Printers come in many shapes and sizes, but there are really only two different types, consumer and office. I just finished a review of Epson’s high end consumer printer, and I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at one of their office printers. The WorkForce 610 currently sits at the top of Epson’s Small & Home Business list.
Features
- Laser quality up to 2x faster
- Maximum 38 ppm black/color
- Laser quality 15 ppm/9.3 ppm
- Wi-Fi and Ethernet networking
- Extra High-capacity black and High-capacity color cartridges
- Uses up to 70% less power
- PC Fax – directly from PC
One of the features I am anticipating the most is the laser quality printing. All the other Inkjet printers have had a really hard time producing laser quality text.
The printer is also fast. With a maximum print speed of 38 pages per minute this printer can spit out a lot of pages. This is obviously not laser quality, but it is still fast.
This printer can connect to either a wireless and wired network, which is great if you have more than one computer and you want to share the printer.
The black cartridge is actually twice the size of the colors. Since this is a office printer there is a good chance that printing text will be the most often performed task. Having a lot of black ink will keep the printer from running out quickly and keep your office productive.
Fax is another great feature for an office. Most offices need a fax and since this printer has one you don’t need to buy a separate one.
Design
The WorkForce 610 has a lot of features so it really should be a lot bigger than it really is. The printer has dimensions of 18.1″ W x 22.1″ D x 12″ H, which is really quite small.
The front of the WorkForce 610 has all the controls, buttons, and inputs you need when printing or faxing. On the left side is all the memory card slots and PictBridge. These are used for printing without using a computer. This printer supports CompactFlash, Microdrive, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo, MagicGate Memory Stick, MagicGate Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick Pro Duo, Secure Digital (SD), SDHC, mini SD, mini SDHC, micro SD, micro SDHC, MultiMediaCard, xD-Picture Card, xD-Picture Card Type-M, and xD-Picture Card Type-H.
Flash slots
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To the right of the card slots is the control panel. The control panel is split into 3 sections. On the left are the power and function select buttons. In the middle is the screen and the buttons that control it. Finally, on the right is the keypad, fax buttons, and the start and stop buttons. When I first saw the control panel I thought it was funny how similar it is to the Artisan 700.
Console left side
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Console right side
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The control panel lifts up, much like the Artisan 810, however, getting it to go back down is a bit of a challenge. To lower the control panel the WorkForce 610 has a hidden handle that is behind the control panel. To use the handle you have to reach behind the control panel, pull down on the handle, and also push in the control panel. Contrast this with the Artisan 810 where all you have to do is press a button that is on top of the control panel, and a spring inside lowers it into place.
Console down
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Console up
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Handle
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Below the control pad is the paper output tray. This tray is a bit different from other printer trays, and in this case it is not an improvement. The paper tray on the WorkForce 610 is quite heavy duty (probably so you can print lots of pages), but this also makes it hard to move in and out. I actually prefer the thinner paper output tray that the Artisan 810 has.
Paper output tray
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On top of the WorkForce 610 is the scanner and automatic paper feeder for the scanner. I really like how the paper feeder can be hidden when not in use. There isn’t very much to say about the scanner, except that it has 48-bit color / 24-bit output, a maximum document size of 8.5″ x 11″, and a maximum resolution of 9600 x 9600 dpi interpolated.
Scanner
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Finally, on top, in the back, is the paper input tray. There is nothing special about this input try and it is nothing like the Artisan 810. The Artisan 810 has a paper cartridge that goes under the printer and hides the paper so it is not out in the open. this really helps the printer look cleaner and more professional. I am surprised that the WorkForce 610 does not also have a paper cartridge, especially since paper cartridges have usually been a feature in office printers.
Paper input tray
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Under the scanner is another lid that when lifted reveals the inside of the printer. The first thing I noticed is that the printer cartridges sit directly on top of the print head. I liked the way the Artisan printers had the cartridges off to the side and I think all Epson’s printers should do it that way.
Inside
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Print cartridge
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Print cartridge
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In the back are the connectors. The connectors include Phone in and out, Ethernet, and USB at the bottom.
Connectors
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Performance
Now we get to check out how the printer performs. One of my favorite and one of my first tests is with photos. Even though this printer is an office printer, and not a photo printer, I still like to see how it does with photos. This gives a good idea on how well it will do with other graphics, like graphs, presentation slides, and documents with images. When I first printed the picture I thought it didn’t look too bad. Then I compared it with the Artisan 800, and I could clearly see the difference.
Original
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610 photo
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810 photo
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Where this printer is suppose to shine is with printing laser quality documents. So my next test will be comparing the quality of the text that is printed with the WorkForce 610 against my trusty HP Laserjet 5L. To help with configuring the Workforce 610 to print laser quality text the software provides an few presets. The setting in question is Letter Document – High Quality and it configures the printer to photo, with text smoothing, and the results? Better than any other ink jet. As you can see from the images below the text from the WorkForce 610 looks very similar to the text from the HP 5L, but not quite as good. I also included an image of what the non high-quality text looks like, as you can see it is quite a bit worse.
HP 5L text
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610 Laser text
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610 Fast text
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The speed of the printer is also something to consider. Printing high quality text certainly takes a bit longer than printing normal text. To find out how much longer I setup the printer to print 21 pages of text and I timed it. I started the timer after the first page finished so I am really only testing 20 pages, skipping the first page gives the printer time to warm up and receive the entire job. So with normal text it took 63 seconds to print 20 pages (~19 p/m), and when it was set to high quality it took 779 seconds (~1.5 p/m). On my Laserjet that same print job took 295 seconds (4 p/m). So the WorkForce 610 is quite a bit faster than my Laser jet with normal quality text, but much slower when printing laser quality text.
Scanning is the next test. I don’t do anything fancy other than scan a few color charts. As you can see from the image, the colors scanned fairly well and I could not find any major flaws in the images.
Color chart
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This printer is also capable of printing lined and gridded paper. As with the Artisan 810 the lined and gridded paper is great.
Faxing is also very easy to do and the results are just as I expected them to be.
Warranty and Support
The Workforce 610 includes a two-year limited warranty with toll-free support, but this requires you to register your printer. If for some reason you don’t want to register your printer you will get a one-year limited warranty with toll-free support.
Epson also offers their Preferred Plus Protection Plans. These plans extend service for the printer beginning when the standard warranty ends. You can purchase either a one or two year extension and they can be bought no matter where you bought the printer from. The one year plan is only $19.95 and the two year is $29.95. I don’t really like the idea of having to pay for service on a product that you have bought, but it is nice to have the option. I highly recommend getting one of these, because you never know what kind of problems your printer may have and they are really inexpensive.
Conclusion
The Workforce 610 worked perfectly in all its tasks. However, after reviewing the Artisan 810 I felt like I was taking a step down with the Workforce 610. It may be that I am spoiled or it may be that Epson left features out to keep keep costs down. The WorkForce 610 is less expensive than the Artisan 810, but only by about $70. As of this writing Amazon is selling the Workforce 610 for $129
So here’s the bottom line, if you want a printer that can do great photos and print on CDs then get the Artisan 810. However, if you are more concerned about saving a few bucks and getting really great text then get the WorkForce 610. Either way, you are going to enjoy whichever choise you make.
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