ALL-IN-ONE INKET PRINTER

Epson Artisan 800Too bad the Epson Artisan 800 doesn’t cut, slice, dice, chop, or make perfect French fries…but this all-in-one is very reliable: copying, faxing, making quality color prints, scanning, printing on CDs/DVDs, and reading and printing directly from built-in memory card slots. It can work as a standalone, be connected to a computer via USB 2, and networks with either Ethernet or Wi-Fi. This multitasking inkjet performs well in all functions, refuting the notion that good electronic equipment should only have a single purpose.

The Artisan is a marriage of technology and design. Its mirror piano-black casing is striking and all of its features are well placed for ease of use. The 800 feels solid except for its flimsy paper guides and output tray. The centerpiece is a stylish, tiltable, 7.8″ touchscreen navigational and menu control panel with a 3.5″ LCD to view, edit, and print digital camera files. Its two adjustable paper trays for printing documents or photos can hold 120 sheets of plain paper, accommodating paper sizes from 4×6″ to 8.5×14″. The Artisan uses six Claria dye ink cartridges and, with a variable droplet size as small as 1.5 picoliters, color prints are stunning. The Artisan 800 is fast! A professional-quality, 8×10″ color print took less than a minute and a full page of legible text printed in 8 seconds.

Built into the lid, the automatic document feeder for copying holds up to 30 sheets of A4 paper and worked without a hitch. The scanning bed, measuring 8.5×11.7″ has a top optical scanning resolution of 4800 dpi and scan quality is very good. Add in a color and black-and-white fax machine that can store up to 180 pages in memory and the Artisan 800 is quite the multifunction performer.
Steve Baczewski

PRICE: $299.99
FROM: Epson America, Inc.
WEB: www.epson.com
RATING: 4.5

LAYERS VERDICT
HOT Fast; spectacular color prints
NOT Unreliable with a wireless connection

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