32 JULY2020|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE389
EPSON’SEXPRESSIONHOMEXP-3100
lookstobeeverythingyoucouldwantfroma
multifunction peripheral (MFP) for the home.
Smart, compact and reasonably attractive,it
certainly won’t look out of place in atypical
living room. It also has the features you’ll
need: you can print, scan and copy, shareit
over Wi-Fi, and print to both sides of the
paper without lifting afinger.That’s
impressive,given it only costs £50.
Look in more depth, however,and you’ll
see that this MFP misses some things you
might find on more expensive alternatives.
There are no front-panel USB or memory
card slots, forexample,and no touchscreen.
Instead, you get acolour screen with amenu
controlled by membranebuttons. The screen
is small, but the system is very usable.
TWOSIDESTOTHE STORY
Start printing and it becomes clear that while
the XP-3100 isn’t especially quick, it’s not bad
forthe money. It produced our25-page black
text job at arateof9.2 pages per minute
(ppm), and our complex colour graphics test
at 2.9ppm. Photoprinting was more laborious,
however,with each 6x4in (15x10cm) postcard
print needing more than two-and-a-half
minutes. It’s great to have duplex printing at
this price,but at just 2.3 images per minute
(ipm) you’ll have to be patient.
Fortunately the XP-3100’s scan speeds
compare alittle better.Tested over Wi-Fi, the
MFP could preview an A4 document in 11
seconds, and it needed 12 seconds to scan it
at 150 dots per inch (dpi). Capturing a6x4in
phototook 36 seconds at 600dpi, and a
minuteatadetailed 1,200dpi resolution.
Mono photocopies were swift, too, taking
just 13 seconds, but colour copies needed
35 seconds to complete.
Generally speaking, the XP-3100 produced
great results. Black text looked crisp,and both
mono and colour
copies were well
exposed, with
accuratecolours in
the latter.Scanswere
sharp,too,with a
wide dynamic range
that preserved all
the colours and
shades of ourtarget
images. Photographs
were great foran
affordable device,
with skin tones
looking particularly
natural. Our one
disappointment was
that colour graphics
lacked impact on
plain paper.This was
especially true of
duplex prints at
the default setting,
which uses less ink
to minimise
bleed-through
and smearing.
Unfortunately forthe XP-3100, it all falls
apart once you consider running costs. This
printer takes Epson’s 603 series inks, available
in standard and XL sizes. While the XL
cartridges print areasonable 500 black pages
and 350 in colour,the standarditems are
spent after just 150 black and 130 colour
pages –among the lowest capacities we’ve
seen. Even calculated forthe larger supplies,
running costs are an eye-watering 5.2p per
mono page,or18.3p forone full-colour page
of text and graphics.
UPKEEP DOWNER
No matter the XP-3100’s strengths, that’s
simply toomuch to payfor your printing.
We’d recommend paying alittle more up
front forthe still-imperfect but generally
much better Canon Pixma TS5350 (Shopper
388). Alternatively –and especially if you
print frequently –consider arefillable ink
alternative such as Epson’s EcoTank ET-4750
(Shopper361). While this costs much more,
it arrives with more than enough ink to
make it better value out of the box.
SimonHandby
EPSON Expression
HomeXP-3100
★★★★★
£50•From http://www.argos.co.uk
MULTIFUNCTIONPERIPHERAL
VERDICT
TheExpressionHomeXP-3100isacheap
MFP,completelyunderminedbyits
expensiveink
⬆TheXP-3100 has areasonable set of features forjust £50
SPECIFICATIONS
Mono speed
Mixed colour
speed
Monopage cost
Colour page cost
0% -50 Reference + 50 + 100
See page 100for performance details
TECHNOLOGYPiezoinkjet•MAXIMUM PRINT
RESOLUTION5,760x1,440dpi•MAXIMUM OPTICAL
SCAN RESOLUTION (OUTPUTBIT DEPTH)1,200x2,400dpi
(24-bit)•DIMENSIONS170x375x300mm•WEIGHT4.3kg
- MAXIMUMPAPERSIZEA4/legal•WARRANTYOne
year RTB•DETAILSwww.epson.co.uk•PART CODE
C11CG32401
9.2ppm
2.9ppm
5.2p
13p
Runningcostsareaneye-watering5.2ppermonopage,
or18.3pforonefull-colourpageoftextandgraphics.No
mattertheXP-3100’sstrengths,that’ssimplytoomuch
