Epson is the U.S. affiliate of Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, a global technology company that manufactures printers, computers, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), integrated circuits, electronic and crystal devices, optical products, factory automation systems and watches.

The Photo 860 was sent to us in a box that seemed it had already travelled twice round the world and back, so no question about the carton quality it lasted! The printer benefits from having both USB and Parallel ports, however it was difficult to see how to connect either as no cable had been supplied. Installation of the drivers supplied caused some difficulty, as it presented us with the popular Windows 'GPF' error, a quick download of the latest drivers from Epson's Web site did the trick. The Ink cartridges supplied to us had been used previously, and taking into consideration the state of the packaging it was clear to us the printer had been extensively used prior to it's arrival at our labs.

The Photo 860 as the name suggests is optimised for printing images, it also prints text in fine quality but at the expense of performance. Epson claims that using its latest QuickDry ink on photo paper will produce pictures that can be retained for 10 years or more. You will certainly appreciate the good quality images the Photo 860 produces. A top resolution of 1440 x 720 is assisted by Epson's Micro Piezo print head incorporating variable size droplet technology combined with four picolitre Ultra MicroDot ink droplets.

In our tests the Photo 860 faired badly against the competition on the text document, almost twice slower than the HP and four times slower than the Lexmark. The quality of the text and manual printing, was second to HP, but acceptable. We were rather disappointed when the Photograph test produced a slower performance ratio then the HP, but much quicker than the Lexmark.

The Epson range of printers all seem to have an improved ink level reporting, and with new technology you can freely swap cartridges as the drivers maintain an accurate display of the remaining ink. No fear of running out in the middle of a large print run. Nice touch!

Ergonomically the Photo 860 is capable of loading 100 A4 sheets (64gsm) with a cut sheet feeder, and the tray can be folded giving it a compact feel. Epson has been generous with its bundled software offering the Adobe PhotoDeluxe Business Edition, which provides easy customisation for sales and marketing materials.

Overall, it is clear the Epson suffered in the condition it arrived to us, and as such we are left with what might have been. Epson are a reputable company with excellent products, and have given HP a run for their money in the past.

Note: Epson were not able to send the specification form we request all manufacturers to complete. Hence the Epson has been excluded from the table.

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