Multiprinter Epson Stylus Photo RX680 at $199
Epson’s Stylus Photo RX680 is a six-color multifunction inkjet printer that is ideally suited for people who want basic printing and scanning features and great photo printing capabilities. Reasonably priced at $199, the RX680 is fast and easy to use, and includes some nice touches that are often found only in more expensive models.
The RX680 sets up in a snap. The six ink cartridges fit easily into place, and the USB cable (not included) snakes around snugly inside the printer. A duplexing unit slides into the back of the printer, adding a few extra inches of depth, but you can remove it if you don’t need it.
The included CD has the print driver, Epson Scan scanning software, Epson Print CD, and ArcSoft’s PhotoImpression 5. The latter two programs seem more like checklist items than real productivity enhancers: they’ll do in a pinch, but they’re not terribly strong. PhotoImpression in particular feels like it was quickly ported from Microsoft Windows, with little care for the outcome. And, while we understand that the RX680’s primary focus is photo printing and copying, it would be nice to have a simple OCR package for translating scanned documents into text.
The printer has two paper trays, which make it easy to load one with photo paper and the other with plain paper. When you’re printing from your Mac or using the RX680’s standalone copying features, you can quickly and easily select the tray from which you want to print.
