Product Reviews

The epson Stylus Color 740 is the first of a new generation of inkjet printers which use Epson's proprietary PerfectPicture Imaging System.

The improvements in printing technology occur in four areas. The first is in the printhead. Advances in the MicroPiezo technology mean there are more nozzles on the printhead which can deliver what Epson claims is the smallest dot in the world. The increased number of nozzles enables improvements in speed as well as quality of output. The ability to deliver variable dot sizes allows the printer to target the smallest dots on the areas where the most detail is required.

Colour reproduction has also been improved. Enhancements to existing halftoning technology improve colour and texture variations, making for photographic prints, which look even more like real photographs.

As the Stylus Color 740 uses what Epson terms QuickDry Inks, ink droplets stay in their original shape, penetrating the surface of the paper only. As the name suggests, they dry more quickly than conventional inks. The overall effect is sharper dots that don't bleed into each other.

The final part of the formula, and possibly the most important for Epson from a revenue point of view, is the specialised media. The Stylus Color 740 is optimised for plain paper. However, best results will always be achieved on specialist photo paper. And both printer and paper manufacturers have gone to town recently, so photo papers are available in a range of sizes and weights.

Physically, the most notable difference between the Stylus 740 and its predecessors is the USB port on the back. This port is in addition to the existing serial and parallel ports, and in theory should make

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it the ideal printerfor the iMac. However, the review model we tested didn't have Mac drivers for the USB port. Nor did it ship with a USB cable, or any other connecting cable for that matter. Epson wasn't able to tell us whether it intends making USB drivers available for the Mac in the near future. However, it would be incredible if Epson missed the opportunity to sell the Stylus Color 740 alongside the iMac by not making a small investment in USB driver software.

In tests the Stylus Color 740 produced the best results we have ever seen from a four-colour inkjet printer. When printed on photo paper, images were almost as good as those produced by Epson's own six-colour Stylus Photo printers and the Alps MD-1300 (see Reviews, Vol 14 No 9, p26). This is all the more remarkable when you consider the Stylus Color 740 costs half the price of the Alps MD-1300. It's no speed demon, however. Printing an A4 size full-colour photograph on photo paper at a high-quality setting took five and a half minutes from pressing Print to receiving the finished page. A 6in x 4in photograph took two and a half minutes.

Driver software has been improved as well. The PhotoEnhance feature makes automatic adjustments to the image before it's printed that improve the output considerably. The driver is designed to maximise the effect of the smaller dots and the variable dot size facilities.

The Stylus Color 740 will print on a variety of media weighing between 64gsm and 90gsm. Cartridge life is reasonable and Epson says the black cartridge will print 900 A4 pages of text at 360dpi, and the colour cartridge should be good for 70 6in x 4in photographs. At an approximate cost of £20 per cartridge, this equates to around 57p per photograph, excluding the cost of the paper. This is still way more expensive than taking a roll of film to the chemists and having it developed, but hopefully as colour printing at home grows in popularity, prices of cartridges and paper will fall.

As a relatively low-cost colour printing device, the Epson Stylus Color 740 is excellent. Its superior quality and reasonable price make it a very attractive proposition for anyone who wants a colour printer at home. The lack of USB driver software is disappointing, but expect this to be rectified in the near future.