Epson Stylus Printer: World Top Technology.

price, £70

Epson Stylus D120 colour inkjet printer

A stylish - if slightly pricey - colour inkjet that's well-suited for a home office user...

In some cases, replacing inkjet cartridges can work out almost as expensive as buying a new printer. What makes one machine stand out from another, aside from operating costs, is print quality - and as an effective home office offering, the Epson Stylus D120 is worth a look.

1. Despite roughly adhering to the standard appearance of a typical low-end, desktop inkjet, the D120 looks more stylish than most: with an attractive matte black casing and gloss black finish on the main hood that covers the workings of the printer, including the print-head and the five ink cartridge slots.
2. This is the main innovations with this particular printer: there are two slots for black cartridges alongside the standard cyan, magenta and yellow ink tanks.
3. The simple, yet sensible design of the paper tray and 120-sheet (up to A4) feed means that when not in use and probably sitting on a shelf, the important bits are covered up so little dust can build up in anywhere crucial.
4. It doesn’t take up too much room either, with a footprint of 43.5 x 24 x 16.1cm. It weighs in at 3.9kg.
5. Printing a 24-page monochrome DTP document from Microsoft, including page processing time, took an average of four minutes and 50 seconds - effectively five pages per minute (ppm).
6. Four-page colour DTP PDF test averaged at one minute 40 second, giving 2.4ppm.
7. Print quality is generally good on ordinary paper - we tested on 80gsm - with only a little fuzziness evident around some characters.
8. The Stylus D120 is a good all-round, general-purpose desktop inkjet printer and the inclusion of an extra black ink tank is a smart move.
9. As we see personal colour laser printer coming down in price, £70 seems a little expensive for this – lovely looking, granted – inkjet.

More info: www.epsonexpresscentre.com