Time Education

Printers

How do I know which printer best fits my requirements ?
The table below contains comparative information about the three Epson inkjet printers most popular in schools and two cost effective Epson laser printers. The details in the table are taken from information provided by Epson.

What will be your main use of the printer ?

Always text only - no colour - consider the single cartridge inkjet solution

Text only or text and monochrome (or grayscale) graphics - consider a laser printer

Usually text only - choose a printer with dual cartridges as you will need to change the black cartridge more often than the colour

Colour and text evenly mixed - consider the single cartridge solution

Mainly text but with some colour - the dual cartridge solution will probably be best for you

Is quality the most important aspect ?

Look at the maximum resolution which is given in dots per inch (dpi) .Bear in mind that the actual resolution you achieve will depend on the paper you use and the way you set up the printer from your software

Is speed the most important aspect ?

Look at the maximum pages per minute ( but note the comment above)

Is economy the overriding consideration ?
If so, is it initial purchase cost or cost of consumables which concerns you most ?

If it is initial purchase price, the answer is obvious

If it is cost of consumables, look at the comments above about the main use of the printer and the note about cartridge life.

All models below take similar paper types.

	Epson Stylus Color 300	Epson Stylus Color 440	Epson Stylus Color 640	Epson Stylus Color 700	EpsonEPL-5700
Printer type	Inkjet	Inkjet	Inkjet	Inkjet	Laser
Maximum resolution (dots per inch)	720 x 360	1440 x 720	1440 x 720	1440 x 720	true 600 x 600 (1200) equivalent
Maximum speed - monochrome up to	up to 3 pages per minute	up to 4 pages per minute	up to 6 pages per minute	up to 3.5 pages per minute	up to 8 pages per minute
Maximum speed - colour up to	up to 1 .2 pages per minute	up to 3 pages per minute	up to 4 pages per minute	up to 3.5 pages per minute	n/a
Paper types	Inkjet - See notes	Inkjet - See notes	Inkjet - See notes	Inkjet - See notes	n/a
Maximum Paper size	A4	A4	A4	A4	A4
Cartridge types	Single Ink Cartridge: a) Black and colour	Dual Ink Cartridge: 1) Colour and 2) Black	Dual Ink Cartridge: 1) Colour and 2) Black	Photo Ink Catridge System: 1) Colour and 2) Black	Laser for best quality
Cartridge life- approx. - depends on print quality, resolution, etc.	a) 220 pages (C) b) 450 pages (B)	a) 300 pages (C) b) 540 pages (B)	a) 300 pages (C) b) 540 pages (B)	a) 220 pages (C) b) 540 pages (B)	a) 6000pages
Dimensions	397mm x 206mm x 162mm	429mm x 234mm x 162mm	429mm x 231mm x 162mm	429mm x 231mm x 162mm	397mm x 463mm x 215mm

Notes:

Inkjet Paper types: All the inkjet printers take a wide variety of inkjet paper types,including photo quality glossy, photo quality self-adhesive, iron-on transfer, transparencies etc.

Laser printers: In manual mode the laser printers listed will take paper in weights up to 157gm and sizes up to 216mm wide x 356mm long.