It is 45x43x22cm and weights a little less than nine kilos. Paper is stored face forward vertically at the rear of the unit. It is delivered face up from the base of the front of the unit. Items to scan or copy are placed face down on the flat scanning surface under the cover, items up to A4 can be scanned/copied.
This is a four ink model placing it in the 'mid' range. Very basic units have only two cartridges one for black and a other slightly larger with three inks, the disadvantage of this is that once one of the colours is empty the whole cartridge needs replacing with possibly a lot of wasted ink. All inkjet printer manufacturers sell their units at a loss and make ends meet by selling the consumables such as ink.
My main gripe when looking at inkjets is that printing speeds are never met, here the claimed 22PPM is of course unobtainable. Using the draft mode - a little grey but acceptable - I got around 12PPM. Colour is stated as up to 11PPM for text, again I fell far short. To my mind graphics are all about quality and speed should not matter. Printing 4 images on a single A4 sheet borderless took around 9minutes 30 seconds but they were worth waiting for.
The unit can be used to copy both in black and colour when the PC is switched off or not connected. A black copy can be produced in around 15 seconds from switch on while a colour copy comes through in around 50 seconds, both look very close to the original.
There is perfectly acceptable scanning software - including OCR - provided and the unit can produce output up to 2400x1200 DPI. The unit has built in card readers for almost every type of memory card.
There are no less than twelve software programs and applets in a linked installation. Photo Quicker allows excellent use of multiple images on a single page. The copy utility works well and while - as stated - you can copy while the PC is off sometimes copying through Windows is necessary and this applet works well making all the options including reduction and enlargement a breeze all from a single pane.
One final mention for software is the Epson Smart Panel that can, from a single interface allow you access to almost everything and for the less experienced user then this really helps.
Quality of output is great, ease of use is straightforward, there is help in spades should you need it. For anyone who is short of space who prints a bit, scans occasionally and needs some photocopying then with two provisos the Epson Stylus CX6600 can be the answer. The first is print speeds of inkjet units - unlike lasers - will never be what is claimed. The second is the cost of replacement cartridges. Having four cartridges reduces costs a little but do your sums and do not just think of the initial purchase price. Dabs have it for £126.
Link http://www.epson.co.uk/products/all_in_one_products/Stylus_CX6600.htm
Link Available from PC World for £85
!!
