34 MARCH2020|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE385
EPSON’SEXPRESSIONHOMEXP-4100 is a
smallish inkjet multifunction peripheral
(MFP). Despitebeing relatively affordable,it’s
well specified forhome users, supporting
wireless networking and automatic duplex
(double-sided) printing. On the front panel
there’s adecent-sized colour screen, although
this doesn’t respond to touchgestures.
Instead, it’s paired with some satisfyingly
clickycontrol buttons. There’s no front-panel
USB port or memory card slot fordirect
photoprints, however,and with no fax
modem or automatic document feeder,it’s
not aimed at home office use.
Epson printers are usually easy to install,
and the XP-4100 was breezing through its
setup routine until it started checking fornew
firmware.The software recommends you
switch the printer off and on again before an
update, but doing so caused it to forget its
Wi-Fi configuration, so it subsequently
needed to be re-joined to our network. At this
point, the printer itself said there wasn’t an
updateavailable,but the install program
found and applied one without further issue.
MODESTY BLAZE
Epson quotes print speeds of 10 pages per
minute(ppm) in mono and 5ppm in colour,
and the XP-4100 lived up to this modest
billing. Black text drifted out at 8.9ppm,
although switching to draft quality
accelerated it to 14.4ppm. Colour printing
was similarly relaxed, reaching only 2.9ppm
in our complex colour graphics test. We
duplexed 10 sides of colour graphics on to
fivesheetsofpaper at arateof2.2 images
per minute(ipm), which is not much slower
than single-sided graphics printing.
Print quality was mostly about what we’d
expect foranaffordable Epson printer,with
decent text and strong graphics with accurate
colours, free of any obvious inkjet glitches.
Unfortunately,wecouldn’t saythe same for
duplex prints, which were noticeably faint.
Youcan adjust the ink density and drying time
forduplex jobs, which helped address the
issue.At13seconds each in black and 35
seconds in colour,photocopies were fast
enough, and their quality was fairly good.
Scans weren’t toosloweven over a
wireless connection, with apreview needing
11 seconds, and a300 dots-per-inch (dpi) A4
scan completing in 25 seconds. Even a
1,200dpi capture of a6x4in photocompleted
within aminute: acceptable,ifnot exactly fast.
The results were very good, with accurate
colours and an extremely impressive
dynamic range: we could distinguish every
shade in our colour input target.
RUN FOR IT
The XP-4100 isn’t abad MFP,then, andits
competitive price makes it seem like good
value.Sadly,however,things go horribly awry
when you consider its running costs as well.
There are standard and XL cartridges, but the
latter are rated for500 black pages, or just
350 in colour.Asalways, the longer-lasting
cartridges are better value,but even then this
MFP has the highest cost per page we can
recall of any inkjet MFP: an A4 page of mixed
text and graphics will cost 17.3p,ofwhich the
black component is ajarring 4.9p.
Unfortunately,thissuggests that the
XP-4100 might be prodigiously expensive to
own unless you barely use it. It’s adecent
MFP forthe money, but factor in the running
costs and it’s just not worth it.
SimonHandby
SPECIFICATIONS
Mono speed
Monocolour
speed
Mono pagecost
Colour page cost
0% -50 Reference + 50 + 100
Seepage98for performancedetails
TECHNOLOGYPiezoinkjet•MAXIMUMPRINT
RESOLUTION5,760x1,440dpi•MAXIMUMOPTICAL
SCAN RESOLUTION (OUTPUTBIT DEPTH)1,200x2,400dpi
(24-bit)•DIMENSIONS170x375x300mm•WEIGHT
4.3kg•MAXIMUMPAPERSIZEA4/legal•WARRANTY
OneyearRTB•DETAILSwww.epson.co.uk•PART CODE
C11CG33401
8.9ppm
12.3p
4.9p
2.9ppm
EPSON Expression
HomeXP-4100
★★★★★
£55•From http://www.johnlewis.com
MULTIFUNCTIONPERIPHERAL
VERDICT
Epson’s XP-4100 does alot for the money,
until you factor in the ink
⬆The XP-4100 is easy to set up,once you’ve managed to updatethe firmware
The XP-4100 isn’t abad MFP,and its competitiveprice
makes it seem likegood value.Sadly,however,things go
horribly awry when you consider its running costs
