Epson Expression Premium XP-600

Ordered this printer to replace a Canon Selphy as I wanted to be able to print larger than 6x4 prints and because colour reproduction from my IMAC was poor. The Epson XP600 has a small small footprint and was easy to set up. I haven't been disappointed. The wifi was easy to set up and the connection works flawlessly. Output lived up to expectation and photo prints are superb with colour matching from the IMAC being spot on. Air printing from my iphone and ipad works with well with no problems. Only criticism are the paper trays which are a bit fiddly. Other than that this printer is highly recommended.

Can't yet comment on reliability or cost of running, although I've decided to leave it on most of the time so that it doesn't waste ink each time it starts up.

The Expression is one of Epson's small footprint all-in-one printers. With the exception of a 2.5" touchscreen and missing a fax modem (who uses a fax anymore?) this is identical to the $200 big brother XP-800 with a 3" screen and a fax modem.

With regard to Epson's professional all-in-one printer line, "The Workforce" series, the Expression line is for the budget-minded shopper. I feel very comfortable recommending this printer because the $99 retail price is the highest you'd pay for a comparable, no-frills all-in-one.

This is actually the very first of all of the Epson's we own to seamlessly connect to our computer, tablet and cellphones without any hassles or calls to Epson. That's a first.

There are also fewer parts for us to take apart and the packaging was at a minimal.

*** Printing Letters ***

Printing wirelessly from our desktop was flawless. The printing is not fast, about 3 pages a minute. But the print quality was excellent.

Printing from the tablet, however, has been a bit of a challenge. We tried for several hours to print photos or pdf's with no luck. And, this is with both of the Epson print app's installed and registered.

The big thing is printing wirelessly from the desktop and having a halfway decent print quality, which this XP-600 achieves.

*** Printing Photos ***

Not terribly impressive. I wasn't expecting pristine photo reproductions but the image quality was less than what I had anticipated. And, this is considering that it has 5 ink wells. Only, the Artisan series has more with 6, if I remember correctly.

We used a standard Kodak photo paper to print out a few photos which included a photo from a digital camera and a illustration from an art program. None impressed us.

*** Cost vs. Value***

This is a new model and you're looking at the highest cost at the moment for about $100. My guess is, with the same components at the XP-800, I would have been profoundly disappointed with that model starting at $200, especially when the professional series from a year ago is now around the $200 price line and at the time was on par with the best of what HP was offering.

So, the 600, I think is a good, not great value at $100 because of the wireless connectivity and the very good print quality for letters and pdf's.

And the size (not the weight) is relatively small at 16" x 13" x 6."

The drawback is that you have comparable models from HP and Canon for about $69- $89 and a few less.

The photo reproduction is definitely lacking and an issue that should concern you if you print a lot of pictures. If not, the photo issue is irrelevant to the value.

All in all, it's a 3.5 star value but still good enough to consider if you see the price drop to the $50- $60 level.

Easy to set up, great to use, and very neat size. Bit surprised it doesn't have a top paper loading system, but it works well.