Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
Epson’sWorkForce 840 All - in - One Printeris a $ 299 color inkjet multifunction printer ( mark / copy / scan / fax ) for modest offices . At that Leontyne Price , MFPs lean to put up a full array of features . In the WorkForce 840 ’s case , highlights admit plentiful newspaper manipulation and a touchscreen ascendancy panel . When correspond against comparably well - equipped motorcar , the WorkForce 840 fall poor of the HPOfficejet Pro 8500A Plus ( ) in speed and overall print calibre . For its part , the Lexmark Pinnacle Pro901 ( ) has lower paper capacity , but supercheap black ink and a five - class warranty .
you’re able to link up the WorkForce 840 via USB , ethernet , or Wi - Fi , and the machine is easy to instal . Note that if you opt for “ first time ” frame-up , you ’ll have to wade through a lot of duologue boxes that step you through unpacking , remove tape , hooking up cables , and the like . The walkthrough is useful if you do n’t know how to finish the process on your own ; but skip it if you do .
The WorkForce 840 ’s touchscreen control dialog box come with gold - ignite control condition that look contextually — that is , only when ask . This feature is nicely done , though we sometimes overlook the tactile feedback that veridical buttons supply . Also on plank are CF , MS , SD , and XD memory card one-armed bandit , as well as a USB / PictBridge port for offload scans or for printing directly from wag .
The newspaper - do by features of this inkjet MFP are freehanded . Two 250 - sheet input trays provide an outstanding amount of capacitance . Automatic duplex apartment ( two - sided ) printing process is supported on both the Mac and Windows . The A4 scanner has a 30 - mainsheet ADF , and it can duplex - scan mechanically . The only thing not supported was scanning from the unit to a computer over the internet ; you’re able to do that functioning only via USB .
Epson claims that the WorkForce 840 is the world ’s fastest all - in - one . But in our tryout , another Epson MFP , theWorkForce 520 ( ) was quicker ; the EpsonB-510DN ( ) is the fast inkjet of any kind that we ’ve quiz to escort . Still , the WorkForce 840 prints very tight at nonremittal configurations on plain newspaper . monochromic Page of mostly plain schoolbook exit the printer at a swift 11.1 pages per minute on the Mac and at 11.1 pages per minute on the Windows . From the Windows , the WorkForce 840 printed a snapshot - size exposure on letter - size plain paper in 12 second base , which work out to a bouncy 5 ppm . Once you switch to Epson ’s own photo newspaper and finer preferences , however , the building block slack down substantially , to 69 sec or 0.86 ppm for the same snapshot photo , and it take more than 2.5 minutes ( 0.4 ppm ) to impress a full - pageboy photo on the Mac . Scans emerged more or less quicker than on an average - fastness MFP .
The Epson WorkForce 840 ’s end product timbre fell a bit short on sheer theme . Black - ink school text samples look dark but soft - edged — clearly the output of an inkjet , albeit a pretty good one , rather than of a optical maser . Color graphics look a footling picket and pinkish . On Epson ’s own shining photo paper , image improve perceptibly , looking smooth and born . Color copies and scan appear accurate , though we saw some moiré in ok line patterns .
Ink costs for the WorkForce 840 range from reasonable to pretty inexpensive . Epson justifiably calls its smallest - capacity cartridge size “ high - capacity ” : A 385 - page black cartridge costs $ 18.04 , or 4.7 cent per pageboy . Each coloration costs $ 15.19 and live 470 pages , which works out to 3.2 penny per Thomas Nelson Page each . A four - color Thomas Nelson Page would cost 14.4 cent . The $ 28.49 , 945 - page extra - in high spirits - content black magazine lowers the monetary value for monochrome pages to 3 penny per pageboy , while each color be $ 18.04 and lasts 755 pages ( 2.4 cents per page ) . A four - color varlet costs 10.2 cents .
Macworld’s buying advice
If you do a wad of printing for piece of work , but you want the extras of a multifunction printer and the superior photograph rendering of an inkjet , the Epson WorkForce 840 may be a good match because it can have all of the above . Though plain - paper print tone remains a defect of most Epson printers , this unit handles it fairly well .
