Epson Stylus SX100

When you consider that the Epson SX100 can be bought for as little as £34, the spartan nature of its features list can be forgiven. There is no LCD screen, no PictBridge port, not even a card reader. The whole unit is very compact and lightweight in construction, though the plastic mouldings are of a high quality. Mechanically, the SX100 is a touch unrefined and noisy, but not excessively so.

The SX100 uses Epson’s Durabrite pigmented inks so print quality on plain paper is much better than on photo paper, with noticeable graininess compared to the other units tested here. There is also an orange warmth to photo prints that we could do without. Worst of all, the SX100 took nearly 15 minutes to print an A4 borderless photo at best quality settings.

The scanner unit performed better than the printer section, but a bias towards orange was still detectable, and this noticeably affected yellow tones. It, too, operated at a rather leisurely speed. 

Max Scanner Res: 600 x 1200 ppi
Printer Max. Dots Per Inch (dpi): Up To 5760 X 1440 Optimised dpi
No. Of Ink Tanks:  4
No. Inks/Colours: 4/Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black (Single Ink Tanks)
Ink Type: Durabrite Pigmented
Scanner Max Resolution: 600x1200ppi
Scanner Type: Contact Image Sensor (CIS)
Scanner Sheet Feeder?: No
Fax Facility: No
Copier Facility: Colour And Mono
Memory Card Types Supported: None
LCD Screen: No
Pictbridge: No
Dimensions: 434 X 327 X 185 mm
Weight:  5.0 Kg (Excluding Ink Cartridges And Power Cable)

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Verdict

Epson does make some excellent photo-capable printer/scanners, but these days you will need to shell out at least £169 for something like the Epson Stylus PX700W.