Epson Stylus CX3600

The Epson Stylus CX3600 is a multifunction device aimed at users who want printing, scanning and copying facilities in their home. It uses four separate ink cartridges (black, cyan, yellow, and magenta) and carries a top printing resolution of 5760dpi (dots per inch), so we expected some fairly good results.

Unfortunately, its photo printing wasn't as good as we had hoped. Our test A4 photo, which took about 10 minutes to print at the highest quality setting, was rather disappointing. The overall finish was overly saturated, giving it a faded look. Areas with closely matching shades also tended to mix, giving the impression that the printer wasn't very precise in where it placed its ink droplets.

Scanning performance was more impressive. The device automatically detects the type of document being scanned, and the results (at 600dpi) were very good. The CX3600's claimed print speed of 16 pages per minutes (ppm) was somewhat unrealistic; we achieved around 10ppm at the lowest-quality setting, and 2ppm in best quality mode.

To its credit, the CX3600's running costs are fairly low, as is its initial cost. If you want a machine that does it all and aren't concerned by perfect image quality, it is commendable.

Contact:
Epson 0870 241 6900
www.epson.co.uk