When it comes to high-quality color printing, most users think of the wonderful Epson brand. After all, this is the only company on the market that focuses on quality in terms of damage to value. Definitely, the products of this manufacturer are not focused on the budget segment. The focus of this article is one of the company's expensive representatives, the L210 Epson (MFP). The printer’s specifications, descriptions, reviews, and lab tests will help a potential buyer decide if the device is worth the purchase.
Global Positioning
MFP is positioned in the business class segment. This is evidenced not only by the availability of high-quality photo printing, but also by the cost - 20 thousand rubles. However, many home users who have a desire to have professional equipment at hand prefer the Epson L210 (MFP). The manufacturer went to meet customers and initially provided its product with a continuous ink supply system (CISS).
True, all the professionalism of the device ends with the printing functionality, because the device in question has a cheap CIS head for scanning images. It is this fact that does not allow MFPs to be comfortable in the business class. But first things first.
Declared Printing Specifications
At the Epson L210 printer, the print head is capable of printing the image on paper at a resolution of 5760 x 1440 dpi. It is this factor that provides the ability to print high-quality photos. But other characteristics can cause a smile on the face of the user. The manufacturer announced a high print speed: 27 pages in monochrome and 15 pages in color. Such indicators are inherent in professional studio devices.
In the process of testing, many owners found that it takes about a minute to print one photo on the entire sheet. On what basis the manufacturer announced the high speed of work is unknown. Perhaps we are talking about printing drafts, but in such cases, the manufacturer is obliged to notify his users about this before the purchase.
OS Compatibility
Another mystery to be solved by the owner who bought the Epson L210 printer: how to establish a fully functional operation with the operating system? The manufacturer announced full support for Windows, MacOS and Linux. In fact, the device is detected in the system and provides a standard set of functions for controlling the printer. But for fine-tuning the print quality in color, specialized software and a driver for controlling the hardware are required.
Problems with the integration of the functionality of the MFP into the system will have all the owners of PCs with Linux OS on hand. They will have to configure the Epson L210 printer through the console, creating configuration commands with their own hands. MacOS owners will be a little easier to work with - a ready-made configuration for management can be found on the Internet. And only for owners of Windows OS of any modification it is enough to download the utility package from the official website of the manufacturer Epson.
Oddities in the scanner
As professionals say in their reviews, the claimed scan resolution of 1200 x 600 dpi is in no way comparable to the 48-bit color depth announced by the manufacturer. Resolution automatically puts the device in a budget class, and recognition of hundreds of billions of colors is already a professional level. Mutually exclusive factors cause some users to distrust the Epson L210 printer. The price of the MFP puts everything in its place - for an installed CIS head, a depth of 24 bits (4 billion shades) is the limit.
Do not expect the potential buyer of this device and a lot of potential from the copy function. The manufacturer limited the amount of blueprint creation at the hardware level. Only 20 pages in one pass of the scanning head. It makes no sense to find fault with this indicator, because the print head of the printer should not work for wear. In addition, the Epson L210 diaper with large volumes of printing will not have time to absorb excess ink.
Print quality
What could not be faulted during the testing process is print quality. The declared resolution when transferring images to paper is maintained by the printer. And do not forget that the device is inkjet. Epson L210 has the size of one drop of 3 picoliters. For comparison: the budget representatives in the market of printing devices droplet size is 5-8 square. And the professional equipment used in photo printing studios has a parameter of 1.5 picoliters.
In the Epson L210 All-In-One, ink is distributed across four containers. Many sellers in stores claim that the printer uses 4 colors when printing. Actually, three colors are used (cyan, magenta, and yellow). In the fourth container - black paint. By the way, if you mix the three listed colors in the same proportions, there will be a monochrome pattern on the paper. In professional devices, paints are distributed in six containers or more, so it makes no sense to talk about the printer belonging to studio equipment.
About multimedia
From an expensive Epson L210 printing device, the price of which exceeds 20,000 rubles, many buyers expect more functionality than from a representative of the budget segment. First of all, we are talking about portable printing from information storage devices. After all, the 21st century is in the yard, and the device is simply obliged to have a built-in card reader and a liquid crystal display for previewing photos. There is nothing like this in this printer.
It does not know how to L210 Epson (MFP) and work without connecting to a computer. The banal creation of blueprints in offline mode is not provided for him. This problem is solved by installing specialized firmware for the device created by craftsmen, but this step is a must. It is unfortunate that a serious brand did not deign to worry about end consumers.
Cartridge refilling
Service and refueling are clearly the benefits of the Epson L210. The owner can buy ink at banks of any volume and from any manufacturer (including Chinese and Ukrainian brands). All that the user needs to do is open the top cover of the continuous ink supply system, remove the bypass air valve and fill in the paint of the desired color. There are no syringes, blowing tubes, removing protection from the print head. Everything is implemented easily and simply.
By the way, professionals in the field of office equipment and printing recommend not spending money on the purchase of large volumes of ink. As noted earlier, the size of one drop is 3 picoliters, which means that the printer will not spend ink as fast as it does with inexpensive counterparts. The main task of the owner is to control the level of paint in CISS containers. If the ink runs out and air enters the system, then you cannot do without the services of a service center.
Finally
The Epson L210 (MFP) device is definitely suitable for home use by people who need to print large amounts of information in color, including high-quality photographs. And let the initial price of the printer do not bother, because for inkjet devices the cost of printing is important. This MFP is lower than that of many laser printers - this is a serious indicator in the office equipment market. Do not forget about the ease of maintenance - it is much easier to transfer paint from one can to another than to perform complex procedures using syringes.
The disadvantages of the device include the operation of the scanner. In fact, this is a fiction. The low-quality scanning head limits the use of the scanner and copier in working with color photographs. The lack of multimedia (reading memory cards) also causes a negative for many owners of multifunction devices. Before buying, professionals recommend deciding on the functionality that users need to work. And if we are talking about high-quality and inexpensive printing in color, then preference should be given to this particular model of printer in the office equipment and printing market.