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Epson Stylus SX425W review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £60
inc VAT

Great quality and reasonable print costs are let down only by somewhat slow speeds and poor draft quality, but it's perfect if time isn't of the essence.

Specifications

35ppm print speed, USB, 802.11b/g/n wireless, PictBridge USB, 182x450x342mm

http://www.amazon.co.uk

Currently available for £60, Epson’s Stylus SX425 wireless MFP costs less than many single-function inkjets. It makes no claims of business-grade speeds or professional-standard photo printing but instead aims to provide an all-round balance of performance and value. The MFP has a 1,200×2,400dpi scanner, decent memory card support and even a tiny colour screen that allows you to – with a fair bit of button-pressing – connect the printer to your wireless network without having to first configure its wireless settings via USB. Because of this, getting the SX425W to talk to your PC is almost as easy over WiFi as it is with USB.

Epson Stylus SX425W

The printer takes four individual ink cartridges from Epson’s Fox and Apple ranges. These are filled with pigment-based Durabite ink. This pigmented ink might not have the perfectly accurate colouration of the Claria inks used by Epson’s more photo-oriented printers, but it’s vivid, durable and relatively inexpensive. We always recommend buying the highest-yield inks your printer can handle. In this case, that’s the Apple range, which costs just over £10 per cartridge, producing page costs of 5.6p for colour and 2.3p for black ink. That adds up to 7.9p per mixed-colour page, which isn’t bad for a low-cost MFP. A 6x4in photo on Epson’s Premium Glossy paper will cost you around 28p.

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Basic Specifications

Rating ****
Maximum native print resolution 5,760×1,440dpi
Max optical resolution 1,200×2,400dpi
Output bit depth 48-bit

Quoted Speeds

Quoted speed, mono A4 35ppm
Quoted speed, colour A4 15ppm

Tested Print Speeds

Time for two 10x8in photos 1.0 12m 30s
Time for six 6x4in photos 1.0 22m 43s

Physical and Environmental

Standard printer interfaces USB, 802.11b/g/n wireless, PictBridge USB
Optional printer interfaces none
Size 182x450x342mm
Weight 5.6kg
Noise (in normal use) 53dB(A)

Paper Handling

Maximum paper size up to A4
Maximum paper weight 255gsm
Standard paper inputs 1
Standard paper input capacity 120
Maximum paper inputs 1
Maximum paper input capacity 120
Duplex (code, cost if option) No

General

Printer technology piezo inkjet
Supported operating systems Windows XP/Vista/7, Mac OS X 10.4.11+
Other inkjet features 1.5in colour screen, automatic print head alignment
Other inkjet options N/A

Buying Information

Price £60
Consumable parts and prices Fox series 200 page Black T1281, 270 page Cyan T1282, 165 page Magenta T1283, 270 page Yellow T1284; Apple series 435 page Black T1291, 690 page Cyan T1292, 395 page Magenta T1293, 665 page Yellow T1294
Price per colour A4 page 5.6p
Quoted life of supplied black cartridge 200
Quoted life of supplied colour cartridge(s) 270 cyan pages, 165 magenta pages, 270 yellow pages
Quoted life of supplied photo cartridge(s) N/A
Warranty one year RTB
Supplier http://www.amazon.co.uk
Details www.epson-europe.com

Print Quality

Number of ink colours 4
Number of ink cartridges 4
Maximum number of ink colours 4
Maximum number of cartridges 4
Quoted photo durability 90 years
Quoted photo durability source Wilhelm Imaging Research

Tested Scan Speeds

Full scan area preview 12s
A4 document at 150dpi 22s
A4 document at 300dpi 30s
6x4in photo at 600dpi 34s
6x4in photo at 1200dpi 2m 6s

Tested Copy Speeds

Time for single A4 mono copy 1.0 26s
Time for single A4 colour copy 1.0 46s
Time for 10 A4 copies using feeder 2.0 N/A

Photo Features

PictBridge support Yes
Borderless printing up to A4
Direct (PC-less) printing Yes
Supported memory cards SD, SDHC, Memory Stick PRO, MMC, xD, xD H
CD printing No

Copy Features

Maximum number of copies 99

Fax Features

Max mono fax resolution N/A
Fax memory (maximum mono pages) N/A