Background
The Epson Stylus DX8400 is a mid-market all-in-one printer model, combining the copying and scanning features demanded in today's busy office environment. For the small home businessman, this is the ideal printer copier combo, providing accurate and quality print reproduction without taking too long. For an inkjet, the quality is rather impressive in both black and in colour, which also makes the DX8400, unlike the DX4000, more suitable for image printing or detailed colour printouts. Of course the DX8400 is still a little weak for heavy going industrial printing needs, but for the home office you couldn't ask for anything more apt.
Key Features
One of the most striking features of the DX8400 is its 2.5" LCD screen, which allows you to view picture or image selections before finalising the print job. A bit of a gimmick, this actually becomes really handy once you start relying on it to find out how your print job is going to look, and it can be a great way to save on ink and improve your printing efficiency for scanning and copying. Take care though when handling the printer - it is quite heavy as compared to other models and the LCD screen can crack or break under pressure.
The DX8400 leads the field when it comes to accessibility, allowing you to print photos direct from a camera memory card via the on-board input interface or direct from the camera itself using the PictBridge technology where available. What that means for the photo printer is that you can quickly and easily print off an entire collection of photographs without the need for accessing your computer hard drive, which saves time on having to transport across all your image files.
Choose The Epson Stylus DX8400 If...
If you have a small office or you're looking for a more powerful computer for your household needs this might be the choice for you. Of course the DX8400 isn't as specialist as the R300 for photo printing, but you can still be assured of the utmost print quality for image reproduction as well as everyday functionality.
Not For You If...
Those who run larger businesses or require more industrial printing facilities will probably be best looking further up the market. The DX8400 is good at what it does, but it couldn't handle the pressure of constant, on demand quality print like a laser printer or a larger inkjet model could.
Conclusions
The Epson Stylus DX8400 is the ideal printer for the small business. Not quite entry level, the DX8400 is still reasonably priced for what it does, and the LCD screen is quite a novelty. However if you are looking for a more robust printer that handles all your print jobs with speed, accuracy and clarity this probably isn't for you. Choose the DX8400 if you run your own business from home, or from a small office. Alternatively, you can choose it as a step up from the entry level models for everyday and leisure printing if that's what you require.
