Epson SX400 All in One Photo Printer

Epson's SX400 bears a remarkable resemblance to the DX8400. Chances are that the SX400 was built using the DX8400 as a base product. The DX8400 is of course coming to the end of its sales life as this newer range has been released. The differences that we can see are a new sleek finish to the printers casing and modifications and improvements to both of the paper trays. The improvements prevent the paper from curling while in the paper tray.

Print speeds are rated at 34 pages per minute for both black and colour in draft mode but like nearly all printers on the market we couldn't reach these speeds in any real world tests. This is not a detrimental thing to the SX400 alone or to Epson printers it seems that the quoted speeds can never be achieved in real world usage even when turning all the setting down to the very basic.

The print quality for the Epson SX400 is very good considering its a mid range multipurpose printer running on a 4 ink system. Colours using the DuraBright system are bright and vivid and designed to last up to 98 years fade free under glass protection. Printing costs per page work out at 3.1p per page in black and 6.41p per page in colour (based on the most efficient high capacity cartridges) Against other Printers the colour printing cost are around the mid point for this type of printer but the black cost is a little more than the average. The quality however may make up for this. The SX400 therefore may be better suited to the home that prints fairly regularly but not efficient enough to be part of a home office with demanding print loads. Not that the printer can't handle it but may end up costing you more than you need to.

As a multifunction printer the SX400 obviously features scanning and photocopying features by use of the A4 flatbed scanner with a resolution up to 1200dpi. Copying can be done in colour or black and white at the touch of a button. Printing copying and scanning can all be achieved without the need for a PC. Even easier printing with the 63mm LCD screen to show you exactly what you will be printing to avoid any unneeded waste.

The Epson software package is fairly impressive, the print and scanning software does everything that is required plus the great enhancements such as photo fix which can restore life to faded photo's, OCR (Optical Character Recognition) which can scan paper text documents and turn them into editable computer text documents with ease. Plus Photo enhance can really bring out the best in your photo collection.

Epson's RRP of £117 is a little high for this printer but fortunately looking online you can slash a fair chunk off that price and get a good deal on a good multifunction printer.

Black text - 34ppm
Colour Text - 34ppm
15x10 photo - 26 seconds

Features

• PC-free printer, scanner and copier
• Save money with individual ink cartridges
• Print directly from an index sheet, memory card or PictBridge digital camera
• Superb text documents and lab-quality photos with Epson DuraBrite Ultra Ink
• Print up to 34 prints per minute in black and white and colour
• Create high-quality scans with the 1200dpi scanner
• Automatically improve your photos with Epson PhotoEnhance
• Restore faded scanned photos with Epson Easy Photo Fix
• Energy Star qualified printer
• View and print photos without PC via the 6.3cm LCD viewer
• Printer, scanner and copier with LCD viewer

Manufacturers Description

The Epson Stylus SX400 series provides high-quality printing, scanning and copying in one compact, space-saving product that won't clutter your home. Take control of all your home document and photo printing with the Epson Stylus SX400 series. You can even print photos without using a PC via the built-in 6.3 cm LCD viewer. Whether you print documents or photos, Epson's DURABrite ultra ink provides high-quality text and lab-quality photos that are resistant to water, smudging and fading. Whatever you print, you can save money with individual ink artridges, because you only need to replace the colour you use.

Supported Memory Cards

Compact Flash (Memory card only), MicroDrive, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo*, MagicGate Memory Stick, MagicGate Memory Stick Duo*, Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick PRO Duo*, SD, SDHC, MiniSD*, MiniSDHC*, MicroSD*, MicroSDHC*, Multi Media Card, xD-Picture card, xD-Picture card Type-M, xD-Picture card Type-H

*adaptor required (not supplied in the box)

Ink Cartridges