It’s funny how we get attached to inanimate objects, but at a certain point, computers, printers, etc., outlive their "useful" lives. Recently I helped a colleague with his home office "makeover." It was clear his "appliances," from the computer on down, were in their death throes.
Getting him to part with his junk was like a reality TV show, and after replacing the computer we zeroed in the next most important component, his "all-in-one" printer, which combines printing, scanning and faxing. After much research we settled on the Epson Expression Photo XP 850.
But let me digress.
Not too long ago, "all-in-one" products were a sort of a Frankenstein-like mishmash of functions that did the job in principal but were technically a compromise. You didn’t get the quality of a dedicated printer or scanner.
Those days are gone. The technology has gotten so much better, you can get a superb "multifunction" product without feeling you’re giving up anything.
Enter the Epson Expression Photo XP 850, a color inkjet, "duplex" printer with scanner and fax. ("Duplex" means automatic printing of a sheet of paper on both sides). The footprint is small, it’s easy to set up with the touch screen and it can be installed on a wireless network. You can even print remotely off your iPad.
Paper and media management are first rate for small volumes — perfect for a small or home office. The XP 850 has 100-sheet main paper tray (and 20-sheet photo tray). There’s also a back-end, single-sheet vertical feed for direct-path (no bending) photo printing and an adapter that allows you to print on CDs or DVDs, and a rear slot for card stock.
Scanning and photo printing quality were excellent. We were able to handily digitize a bunch of old 4-by-6 family photos and convert them into rich, slick 8-by-10 images. Using the printer’s touch screen we were also able to scan, repair and edit faded snapshots.
In reality the XP 850 is a photo printer dressed up as an office machine, which was perfect because my friend is an amateur photographer.
The only thing we didn’t like (and to be fair to Epson, this is pretty common) is the quantity of ink that the printer consumes, especially if you’re print a lot of photos. Cartridges are expensive, but you can get pretty good deals in town at Fisher or Costco. Price is $250 on Amazon.
UPS anyone?
UPS is a necessity for a complete office, but many small businesses fail to buy them. (I’m talking about uninterrupted power supply, not the brown trucks.) It’s hardly a sexy item, but when the power surges or there’s an outage, you’ll be happy to have one. Essentially a UPS protects your computer and safely shuts it down with proprietary software.
Over the years we’ve had great luck with a company called APC, and it continues to produce quality products such as the BR1500G, which we evaluated. Setup was easy (both for software and system), and the backup battery will keep the computer, printer, modem and router gear online for up to three minutes (on a full load) or 13 minutes on a half-load. (On the forums we did see some people complain that the BR1500G’s fan would sometime kick in and cause a racket, but we never experienced this.)
A big plus was the small footprint, and a digital display provides data on the charge, load, power savings, voltage regulation and when it’s time to replace the battery. There’s even an audio mute button that will silence the alarm during a power outage. The BR1500G has 10 outlets: five for battery backup (plus surge protection) and five for strictly for surge protection. You’ll sleep better with these protecting your data. You can get it at Costco for $200.
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Mike Meyer, formerly Internet general manager at Oceanic Time Warner Cable, is now chief information officer at Honolulu Community College. Reach him at mmeyer@hawaii.edu.
