Epson Stylus CX3700 MFD

This MFD has an Inkjet printer, a flatbed scanner and a copier and can be

used by office and home users. The unit can print at a maximum of 5670x1440 dpi

resolution for good quality photo printing. Its scanner can scan at a maximum of

1200x600 dpi for scanning colour content. It has four different colour

cartridges, so you don't have to replace the whole cartridge when a single

colour is depleted.

We tested the printer for both speed and quality. The scanner was also

stressed under various mode settings. We also performed ink drain test to check

the cost of ink per page.

Under drain test, the printer has to print maximum number of standard A4

sheets in b/w until the ink is finished.

Price: Rs. 5,999 (1 yr warranty)

Key Specs: Inkjet Printer, Scanner, Copier

Contact: Epson India, Pune Tel: 30515040Email id: tusad@eid.epson.co.in

The printer showed a speed of around 17 ppm for an A4 size text document in

draft mode, which was only a ppm lower than its claimed rating. That's pretty

good for an inkjet printer, considering that most inkjets don't achieve even

half their rated print speeds.

In full A4 size borderless colour prints, it took 7 minutes in photo quality

mode and 14 mins in best photo quality mode. In the readability test, it could

print a readable document of font size 4 in normal quality mode. Scanning an

image at 600 dpi and 1200 dpi took around 2 min and 7 min respectively. Copying

monochrome documents took 35 secs but for a document with colour image, it took

1 min 34 secs.

Bottom Line: Overall, it's a good bargain if you just look at the

price. But, if you spend a little extra (Rs 2700 approx), then go for its elder

cousin, the CX4700 (reviewed in Feb 2006 issue of PCQuest), which gives a per

page print cost of Rs 1.17, suports higher scan resolution and comes with a

flash card slot, photo Index Form printing and much more.

Anubhav Verma