Print Modes and Speed

One of the greatest advantages in the WorkForce 600 is its printing speed. Compared to other ink jet printers I have used, this one is easily the fastest and does not sacrifice quality for that speed. While it doesn’t quite reach the speed of a laser printer, as Epson advertises, it does come close. In testing, I printed a 10-page text document in just under a minute, but when color was introduced, speeds did slow down. I also tested printing several color intensive Photoshop files and found that it took roughly 2-3 minutes to print a 20MB image. You can choose five different print modes, and speed varies with each mode. Draft, best used for text only, gives you the best speed, but you should use the slighter slower Text mode for documents you want to archive. The default Text & Image mode produces the best quality for mixed media documents. The WorkForce 600 also includes Photo and Best Photo modes, so you can print photographs for presentation or to frame. The Best Photo color output is stunning. Not all settings are available for all paper types, so choose your media and print quality wisely.

Copy and Scan

The copy and scan printer functions work decently, but are not as impressive as the print features. The copier was quick but in some cases added noise to the image. When you want to copy photos, the scan function should be used, not the copier. The copier also features an autofeed that copies multiple pages quickly but a few times during testing, it jammed and the original document was wrecked. When in doubt, do not feed your valuable original document into the paper feeder; place it on the scanner glass instead.

The 2400 dpi scanner also works over a Wi-Fi connection, which is extremely handy in a location with several computers. The included software features three different scanning modes, Home, Office, and Professional. These same modes are found on their scanners and other printers with scanners. The Home mode provides basic settings for scanning items such as photographs, magazine pages, and newspaper articles. The Office mode provides settings for color, grayscale, and black and white images, plus it lets you use the document feeder. The Professional mode includes additional settings for fine tuning scans such as histogram adjustments, tone correction, and image adjustments. Overall scans were of average quality but colors didn’t always come out as clear as I would like while using the default settings.

The WorkForce 600 is arguably one of the fastest ink jet printers on the market and produces professional quality output suitable for any office environment. The ease of set up and use also make this printer a great choice for integrating into a home or small office. With the addition of average copy, scanning, and faxing capabilities, the printer is more than worth the purchase price.

Epson also provides free project templates you can download from the Epson CreativeZone. Business users may not find much useful in that area, but if you need to send cards or want to try some fun activities with the kids, check it out. As of Feb. 12, Epson announced a discount program with “American Express OPENSM Cardmembers to shop at EpsonStore.com and receive five percent off their entire online purchase when using their American Express Business Card.”

Edited by Ilene Hoffman, Reviews Editor

by Bradley McBurney