Epson Expression Photo XP-8600
A high–quality photo printer with an equally high price.
There are plenty of affordable multi-function printers that can provide good quality text and graphics for home and office users, but Epson’s new XP-8600 is a specialist printer that is very much aimed at keen photographers who want to produce really high-quality photo prints.
It’s a bit pricey, costing $249.99, but that price includes a six-color printing system (rather than the four colored inks used by conventional inkjet printers) that produces more subtle color graduations and lifelike skin tones for portrait photography. It’s packed with useful features too, including Wi-Fi and USB connectivity, support for AirPrint for iOS devices, and two-sided printing. There are two paper trays that hold 100 sheets of A4 paper, and 20 sheets of photo paper. You can print on CD and DVD disks, and there’s a third tray at the back for special art papers and cards, so the XP-8600 can handle just about every printing task you throw at it. And, of course, it also features a scanner and copier.
Print speed for text and graphics is fairly modest, at around 8.5 pages per minute, but the XP-8600 zips along when it comes to photos, taking just 18 seconds to produce a four-inch by six-inch photo print. The quality is impressive too, with the six-color printing and 5760x1440 dpi resolution producing finely detailed photo output, with bold colors and strong contrast. But replacing six separate inks can be expensive, so the XP-8600 will only be suitable for keen photographers who are prepared to pay for that extra quality.
Expensive, but the quality six-color photo printing is worth it for serious photographers. Jennifer Allen