Epson BX925FWD review
It looks great, is cheap to run and performs reasonably well, but Epson's BX925FWD wouldn't be our first choice in the office.
Specifications
38ppm print speed, USB, 10/100 Ethernet, 802.11n wireless, 300x446x368mm
We’re used to seeing good quality scans from Epson products, and the BX925FWD proved no exception. While its scans weren’t the sharpest we’ve seen, colours were highly faithful to the originals and details were preserved in both dark and light regions. However, while Epson’s photo-orientated printers generally use dye-based inks for excellent photos, the BX925FWD uses pigment inks, which help it produce stronger, bolder prints on plain paper at the cost of photo quality, which was underwhelming here. The payoff is in excellent monochrome copies and reasonably punchy business graphics. Black text was far better than from Epson’s photo printers, too, but the outlines of characters still betrayed their inkjet origins – a laser printer is far better for formal text printing.
There are high-capacity cartridges available for the BX925FWD, and using them keeps running costs down, particularly in colour. The Canon i-Sensys LBP6300dn is cheaper when printing monochrome pages, though. While this is a competent and attractive micro business MFP, the Kodak ESP 9250 costs £40 less and is even cheaper to run.
Basic Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Rating | *** |
| Maximum native print resolution | 5,760×1,440dpi |
| Max optical resolution | 2,400×2,400dpi |
| Output bit depth | 24-bit |
Quoted Speeds | |
| Quoted speed, mono A4 | 38ppm |
| Quoted speed, colour A4 | 38ppm |
Tested Print Speeds | |
| Time for two 10x8in photos 1.0 | 9m 5s |
| Time for six 6x4in photos 1.0 | 15m 5s |
Physical and Environmental | |
| Standard printer interfaces | USB, 10/100 Ethernet, 802.11n wireless |
| Optional printer interfaces | none |
| Size | 300x446x368mm |
| Weight | 9.8kg |
| Noise (in normal use) | 37dB(A) |
Paper Handling | |
| Maximum paper size | A4/legal |
| Standard paper inputs | 2 |
| Standard paper input capacity | 500 |
| Maximum paper inputs | 2 |
| Maximum paper input capacity | 500 |
| Duplex (code, cost if option) | Yes |
General | |
| Printer technology | piezo inkjet |
| Supported operating systems | Windows XP/Vista/7, Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later |
| Other inkjet features | 19.8cm touchpanel with 8.9cm colour touchscreen |
| Other inkjet options | none |
Buying Information | |
| Price | £220 |
| Consumable parts and prices | £10 |
| Price per colour A4 page | 4.1p |
| Quoted life of supplied photo cartridge(s) | n/a |
| Warranty | one-year RTB |
| Supplier | http://www.morecomputers.com |
| Details | www.epson.co.uk |
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 | 100 years |
| Quoted photo durability source | Wilhelm Imaging Research |
Tested Scan Speeds | |
| Full scan area preview | 9s |
| A4 document at 150dpi | 11s |
| A4 document at 300dpi | 19s |
| 6x4in photo at 600dpi | 20s |
| 6x4in photo at 1200dpi | 1m 3s |
Tested Copy Speeds | |
| Time for single A4 mono copy 1.0 | 10s |
| Time for single A4 colour copy 1.0 | 26s |
| Time for 10 A4 copies using feeder 2.0 | 3m 26s |
Photo Features | |
| PictBridge support | Yes |
| Borderless printing | A4 |
| Direct (PC-less) printing | Yes |
| Supported memory cards | Compact Flash, MicroDrive, Memory Stick/PRO, MMC/Plus, xD |
| CD printing | No |
Copy Features | |
| Maximum number of copies | 99 |
Fax Features | |
| Max mono fax resolution | 200x200dpi |
| Fax memory (maximum mono pages) | 180 |
