x1440 dpi for our hero) in drops, the minimum volume of which is 1.3 pl (against 1.5 pl). In addition, the last two of these are 4-in-1 MFPs, that is, they are equipped with a fax (and ADF to boot). The maximum scanning resolution of the "Americans" was distributed as follows: C310 - 1200x1200 dpi, 7510 - 1200x2400 dpi, C410 - 4800x4800 dpi. The hero of this review, we recall, flaunts a resolution of 2400x4800 dpi.

Summarize. Epson XP-700 is quite an expensive device. Hewlett-Packard at much more affordable prices offers devices that in some cases even surpass our hero in all respects. However, as we wrote recently, the dog is not buried in the maximum resolution or the minimum volume of an ink drop. The competition between Epson and HP is a rivalry between two different technologies inkjet printing: piezoelectric and thermoelectric. So the “seven hundredth” will surely find its buyer. Moreover, in his native lineup, he stands on his feet quite firmly.

Click on the image (takes time to load). To rotate an item, scroll the image right and left with the mouse.

Testing

As usual, two blanks were printed on the MFP: "Text" (the phrase "Center for Alternative Consumables" typed in different sizes of Times New Roman capitals) and "Photo" (Pixl Test image 2002). Plain office paper (80 g/m) and Epson Glossy Photo Paper (225 g/m) were used. Prints scanned on Epson Perfection V500 Photo.

Five quality modes are available in the driver settings: Draft, Text, Text & Image, Photo, and Best Photo. Bond was printed in each of these modes, photographic was printed in Photo and Best Photo only.

Document print quality is high. The symbols have torn edges, but this time the defect is weakly expressed. No saturation issues in Text and Text & Image modes. The "draft" is more intense than that of the "six hundredth", but this does not save him. For a draft output of a document to media, it is quite suitable, for something more - no. It is important to note that in all finishing modes, the print quality is practically the same.

Pleased with the quality of the photo print. There are no problems with grayscale and shadows, and the quality is quite comparable to that demonstrated by the XP-750. Yes, the six-flowered tonal transitions are softer (of course, due to the expanded palette), but the difference is insignificant. It is not striking: the differences have to be looked for very scrupulously. It is unlikely that the average user of the Premium series MFP will look at the received pictures with a magnifying glass and find fault with the little things. Surprisingly, Photo mode has better quality than Best Photo.

With speed, the novelty also did not let us down. With the “Text” settings, it is capable of delivering 15 A4 pages per minute, which is not inferior to most inkjet solutions for the office. Amazing result. The speed of photo printing is astonishing: 17 seconds for a 10x15 cm image and a little less than a minute for A4!

Summarize. "Seven hundredth", perhaps, has demonstrated itself as well as it is generally possible. It combines a very impressive print speed with high quality, moreover, on the photographic front, it practically does not lose to its six-color counterpart.

Conclusion

The novelty defended the honor of the uniform. The Expression Premium series devices are an absolute success. Some problems with the XP-600 are probably related to the copy of this machine itself. We will find out soon.

As for the hero of this review, there can be no doubt: this is an excellent solution for those who are ready to sacrifice the quality of photo printing a little (the differences with prints made on the XP-750 have to be looked for with a magnifying glass) in exchange for versatility. Actually, somehow the Expression Premium series was conceived.

• high quality of both documentary and photographic printing;
• very impressive printing speed;
• wide functionality;
• amazing compactness;
• stylish design.

• not quite obvious media supply system;
• high cost of original cartridges;
• Marked gloss is abundantly used in the design;
• high cost of the MFP.

Brief specifications

Contents of delivery:

• MFP Epson Expression Premium XP-700 (C11CC46311);
• set of original cartridges;
• CD with drivers and additional software;
• power cable;
• installation guide;
• warranty card.

When the new MFP came along with direct photo film printing, many of us thought, “That’s what we were missing!” And indeed, how convenient it would be to print the films developed in the studio right at home - insert them into the device and wait for the photo. Is everything so simple? Can the Epson Stylus Photo RX700 MFP really provide such a service?

Epson RX700 - bad MFP, great photo printer

Design and construction Work in progress

Feature box

Initially, multifunctional devices were supposed to be used for office needs: in order not to acquire a large fleet of equipment, manufacturers suggested equipping the printer with a scanner and using this bundle to copy documents.

The design of the Epson RX700 MFP has changed and has become more rigorous