Epson Stylus SX218
 |
Epson multifunction inkjet printers of the past have been good performers but as with most budget inkjet printers lacked value for money running costs in terms of the price of the genuine Epson ink cartridges. There latest offering doesn’t seem to have changed in that respect as the Epson SX218 ink cartridges cost around £30 for a full set, luckily however there are compatibles available which cost half the price and print just as many pages. The available of cheap printer cartridges is not the only good thing about the Stylus SX218 it performance it pretty good too. Print quality is superb whether you’re printing standard text the result are sharp, photos are full of vibrant colours and tones and the only thing that lets it down is the speed. The SX218’s spec sheet claims it’s capable of speeds up to 34ppm (pages per minute) but in a decent quality setting it only capable of 4ppm printing text photo printing is painfully slow. Despite this the SX218 still functions well as a photo copier which works without the need for a PC and can make up to nine copies at a time so it not really designed for heavy duty work. The A4 flat bed scanner is also a great feature which comes with complete with photo editing and OCR software. In the minefield of budget multifunction printers the SX218 seems to be a good bet.