Just in time for the back-to-school rush, Epson released its CX9400 Fax all-in-one printing solution aimed at home and small office users.
The new product features print, copy, scan, fax and photo printing capabilities, all in a single unit, which can sit comfortably on a table top or desk. The ink-jet printer is eye-catching with its sleek piano-black colour finish and thus is sure to fit in with the décor of any office environment.
Epson says the CX9400 Fax device can print at speeds up to 32 pages per minute in both black and colour. While I thought print speeds were quick, I found the printer to be rather noisy while it was in use.
Although only using the printer after a couple of weeks with what I would consider to be lightly moderate use, I noticed the ink cartridges, which were on the small side, finished extremely quickly. The good thing though, was the printer uses individual ink cartridges with cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks, so I only had to replace the ink that I needed.
One of the more useful functions on the printer for me was when I wanted to print photos. Instead of having to plug my camera into my computer via a USB cable, I was able to take out my camera’s SD card and insert it into the printer’s multi-purpose card slot. The printer has a memory card button that then recognizes the card in the printer and using the 2.5-inch tilt LCD colour screen, users can easily select which photos they’d like to print from the card. Users can also select if they want to print photos with borders or without by selecting the desired option on the LCD screen. The finished print looks crisp, clear and rich and looks very similar to the type of quality you would expect from professional prints. In addition to supporting SD cards, the CX9400 Fax multi-purpose card slot also supports, XD, MS cards and USB keys. According to Epson, a borderless 4×6 photo can be printed in as little as 26 seconds.
I also liked the idea of being able to copy documents with the printer as well. What I did not like, though, was that the copy feature wasn’t as fast as I thought it would be. After copying the document, it took the printer a lot longer than I’d have liked to print the page. Epson says the printer can copy up to 30 copies per minute in black and white or in colour. I also found the option of reducing or enlarging the document from 25 to 400 per cent useful depending on what I was trying to print. For the paper input tray, up to 100 sheets of plain paper can be used at a time.
While I did not hook-up the fax portion of the printer, Epson’s CX9400 Fax does come with an automatic document feature to ensure high-speed faxing. The scanner function on the printer can do 1200×2400 scanning dpi and comes with three different scan modes for office, home and professional.
Epson’s CX9400 Fax comes with a one-year limited warranty and is now available at computer retailers and other storefronts. With its MSRP slated at $129.99, I thought the printer fared well enough for everyday printing needs, as long as printing jobs are moderate in their frequency. For its multi-purpose functionality, sleek design and easy-to-use features, this printer would be well suited for students and other home office users. Businesses with heavy printing needs though, may want to reconsider their printer options since ink on this one ran out fairly quickly.