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February 17, 2021

Receipts? Documents? Scan From Anywhere! The Epson RapidReceipt RR-70W

Hi Friends,

   A quick question; is anyone tired of shoveling snow yet? Well, here in the Northeast, I have thrown the towel in, and I am done with all the snow! 

   The only thing tougher than snow is traveling during the middle of a rough, cold, snowy, and icy winter, and as many of you know out there, I do quite a lot of that, just so I can be there for my clients, while of course, observing social distancing. As a matter of fact, I happen to know that a large percentage of you reading this are also on the road a lot, and it is not for pleasure trips! The popularity of Zoom meetings can only bridge the gap during the pandemic, but there is nothing like being face-to-face with your clients. 

   The benefits of that personal touch come along with some issues, because as we all know, business travel means 24/7 work, and in many industries, that means a lot of paperwork to keep track of and to organize when you are on the road. 

   Why the long lead-in? Well, I have had the extreme honor of testing out one of the newest scanners from Epson, the Epson RapidReceipt RR-70W Wireless Mobile Receipt and Document Scanner. Along with testing it out, I have written up a review about this handy new portable scanner, and I have a feeling that many of you fellow "road warriors" will be quite interested in the RR-70W! 

   Now, when I say "portable", I truly mean portable! This is the definition of "compact", and exceptionally light (I didn't weigh it, but it cannot weigh more than a pound, maybe less!). In terms of size, it is just about a foot long, and has a low-profile of about 1-2 inches tall and wide. However, do not left the size fool you, because this is a full-functional, sleek, sharp, and powerful scanner that will shock you, and will make a substantial impact on how you do business and get organized, at home, in the office, or on the road!

   Before we dig deep, I want to give you the 30,000-foot overview of this manual sheet-fed portable document scanner. First, on the topic of documents, this is truly a versatile scanner, with a wide realm of potential items that you can scan. The reason that I call them "items" is that they really are items; not only receipts, invoices and documents (financial, etc.), but the scanner also will scan checks, business cards, identification cards, as well as some pretty large pages (based on the specifications, the max size would be up to 8.5 x 72")! 


SET-UP:

   The entire process of un-boxing and unpacking the RR-70W is quite easy, and of course, you must make sure you remove all of the wrap and the protective plastic before you can get rolling. I buy a lot of electronics, and a lot of products that always work better when you give them a charge for the first time, so I followed that same rule here. Taking a step back to let you know, the RR-70W has an extremely efficient built-in rechargeable battery, which allows it to operate without requiring it to be permanently connected to a USB power source. However, if you are a fan of cables, the RR-70W will run with power over the provided USB cable when connected/tethered to your laptop or desktop. On that note, I did not have the USB charger that I use for my smartphone nearby, so I connected the USB cable from the RR-70W to my laptop. However, I fully believe that the scanner would charge substantially quicker plugged into a smartphone wall charger (Please note that the USB cable comes in the box, not the charger or wall charger). 

   Since I happen to be one of those folks who likes to charge electronics before using them, then in order to make good use of my time while letting the RR-70W charge up, I figured it would be the perfect time to download the software and drivers from the Epson site to get things going. This download includes any drivers needed for Windows. After downloading the installer, I made some coffee and answered a few E-mails, which took all of 30 minutes, and I figured that by now, the RR-70W was at a good enough charge level to start rolling! 

   I ran the set up for the installer that I had downloaded and followed the prompts as I went forward. At a point during the installation, it will ask you to connect the Scanner to your laptop or computer, but if you are charging the Scanner via USB connection to your laptop or computer, you are already on your way! 

   At another point during the installation, it asks if you want to configure the device as a wired device (USB) or as a Wi-Fi device. Why would I choose Wi-Fi? The answer: Because I want to Wirelessly scan my receipts and documents. After the scanner is detected and the updates are downloaded, it will also tell you to flip on the Wi-Fi toggle switch on the RR-70W. When the whole process completes (and you feel that you have enough of a battery charge), you will no longer need the USB cable to configure the scanner. 

   I mentioned the Wi-Fi toggle switch in the last section, but there are some other parts of the control panel area on the RR-70W that are worth mentioning. The control panel is the section where all of the action is in terms of the buttons and switches on the right front and right side of the RR-70W. For example, your Power button and Scan button are located there, as well as small LED status lights on the side that will display the status of your connection, of your battery, your mode, and any errors. That is where you will also see your "Ready" status light. Everything is located intuitively, without needing to search all over the device. Also, on the right side of the RR-70W is where I plugged in the other end of the USB cable earlier when charging the device and configuring it.


SPEED, QUALITY, & SOFTWARE/INTEGRATION: 

   So now, with everything installed, configured, and ready to go, I prepared a pile of multiple types of documents and business cards and receipts that I planned on using to test the RR-70W, and I will give my review based on the intersection of multiple factors, consisting of the speed, accuracy, and the software/integration features. I will provide the review of these factors together, and I apologize in advance for not separating these out to sections with headers, as there is a lot of correlation between these factors.

   SPEED: This is a sheet fed scanner - and I manually fed 15 pages of a contract that I removed a staple from. In total, with my stopwatch feature on my phone, it took 1 minute and 9 seconds, which is not bad, because the specifications state the speed at 15 pages per minute. I was also able to feed through a bunch of older receipts that were a little bit "mangled" to say the least, for example, folded/creased and some were faded. Not only did these zip through pretty fast, but I thought that they might rotate left or right a little bit when the scanner hit the creases or tears, but the RR-70W was able to feed all of these through neatly and, getting the jump on my review of the quality and accuracy, the scans were not skewed and the images and text looked enhanced, almost making it look as if the receipts did not have any fading, and excessive area around the receipt was cropped out. Great job, and it saved me a lot of touch up work and enhancements I would normally have to do after scanning (or sometimes, having to repeat scans multiple times until I got it right and feeding without skewing...before even starting to crop and enhance images once I complete the scanning part). This scanner saved me a lot of work! Incidentally, I had the same success scanning business cards, and some of them were thick, and some of them were in less-than-perfect shape from my wallet, and this process was just as seamless!

   QUALITY/ACCURACY: When reading the specifications, I noted that the RR-70W features a 600-dpi optical resolution for detailed image capture, so I was naturally very curious to see how accurate the scan results would be. I figured that one of the best tests I could do was a page that I had with multiple images and logos on it, and I proceeded to initiate the scan from the application. At the completion of the scan, I was extremely impressed with how sharp the images were, and how clear they came out. Some of these were quite detailed images, and it did not miss a single section of the images!  

   SOFTWARE/INTEGRATION: The key factor...the key "pitch" with the Epson RapidReceipt RR-70W, from what I can see from testing it and reviewing it, is being able to scan receipts and documents on the go, and after that, being able to make use of the scanned content and images. For that reason, Epson include a receipt management software (ScanSmart), which helps you accomplish the goal of making use of what you have scanned, and it is quite efficient and clever, all at the same time! 

   The software that comes with the Epson RR-70W, as I mentioned, is a receipt manager, allowing you to extract data from your scanned documents...basically, it intelligently reads the scanned data and pulls it into fields within the ScanSmart database. This is the feature that allows you to do something with that data (instead of letting your receipts and documents sit in folders!). What I found most helpful is that it lets you edit the fields, so you are able to categorize the data and save it in a way that works best for your purposes, for example, I split my data across fields/categories for each of the clients for which my receipts and documents apply. 

   Just to go off on a "geek" tangent for a moment, the technology that allows the ScanSmart software to be able to read and extract data from scanned images is known as "OCR", or "Optical Character Recognition". The OCR functionality that comes with the RR-70W is incredibly accurate and on the very high-end of this technology. I am comfortable saying this because I cross-checked most all of what I scanned and what the software extracted, and I was hard-pressed to find even one letter or number that was different from what was on the hard copy/copies that I scanned. Think about that for a moment, and you will realize just how important that is when it comes to dealing with critical financial documents! 

   You might ask, "What can you do with this categorized data?". Well, when you downloaded the software, it also included TWAIN drivers that can help you quickly and efficiently take that data and export it to/integrate it with many other 3rd party programs, such as, per Epson; Quicken, QuickBooks, TurboTax, Excel, CSV, and more. For my purposes, I like to export to the universal data format, CSV, or "comma separated values", for use across both Microsoft Office (Excel), as well as some proprietary systems that I use for my company. Doing it this way, I just had to change a few of the fields to make the export/integration as easy as apples-to-apples, which it was, but from what I understand, exporting to/integrating with popular apps such as QuickBooks and Quicken are even easier, and close to seamless (but we do not use these specific apps).


SUMMARY:

   Testing and reviewing the Epson RapidReceipt RR-70W was a great experience for me, and it was quite easy, mostly because of accurate documentation, and an intuitive button layout.

   The compact size of the RR-70W, and the fact that it is super lightweight make it easy to slip this scanner in your laptop bag and go on your way!  

   Are you the type with folders and boxes of receipts and documents that are stressing you out? The RR-70W allowed me to cut down on at least 3 folders and a box with receipts and documents, and now they are safely stored to my cloud drive, after being extracted to the categories that make my life easier, especially when it comes to tax time!

   Of course, nothing is ever perfect, and if I could make one wish for the RR-70W, I would love to have an Automatic Document Feeder (an ADF) that comes along with the scanner or that would be available as an add-on. This way, I would not have to manually feed each page to scan them. However, after a little while, it becomes second nature, and it helps you stay present and keep better track, granularly, as to what you plan to scan and what you have already scanned.

   Overall, this is a great, portable, compact, fast, accurate, cutting-edge receipt and document scanner that is likely to make your life easier, and to help you escape the paper jungle that most of us still live in on a daily basis!

   I highly recommend the RR-70W to anyone looking for a comprehensive scanning solution for use at home, in a small office, on the road...or actually...for all of the above! Once again, Epson is a class act with this high-performance and sophisticated scanner, and they really hit it out of the park with the Epson RapidReceipt RR-70W!

Thank you!

Have a Great Week, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !
Regards,
Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes - Rent to Own Homes, since 2002
"Located at the Corner of Technology and Real Estate"
Rent to Own Homes and Real Estate Blog for HomeRun Homes: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
HomeRun Homes Websites: http://www.lease2buy.com and http://www.homerunhomes.com


TAGS: #Epson #RapidReceipt #RR-70W #Wireless #Scanner #Color #Document #Receipts #RealEstate


TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

Specifications: 

Type Mobile, sheet-fed simplex color scanner

Sensor Type Color Contact Image Sensor (CIS)

Light Source 3-color RGB LED

Optical Resolution 600 dpi

Max. Interpolated Resolution 1200 dpi

Color/Grayscale Scan Mode (Bit Depth) 16-bit input/8-bit output

Buttons Scan Start/Stop, Power, Wireless Connect, Wireless On/Off

Capacity Single sheet feed

Document Size 8.5" x 72" max. (up to 300 dpi), 2" x 2" min.

Paper Weight 35 – 270 g/m

Scan Speed (Letter-size)4 15 ppm (300 dpi Black-and-White, Color, Gray 1-sheet scan speed)

Connectivity USB 2.0, Wireless 802.11 b/g/n

Peak Daily Duty Cycle 300 sheets


System Requirements:

Windows 10 (32-bit, 64-bit), Windows 8/8.1 (32-bit, 64-bit), Windows 7 (32-bit, 64-bit) SP1

Mac OS X® 10.11.x to macOS® 10.15.x

Software requires Internet connection for download and installation.


General:

Environmental Conditions

Temperature (Operating): 41 ° to 95 °F (5 ° to 35 °C)

Storage: -13 ° to 140 °F (-25 ° to 60 °C)

Humidity (Operating): 10 – 85% (no condensation)


Power Requirements 5 V DC (USB Bus)

Power Consumption

Connecting: USB

Operation: 2.7 W

Ready: 1.6 W

Sleep Mode: 1 W

Power Off: 0.2 W or less

Connecting Wi-Fi

Operation: 3.1 W

Ready: 2.4 W

Sleep Mode: 1.9 W

Power Off: 0.2 W or less


Warranty 1-year limited warranty in the U.S. and Canada

Country of Origin China

Weight and Dimensions (W x D x H)

Product Only: 10.7" x 1.8" x 1.3"; 0.66 lb

Product in Package: 13.3" x 5.6" x 2.6"; 1.3 lb


Software Included:

Epson Scan 2, Epson ScanSmart® Accounting Edition, Kofax Power PDF

Software requires Internet connection for download and installation.

Driver Support TWAIN


What’s in the Box:

RapidReceipt RR-70W receipt scanner, Start Here poster, USB cable


Eco Features:

ENERGY STAR® qualified

RoHS compliant

Recyclable product




January 28, 2021

Take Color Document Scanning To Another Level With The Epson ES-580W

 Hi Friends,

   I hope everyone is doing well, and I pray you and your families have been keeping safe. 

   With tax time fast approaching, this is the time of year that many of us start scrambling to locate all of the receipts, invoices, etc. that we need in order to file our taxes. This chaotic and frenzied burst of energy is stressful, and the reality is that with technology, it does not have to be that way anymore! 

   Instead of those bulky folders with receipts of all sizes and papers that are stapled together and fading out or have smeared over the past year, wouldn't it be much easier to have all of those receipts and documents digitized? Wouldn't it be great if you could take these digital versions of your important receipts and papers and organize them into folders, based on, for example, the type of expenses that they are? Wouldn’t it be great to save these files directly to a cloud drive, like Dropbox or Google Drive, for example? 

   If you have not guessed, I am describing the benefits of a scanner to help you get organized, whether it be in your business or your personal life. One step further, how about a document scanner that is wireless, color, and can duplex (scan both sides of a document), all with the greatest of ease?

   Enter the Epson Workforce ES-580W Wireless Color Duplex Desktop Document Scanner, the solution to all of your worries and stresses that surround getting organized! I have had the pleasure of reviewing this great Document Scanner, and I have the even greater pleasure of presenting you with everything that I found in testing out the ES-580W!


FIRST GLANCE & SET-UP:

   At first glance, you may be a little confused about the relatively small size of the box, however, that is part of the allure of the ES-580W. When you remove it from the box and take off all of the packing materials surrounding it, you will be extremely impressed at this cool scanner! I was impressed by how sharp it looks, and also, one of the first things that struck me was the large 4.3" Touchscreen! 

   When you power up the ES-580W, the sharp colors of the Touchscreen are truly striking! Through this intuitive and helpful panel, you can perform all of the fun, exciting, and important functions of the Scanner. For example, this is where you set up your wireless connection, as well as perform your scanning either for physical output to paper or as a file saved up to your cloud drive or cloud storage. I will definitely be giving you more details on this as we go! 

   Taking a step back, after situating it on a very crowded work area (which is a major benefit of the relatively small size of the ES-580W...it fits literally anywhere!) and powering it on, my first step was connectivity. Connecting to my Wireless Network was as quick and as simple as authenticating (just like you would add any other device onto your network, like a phone, tablet, desktop, laptop, etc.). 

   The first thing I did was download the software for the ES-580W, which included the Epson ScanSmart on my laptop, and additionally, I also downloaded the Epson Smart Panel App on my Android phone. More to come on why I did this shortly! As far as I see it, at this point, I am ready to start testing out this little beast and see how fast it scans, the quality of the scans that it performs, and I am also ready to check out all of the great features of the ES-580W!

   First, before starting our tests, I prepared a scanning pile of both all black-type and also other documents and items with color and still others with images, so, basically, a few contract documents, some receipts, some flyers, and a bunch of business cards!


SPEED, QUALITY, AND FUNCTION:

   When I have tested a scanner previously, I checked the specs first, and then tested it out to see if I came close to that same speed, but I did it in reverse this time. One of the vendor contracts that I have laying around (because I am a work "geek") was extremely lengthy, running roughly 32 pages of mostly all black type. There were definitely some images mixed in, however, it is about 85-90% text. I sent this through as my first test, and it scanned through the batch after a total of 58 seconds. To me, this was really quite fast, but, I did a little math to quantify that statement. 

   The stated scan speeds are 35 ppm, or 35 pages per minute (of all text) and 70 ipm, or 70 images per minute. Normally, based on this, if this contract was all text and no images, 32 pages should have taken about 54 seconds. However, as I mentioned, 10-15% of the contract had some images and infographics, so 58 seconds was very impressive. 

   Within the papers and documents that I prepared to scan, I have about 20 that have text on both sides of the page. Using these pages, I was able to test the speed of the duplex scanning feature and as the ES-580W was blazing through this part of my test and handling all of the work of scanning both sides of each page, it made me realize how much of a time saver this feature is. I have spent literally countless hours scanning pages and then having to flip them over to scan the other side, but the ES-580W does all of the work for you! 

   Taking this one step further, I scanned in some cash receipts I had which were a little bent and somewhat mangled from being crammed in a folder, and I was afraid that they would jam during the scanning process, however, I noticed that not only does the ES-580W sense the contours of the paper, it also makes sure that what you are scanning does not get jammed and skew (basically, rotate), and give you those skewed/bunched up scan results of which we are probably all familiar with and can all agree that we totally detest! 

   The reason for this truly "smart"/"intelligent" function is the protection and reliability that is built into the ES-580W. The Epson "Image Processing Technology" is the reason behind this "magic", and some of the other benefits from this technology are protection against missing pages ("Ultrasonic Double Feed Detection") and preventing against damage caused by staples ("Paper Protection"). All of these features work in tandem to provide you the best possible scan results.

   On the topic of scan results, whether I scanned to my Computer or scanned to E-mail, and whether I scanned all black text or a mix of black and color and with or without images, the results were all sharp, with crisp letters and images, and truly vibrant colors that were flawless, at least to the naked eye.


FEATURES:

   There were several features that I was extremely excited to try, such as previewing scans via the Epson ScanSmart software, scanning to my cloud drive (Dropbox), scanning from my Android phone, and scanning to a USB stick without needing to use any other device!

   Earlier, I mentioned that I had downloaded the Epson ScanSmart software to my laptop, and the reason I did his was to not only scan from my laptop, but also, to be able to test out what I found to be some of the awesome features of this software. The best part of this software was being able to preview my scans, meaning that if I did not like how it would scan, I would have the option of using a different copy to scan before committing to the scan. Again, everything I have found was geared towards saving time and producing quick, quality scan results. 

  Another couple of things to mention regarding the Epson software, which I did not get a chance to test were the ability to connect to document libraries/document management software using the included universal "TWAIN" drivers, which would prove quite helpful in an office setting. Also, there is an immensely helpful feature that converts scanned documents into searchable PDF files using OCR, or Optical Character Recognition. This is a huge feature and can really help you save time when you need to scan in a huge number of documents, and you do not want to read through every scanned document in order to find exactly what you need to find if you are limited with time.

   Like so many of us, I depend heavily on my cloud drive (Dropbox) for storage of my most critical work and personal documents. Epson realizes the importance of these cloud drives and provides a simple way to scan directly to folders on your cloud drive. First, you need to register your cloud drive via Epson Connect, whether it is Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Evernote, etc. Once you do this, it is super easy; just place your document on the scanner, select "Cloud", and follow the prompts. This feature is absolutely priceless!

   Earlier, I had also mentioned that I downloaded the Epson Smart Panel App on my Android phone. So many of us are constantly on the move that the ease of being able to send a scan directly from our phones makes life so much easier. All that I needed to do in order to make this happen was to put the document on the scanner, launch the Epson Smart Panel App on my phone, and just follow the instructions. It was a pleasure and very liberating being able to scan "on the go" and not being tethered to my laptop!

   One great feature I like to call, "No computer? No worries". If you do not have any devices available to scan to (i.e., Laptop, Desktop, Phone, etc.), but you have an external USB device (such as a USB Memory Stick/Flash drive/thumb drive), you can scan directly to that USB device! This is even easier than it sounds; I plugged a brand-new USB Memory stick into the back of the Scanner (in the USB port), I placed one of my documents on the Scanner, selected "Memory Device" from the menu, and followed the prompts. It scanned and saved to my USB Memory stick. No computer or any other intermediary device was needed! Of course, I removed the USB stick when it completed to verify that the scan was on it, and after plugging it into the USB port on my laptop, I saw the scan file that was created. I opened it up and verified that not only did it scan and save it to the USB drive, but it did so flawlessly!


SUMMARY:

   What I look for in technology is flexibility; "Will it make my life easier, and, can it do so without compromising quality?". Testing and reviewing the Epson WorkForce ES-580W was the best way to allow me to answer those questions. 

   Making life easier very closely correlates with saving time. With the features such as scanning two sides at once (duplex scanning), blazing fast scanning speeds, and the 100-Sheet Auto Document Feeder (ADF), I firmly believe that my life would be easier by using these features and qualities. 

   Versatility is another key factor in making life easier, and the wide variety of items that can be scanned (documents, receipts, plastic cards, business cards, etc.), coupled with the fact that you can scan documents that can range up to 240", all go along with making things easy! 

   The second part of what I look for, which was not compromising quality as a trade-off for making life easier), the proof is in the high-quality scanned output, and the sharp, vibrant, and vivid colors/images produced by scanning with the ES-580W. There is not one thing that I can pick out that has compromised the quality to spite the flexibility and versatility of this scanner. 

   If I were pressed for one thing to say that the ES-580W is missing, the only thing I could say is that I wish it had a flatbed scanner. However, here is where one of those "trade-offs" would come into play; a flatbed would make this a much larger unit, and would require substantially more space, and thus, part of what makes life easy is not having to make more space for the ES-580W...it just "fits" perfectly into life...and keeping with that theme... makes life easier!



Have a Great Week, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !
Regards,
Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes - Rent to Own Homes, since 2002
"Located at the Corner of Technology and Real Estate"
Rent to Own Homes and Real Estate Blog for HomeRun Homes: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
HomeRun Homes Websites: http://www.lease2buy.com and http://www.homerunhomes.com


TAGS: #Epson #ES-580W #Wireless #Scanner #Color #Document #Office #RealEstate


TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

Specifications: 

Epson Workforce ES-580W Wireless Color Duplex Desktop Document Scanner
Type Sheet-fed, 1-pass duplex color scanner.
Sensor Type Color Contact Image Sensor (CIS)
Light Source 3-color RGB LED
Optical Resolution 600 dpi
Maximum Interpolated Resolution 1200 dpi
Color/Grayscale Scan Mode (bit depth)
30-bit input/24-bit output
Buttons Double-feed Detect, Skip, Slow Scan Mode, Scan,
Stop, Wireless Connect, Wireless On/Off
Auto Document Feeder
Capacity: 100 sheets paper
Document Size: Minimum: 2" x 2", Maximum: 8.5" x 240" at
200 dpi, Maximum: 8.5" x 215" at 300 dpi,
Maximum: 8.5" x 53" at 600 dpi
Paper Weight: 27 – 413 g/m
Scan Speed (letter-size)
35 ppm/70 ipm: 300 dpi Black-and-White, Color, Gray
Connectivity Wireless 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, SuperSpeed USB 3.0
Daily Duty Cycle 4,000 sheets
Consumables Roller Assembly Kit: 200,000 cycles
USB Flash Memory 1x

System Requirements:
Windows® 10 (32-bit, 64-bit), Windows 8/8.1 (32-bit, 64-bit),
Windows 7 (32-bit, 64-bit)
Mac® OS X® 10.11.x to macOS® 10.15.x
Software requires Internet connection for download
and installation.

General:
Environmental Conditions
Temperature (Operating): 41 ° to 95 °F (5 ° to 35 °C)
Storage: -13 ° to 140 °F (-25 ° to 60 °C)
Humidity (Operating): 10 – 80% (no condensation)
Power Requirements 100-240 VAC (50/60 Hz)

Power Consumption:
Operation: 13 W
Wireless: 18 W
Sleep: 1.4 W
Ready: 6.9 W
Off: 0.1 W

Warranty 1-year limited warranty in the U.S. and Canada
Country of Origin Indonesia

Weight and Dimensions (W x D x H)
Product Only: 11.6" x 6.7" x 6.6" 8.2 lb
Product in Package: 14.5" x 12.5" x 10.4" 10.4 lb

Software Included:
Epson ScanSmart software, Presto! BizCard® OCR
Software requires Internet connection for download and
installation.
Driver Support TWAIN

What’s in the Box:
ES-580W document scanner, Start Here poster, SuperSpeed
USB cable, AC adapter and power cable

Eco Features:
ENERGY STAR® qualified
RoHS compliant
Recyclable product


December 5, 2020

Exuding Power and Functionality; The Epson WF-7840 All-In-One Printer

Hi Friends, 


   It is the Holiday Season, and at least in the Northeast, that reminiscent and very-welcomed chill is in the air! I hope all of you have been keeping safe during the pandemic.

   Today, I have the honor of introducing you to a great new All-In-One Multi-Function Printer (MFP), which includes the functions of printing, copying, scanning and faxing, all in one single device. One of the many benefits of this new printer is its ability to print in "Wide-Format", and through the incorporated wide-format printing capabilities, print sizes are allowed up to 13” x 19”. This amazing new offering from Epson is the Epson WorkForce Pro WF-7840.


FIRST APPEARANCES ARE EVERYTHING:

   Unboxing the WF-7840, you begin to realize just how large this printer actually is in person! Once it is unboxed, and you set up the 250-Sheet Cassette paper trays, the device looms even larger! The two internal trays (including a rear paper feed) will allow you to use multiple different types of paper, all at once. The ink cartridges that come with the printer (812I) are for use in setting up the printer, "priming" the printer, and for use thereafter. This ink is incredibly high quality "Durabrite", and is a pigment-based ink, making it water-resistant on many types of paper (which comes in very handy in an oppressively humid environment or climate, such as New York City in July and August, when everything feels humid to the touch!).


SET-UP:

   When you first turn on the WF-7840 "cold", it's a little noisy, but when the Printer is on but is "sleeping", it's more of a quick start and it's ready to go in an instant. Once you get rolling with the WF-7840, it runs at what I consider a whisper-quiet tone and seems quieter than other models I have used previously, perhaps the result of progressive technology.

   The star of the show in setting up the WF-7840 is the 4.3" LCD touchscreen, which walks you through the set-up process, from selecting your language, country, and other printer settings, such as loading the paper and the ink. The screen tilts and adjusts so you can configure the printer using the most comfortable angle. Additionally, the graphics are strong and intuitive, and the response from your selections are instantaneous and very accurate, and it seems like it has discounted any fat-finger moments that we are all guilty of sometimes when typing!

   The CD that comes with the WF-7840 contains the Epson Driver and Utilities Software (the set-up process also installs the TWAIN drivers) and the User Guide. Once online, Epson’s software (which can also be downloaded from the Epson website) handles configuration and adds the WF-7840 to your available printers.

   Within 10 minutes, you should be all set up and ready to print, scan, copy, and fax! In terms of these aforementioned "functions" of this multi-function printer, let us take a look at how well each of them performs!


SPEED:

   When looking at the "speed" of a printer, the widely accepted benchmarks that are used are the Pages per Minute (PPM) output that the printer is capable of producing. This is further broken down into the speed of printing black only and printing color, and then further sub-divided into printing a single-sided page and a double-sided page, or "duplex" printing.

   The Epson WF-7840 specifications show a print speed of 25 PPM for single-sided black-only, and 16 PPM for double-sided black-only. The specifications for color are stated as 12 PPM for a single-sided printed page, and 9 PPM for a double-sided printed page.

   Of course, I always take specifications from any vendor as averages, and I like to test the single-sided print speeds, as that is the function I use most often. In order to do so, I used the stopwatch function on my phone and sent through 25-pages of invoice files (as one composite file) as a black-only print job with some images to test the single-sided speed. The results: I hit a total of just 56 seconds at the end of the print job, meaning that I would have crossed over 25 PPM, which is incredible!

   Next, I had a color presentation file (with images) that I limited to 12 pages for the color speed test, and the results of my single-sided color printing test came out at exactly 60 seconds, fully on target with the 12 PPM as specified.

   The results were incredibly impressive!


QUALITY:

   It is one thing for a printer to have blinding speed, but, without quality printing, the speed is absolutely irrelevant. So, my next task was to examine the physical printed output from my speed tests to verify the overall quality of printing via the WF-7840.

   First, let us focus on the black-only printing, which reveals a nice and gradual transition in tones, and the best way to describe it is going from white page to gray to black, basically, gray scale. The lines and angles in the images were sharp, and holding the page close to my eyes, I did not detect any "bleeding" of the black ink.

   With exceptional quality results from the black-only print job, I had high expectations for the results of the color print job output from the speed test. I performed the same inspection as I did with the black-only print job, and all of the transitions from one color to the next were perfect, without any defects as far as I could inspect. There was no color bleeding on the page, and the colors were bold and vivid!

   In the interest of also examining the quality of wide-format print jobs, I sent through two small print jobs of wide/large format, one using black-only ink and the other using color ink. Just as I had expected, the same quality of black/grayscale and bold color with perfect transitions that I found when printing letter size was also evident upon printing out my wide format test print jobs! Perfection!


FEATURES:

   Now that we have looked at the print speed and the print quality of the Epson WF-7840, let us now turn our attention to some of its other great features and functions.

   Scanning with the WF-7840 is extremely easy and quite efficient. You have the option of scanning either single-sided or double-sided documents, and with an option for wide-format scanning, you are able to scan these in at the pinnacle of quality with incredible resolution!

   Once you have the Epson software installed, it is quite seamless, because all you need to do at that point is to place the photo, document, etc. on the flatbed/scanning glass and the software launches. Additionally, you can use the Auto Document Feeder (ADF) for 11” x 17” document sizes, and the ADF also has the capability to scan both sides of your page ("duplexing"). This "duplexing" feature using the ADF is quite efficient, and auto-adjusts to avoid skewing to one side or misfeeding and having a jam in the feeder. Those are some incredible benefits, along with being able to duplex quickly and conveniently for two-sided printing without needing to re-feed the paper - features that I had not realized I wanted in a printer for my home office until I used it for the first time.

   Just one more note on the trays and how helpful they are; the power delivery tray is incredibly cool and extremely useful. What this means is that this tray automatically retracts when the unit is off or you have selected it to retract, but when you send/scan/print/fax a document, this tray automatically slides out so that your documents don't start dropping to the floor and sliding across the room, because sometimes, we will scan, print, or fax something and move on to other work, and then we have to go and retrieve the hard copies that we sent from every corner of the room (of course, made even worse when you have a ceiling fan running!)

   Once scanning has completed, you have choices that allow you to attach the scanned file to an E-mail, to save it, or to send to a Cloud storage drive, such as Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, etc. This ties the entire scanning process of the WF-7840 into a seamless process, end-to-end. Exactly what we need to remove extra steps and extra work in our already-complex lives!

   As a natural combination of both printing and scanning, the copying/photocopying function also performed exactly as expected, after testing via copying using the flatbed and the ADF.

   Another of the primary functions of the WF-7840, albeit, not used as often as it once was, is Faxing. I tested this out in a very similar manner to the scanning and copying functions; via the flatbed (scanner glass), the ADF, as well as via an application (using the fax driver), and sending to my secondary number that is connected through to a fax input receiver. All methods resulted in transmission and receipt of exactly what I had expected, which was perfect! There is also a quick and convenient way to fax documents and images directly from a USB stick/USB disk drive plugged directly into the front of the WF-7840, and then you can also print documents, photos, etc. directly from that USB disk!

   As a test in reverse, I sent several faxes to the WF-7840, and these results were also exactly as expected, and the exciting part here is that you have multiple ways to store the incoming faxes, aside from just printing them when they arrive, for example, you could forward them to a shared network folder, save it as a PDF file, or you could store it in the printer memory.

   Many of the above functions can be enhanced and tweaked using the Epson utility software, such as customizing and printing photos, etc. Additionally, the Epson Printer App allows you to print from your phone (documents and photos) and send scans to your device. I tried a lot of these features, and found them to be quite intuitive, and extremely convenient for a mobile lifestyle.

   In keeping with the concept of a mobile lifestyle, having a printer that is completely wireless can make it quick and easy to get work done without being glued to your seat all day long! For example, you have the option of using Wi-Fi direct, allowing you to send anything from your laptop, phone, tablet, desktop, etc., and even though we have a wireless router at home, it would not be a prerequisite in order to enjoy the benefits of Wi-Fi direct printing at home from our phone or computer.


SUMMARY:

   It's no secret that Epson puts out a quality product, but until you physically have a WF-7840 in front of you, it's hard to truly describe the efficiency and quality that you will gain from this beast!

   Overall, the full set of features and functions in the WF-7840 are cutting edge and truly over and above the best and most state-of-the-art printers on the market today. If I was hard-pressed to "complain" about one thing about WF-7840, that would not be an easy task, however, my only complaint (if you could even call it that), is that I wish the power cord was just a little bit longer to make the stretch to the outlet. However, that is nothing that a handy power strip could not help remedy!

   In reflecting on the stress-testing that I performed, I found the WF-7840 incredibly user-friendly, and the quality of the print jobs were incredibly sharp and vibrant. Further, when transitioning to the very special feature of wide-format printing in the past with other printers, I had seen a reduction in quality in terms of resolution and overall appearance, however, Epson has taken that out of the equation, and produces almost flawless output! The benefits that are provided by this strong feature of the WF-7840 will span not only workgroups, but will extend to those professionals working in the architectural field, as well as those in technical and mechanical fields, so, basically, those professionals with the need to produce wide-format output. These derived benefits will extend to both the business user in a home office or to users in a business office.

   For all of those professionals that either work from home (which is a growing amount of the population) or those who work in business offices, this will allow you to begin producing documents with print-shop quality from within your own office setting versus the previous need to travel back and forth to a print shop/copy center (as well as incurring the costs associated with those journeys!).

   To summarize my experience, I can only say “Kudos” to Epson on an incredible addition to their line of Multi-Function Printers with the versatile, efficient, and powerful Epson WorkForce WF-7840!


Have a Great Week, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !
Regards,
Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes - Rent to Own Homes, since 2002
"Located at the Corner of Technology and Real Estate"
Rent to Own Homes and Real Estate Blog for HomeRun Homes: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
HomeRun Homes Websites: http://www.lease2buy.com and http://www.homerunhomes.com


TAGS: #Epson #WF-7840 #Printer #Scanner #Multi-Function #TWAIN #Printing #Office #RealEstate



TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS ("SPECS"):


What's In The Box:

WorkForce Pro WF-7840 printer
Quick setup guide
CD-ROM with drivers
Power cord
4x DURABrite Ultra Ink cartridges (1x Black ink cartridge and 3x color ink cartridges: 1x Cyan, 1x Magenta, 1x Yellow)


Print:

Printing Technology:
PrecisionCore Heat-Free Technology (MicroTFP2)

Maximum Print Resolution:
4800 x 2400 dpi

ISO Print Speed:
25 ISO ppm (black), 12 ISO ppm (color)

2-Sided ISO Print Speed:
16 ISO ppm (black), 9 ISO ppm (color)

Minimum Ink Droplet Size:
3.8 picoliters


Ink:
Note: Ink Cartridges: 4x individual ink cartridges (1x Cyan, 1x Magenta, 1x Yellow and 1x Black)

Ink Type: 
DURABrite Ultra pigment ink

Replacement Ink:
812 Standard-capacity Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow (Yield, ISO pages – Black: 350, Color: 300), 812XL High-capacity Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow (Yield, ISO pages – Black: 1,100, Color: 1,100), 812XXL Extra high-capacity Black (Yield, ISO pages – Black 2,200) Printer is designed for use with Epson cartridges only, not third-party cartridges or ink.


General:

Operating Systems:
Windows® 10, Windows 8, 8.1 (32-bit, 64-bit), Windows 7 (32-bit, 64-bit), Windows Vista® (32-bit, 64-bit), Windows XP SP3 (32-bit), Windows XP Professional x64 Edition SP2, Windows Server® 2003 SP2 – Windows Server 20197 Mac®OS X® 10.6.8 – macOS® 10.15.x

Temperature: 
Operating: 50° to 95°F (10° to 35°C)
Storage: -4° to 104°F (-20° to 40°C)

Humidity:
Operating: 20 – 80%

Storage:
5 – 85% (no condensation)

Sound Level:
Power 6.3 B(A)
Pressure 48 dB(A)

Dimensions:
Printing: 20.3" x 38.4" x 20.5"
Storage: 20.3" x 17.7" x 13.8"

Weight:
45.4 lbs

Eco Features:
ENERGY STAR® qualified
RoHS compliant
Recyclable product
Epson America, Inc. is a SmartWay® Transport Partner

Safety Approvals:
Safety: UL60950-1, CAN/CSA-C22.2 No. 60950-1
EMC: FCC Part 15 Subpart B Class B, ICES-003 Class B

Country of Origin:
Indonesia

Warranty:
1-year limited warranty in the U.S. and Canada


Copy:

ISO Copy Speed:
Copy Speed Flatbed: 23 ISO ipm (black), 10 ISO ipm (color)

Copy Quality:
Text / Text and Image / Text and Image (Best) / Photo

Copy Quantity:
1-999 pages

Maximum Copy Size:
11" x 17" (A3)

Copy Features:
Automatic 2-sided, Preview, ID Copy, Collate, Reduction/Enlargement (25-400%), Adjustable Copy Density

Specifications Scanner:

Scanner Type:
Color flatbed / Automatic 2-sided ADF

Photoelectric Device:
CIS Sensor

Optical Resolution:
1200 dpi

Hardware Resolution:
1200 x 2400 dpi

Maximum Resolution:
9600 dpi interpolated

Color Bit Depth:
48-bit color input, 24-bit color output

Scan Bed Size:
11" x 17" / A3

Scanner Features:
Automatic 2-sided Scan, Scan to PC, Scan to Cloud6, Scan to Email, Scan to Network Folder, Scan to FTP, Scan to Memory Device, Scan to ScanSmart, Remove Shadow/ Punch Holes

Maximum Scan Area:
11.7" x 17" max


Scan Features:

Other:
Scan File Formats: PDF, JPEG, TIFF, Multi-TIFF, BMP (Win), PNG

Automatic Document Feeder:

Capacity:
50 sheets, 2-sided

Document Sizes:
11" x 17" / A3 max. size

Daily Duty Cycle:
Up to 50,000 pages (recommended monthly page volume: up to 2,500 pages)

Fax:

Fax Speed:
33.6 Kbps

Memory:
Receive memory 6 MB, Page memory 550 pages

Speed Dials:
200 (max.)

PC Fax:
Send/Receive/Fax to Email/Fax to Folder

Features:
Black-and-white and color capable

Connectivity:

Standard Connectivity:
Hi-Speed USB
Wireless (802.11 b/g/n/a/ac)
Wi-Fi3
Wi-Fi Direct3
Ethernet (10/100 Mbps)

Mobile Printing Solutions:

Epson Connect:
Epson Email Print, Epson Remote Print, Epson Smart Panel App (iOS, Android), Epson iPrint™ App (iOS®, Android™), Creative Print App (iOS, Android)

Other:
Apple® AirPrint®, Android printing, Mopria® Print Service

Paper Handling:

PC-Free Paper Support:
A6, A4, A3, SuperB, 4" x 6", 5" x 7", 8" x 10", #10, Half Letter, Executive, Oficio 9, Letter, 8.5" x 13", Mexico-Oficio, Legal, 11" x 17"

Paper Sizes:
4" x 6", 5" x 7", 8" x 10", 8.5" x 11", 8.5" x 14", 11" x 17", 13" x 19", A4, A6, Half Letter, Executive, User-definable (5" – 47.2" in length)

Maximum Paper Size:
13" x 19" (A3+)

Paper Types:
Plain Paper, Bright White Paper, Multi Purpose Plus, Premium Presentation Paper Matte, Presentation Paper Matte, Ultra Premium Photo Paper Glossy, Premium Photo Paper Glossy, Premium Photo Paper Semi-Gloss, Photo Paper Glossy, Card Stock, Envelope

Borderless Sizes:
Up to A3 (11" x 17")

Envelope Types:
No. 10

Input Paper Capacity:
Two 250-sheet trays (500 total) plain paper up to 80 g/m2, 10 envelopes, 50 sheets photo paper


Printer Details:

Display:
4.3" LCD touchscreen

Printer Language:
Epson ESC/P® Raster, ESC/P-R

Software Included:
Epson printer driver, Epson Scan 2, Epson ScanSmart, Epson FAX Utility


Power:

Rated Voltage:
AC 100 – 120 V

Rated Frequency:
50 – 60 Hz

Rated Current:
0.6 A

Power Consumption:
ISO/IEC 24712 Pattern: Standalone Copying 20 W; Ready Mode: 8.8 W; Sleep Mode: 0.8 W; Power Off: 0.2 W

 

March 2, 2020

Affordable, Complete Productivity For All With The Epson Workforce WF-2830


Hi Folks,

   Welcome back, and I am happy to say that I have another fantastic product that I have reviewed for you, and as with many of these we have discussed before, I hope this can also find a tremendous use within your business or your personal life, to help make things easier to manage overall!

   Keeping with the concept of making things easier for you, probably one of the best products for such a goal is one that bundles a whole bunch of different features that you use on a consistent, if not, a daily basis. For example, printing, copying, scanning, and faxing. With the cat out of the bag, indeed, I am talking about an All-in-One Printer, the Epson WorkForce WF-2830, which I have had the enormous pleasure of testing, pounding, hammering, and making sure that I had the true results, without aberrations, to review and report back to you here!

   Let's take a look at everything, from first popping open the box, setting it up, testing out the speed, quality, and then we'll look at some of the great features, and wrap up with the full technical specifications ("Specs"), for folks of the more geeky sort, like me!


FIRST APPEARANCES:

   When you pop open the box, you will immediately notice a very attractive matte black printer unit, that is securely packaged, along with the power cord and the ink cartridges. They say that good things come in small packages, and this is a compact unit that holds the promise of being able to fit in any location...desktop, shelf, counter...and this promise is true. Aside from its "fit anywhere" compact nature, it is also a strikingly good-looking unit that folds up and folds out neatly and with very little effort!


SET-UP:

   What sets a lot of printers, all-in-ones, or scanners apart from all others in its class sometimes comes down to the set-up procedures. Is it easy? If so, is it easy just to technical folks? How about folks who are not so technical? Fortunately, I am a tekkie, but I have a very good friend (a neighbor of mine) who stopped by to return a snow shovel that it appears he will not be needing this boring New York winter season, and I asked him to take a few minutes and see if he can set this thing up. I wasn't going to make the poor fella do everything, but I just wanted to see if he was in the right direction, and he was. I really wanted to check this as a test of the instructions, and if I let him complete it, he would have had no issues!

   I took over and actually went through the steps myself, and it's all quite intuitive, which shows that Epson put a lot of time and research into testing with non-technical folks, in order to make the process as simple and stream-lined as it actually is! Nothing creates a bad connection between a customer and a manufacturer as when that customer has issues right from the start from setting up a device.

   The interface was very smooth, the LCD screen is super easy to view and use, and it took just a short while to have the software installed from the Epson website, the ink cartridges installed, calibrated, and the device ready to go! On the topic of the ink cartridges, it makes it so easy that they are individual, so you can replace only the colors that you need, vs having to replace all of them at once.

   The only minor issue was getting used to the character input when entering my wireless network (and the beep for each input), but after a few moments, you get used to the process and breeze right through it! Right after you finish this, you will see the printer on your wireless network, and then it is accessible from all your devices!


SPEED:

   In order to test the speed of the WF-2830, I pounded it with multiple types of documents, with and without images, and black and white as well as color documents. It handled all of these jobs seamlessly and effortlessly, and I ran these same tests a few times each to verify my print times were consistent, and not a first time run aberration (with a drop in performance, thereafter), and I found consistency straight through!

   Sometimes, when using a fast-performing unit like this, you will notice some noise coming from the printer, which I have seen on many other printers, however, this is whisper quiet and a workhorse!


QUALITY:

   The output of the WF-2830 was akin to literally taking what I was printing or scanning or copying, and duplicating it, flawlessly. I tested printing, copying, scanning, and faxing of documents, E-mails, and photos, and a few color flyers that I had, and the result was perfection. I have a second line with a fax unit and tested back and forth faxing without any flaws, delays, or degradation in speed or output. Well-done, Epson!


FEATURES:

   One of the coolest features of the WF-2830 is printing from your mobile device, which is super easy to set up and use, and even if you are in another room in your home and "far" from your printer, you can send the print job from your smartphone or other mobile device, and when you go back to where the printer is, your printed output will be there waiting for you.

   As far as scanning, which we briefly touched on before, there is a wide variety of settings that allow you to scan in various output qualities (i.e. resolution), which gives you great flexibility vs the old "one scan fits all" mentality. As for faxing, there are also features to tweak, and even though faxing is not used as much as it was, it's always a great feature to have when it's needed (there will always be a reason, especially with Medical records/HIPAA act).

   Paper Management is also handled perfectly by the WF-2830, starting with the 100-Sheet Paper Capacity, helping you to avoid having to keep reloading the unit with paper after every print job.

   Staying on the topic of paper, the Automatic Document Feeder (ADF), with its 30-page capacity, is a huge time-saver when you are scanning in a stack of papers/documents. It will feed them one-by-one, vs having to stand there and feed each document in yourself one-by-one.

   Still another great paper-related feature is the Duplex feature, which allows you to print on both sides of a sheet of paper instead of just one side, and not only is it a money-saving feature, but it is also a "Green" feature, allowing you to cut down on paper usage!

   The last feature that I am very fond of is the voice-activated printing, which is a huge feature with the way the "Smart Home" products like Alexa and Google Assistant have been exploding in the market! Once you have this set up, which is a breeze, you can easily send any document, etc. to your printer, and I was able to test this specifically using my Google Assistant. This is a very exciting and a very helpful feature!


SUMMARY:

   After stress-testing this unit over and over for several days, I found that it is a trooper, and can truly give you what it promises in the description of the printer. In other words, the speed, performance, reliability, quality, and features are not just smoke being blown at you, but rather, truly verifiable in using this incredible all-in-one printer.

   Who would this unit best fit? Well, it will be able to make lives easier for anyone, whether it is for a small office that needs to have the major productivity features bundled (printing, scanning, copying, faxing), due to space constraints, to a home office, with similar concerns, or for general home use, with those folks in all of the different scenarios identified above wanting to have robust and powerful productivity without compromising on quality, and also, not having to re-mortgage their lives to pay for such a critical tool.

  The Epson WF-2830 will fulfill the needs of the home user, home office user, or the small business user, and is truly on top of its game! Another well-thought out product from Epson, and another great tool for your productivity arsenal!

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS ("SPECS"):


What's In The Box:
Epson WorkForce WF-2830 printer
Instruction booklets
CD-ROM with drivers
Power cord
4 Claria Ink cartridges: 1x Black, 1x Cyan, 1x Magenta, 1x Yellow

Print:

Printing Technology:
4-color (CMYK) drop-on-demand MicroPiezo inkjet technology

Minimum Ink Droplet Size:
3 picoliters

Maximum Print Resolution:
5760 x 1440 optimized dpi

ISO Print Speed:
Black: 10.0 ISO ppm
Color: 5.0 ISO ppm

Ink:

Ink Type:
Claria Ink 212 (sharp text, brilliant photos, fast-drying)

Ink Palette:
Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black

Ink Configuration:
4 individual ink cartridges

Replacement Ink:
212 Standard-Capacity Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow
212XL High-capacity Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow
Printer is designed for use with Epson cartridges only, not third-party cartridges or ink.

Ink Yield Information:
212 Standard-Capacity yield, ISO pages: Black 150, Color 130
212XL High-capacity yield, ISO pages: Black 500, Color 350

General:

Operating Systems:
Windows 7/Windows 8/8.1/Windows 10 (32-bit, 64-bit)
Mac OS X 10.6.8 - macOS 10.14.x55
Internet access is required to install OS X drivers and software.

Temperature:
Operating
50 to 95 F (10 to 35 C)
Storage
-4 to 104 F (-20 to 40 C)

Humidity:
Operating
20 – 80%
Storage
5 – 85% (no condensation)

Sound Level:
36 dB(A)

Dimensions:

Printing: 14.8" x 22.8" x 9.5" (W x D x H)

Storage: 14.8" x 11.8" x 8.6" (W x D x H)

Weight:
11.5 lb

Safety Approvals:
Safety standards UL60950, CSA C22.2 No. 60950
EMI FCC Part 15 subpart B class B
CAN/CSA-CEI/IEC CISPR 22 class B

Country of Origin:
Indonesia

Warranty:
1-year limited warranty in the U.S. and Canada

Copy:

Copy Quality:
Color/Black-and-white: Draft/Normal

Copy Quantity:
1 – 99 (PC-free)

Maximum Copy Size:
8.5" x 11", 8.5" x 14"

Copy Features:
Automatic 1-sided to 2-sided
Fit to page
Automatic reduction and enlargement (25 – 400%)
Copy input resolution flatbed 300 x 300, 600 x 600
Copy input resolution ADF 300 x 400, 600 x 600
Copy print resolution 600 x 600, 600 x 1200
ID copy
Adjustable copy density
collate 100 sheets
1-sided to 1-sided
1-sided to 2-sided

Adjustments: density, contrast, color, sharpness, text enhancement

Specifications Scanner:

Scanner Type:
Color flatbed

Photoelectric Device:
Color CIS line sensor

Optical Resolution:
1200 dpi

Hardware Resolution:
2400 dpi

Maximum Resolution:
9600 dpi interpolated

Color Bit Depth:
48-bit color / 24-bit output

Scan Bed Size:
8.5" x 11.7" max.

Scanner Features:
Scan to PDF
Scan to Computer (USB and network)
Scan to Email (via Epson Connect)

Automatic Document Feeder:

Capacity:
30 Sheets

Type:
1-side to 1-side

Document Sizes:
8.5" x 14" max. size

Fax:

Fax Settings:
Black-and-white and color

Fax Speed:
33.6 Kbps — as fast as 3 sec per page

Memory:
Up to 100 pages

Speed Dials:
60 (max.)

PC Fax:
Supported

Connectivity:

Standard Connectivity:
Hi-Speed USB
Wireless (802.11 b/g/n)
Wi-Fi Direct

Mobile Printing Solutions:

Epson Connect:
Epson Email Print
Epson Remote Print
Epson iPrint App (iOS, Android)
Epson Print and Scan App (Windows)
Creative Print App (iOS,Android)

Other:
Apple AirPrint
Google Cloud Print
Android printing
Fire OS printing
Mopria Print Service
Easy Photo Scan

Paper Handling:

PC-Free Paper Support:
Plain (letter, A4)
Photo (4" x 6", 5" x 7", Letter, A4)

Paper Sizes:
3.5" x 5"
4" x 6"
5" x 7"
8" x 10"
Letter
Legal
A4
B5
A5
A6
Half letter
Executive
User definable (3.5" – 44" in length)

Maximum Paper Size:
8.5" x 44"

Paper Types:
Plain paper
Epson Bright White Paper
Brochure & Flyer Paper Matte Double-sided
Ultra Premium Presentation Paper Matte
Premium Presentation Paper Matte
Premium Presentation Paper Matte Double-sided
Presentation Paper Matte
Ultra Premium Photo Paper Luster
Ultra Premium Photo Paper Glossy
Premium Photo Paper Semi-gloss
Premium Photo Paper Glossy
Photo Paper Glossy
Photo Quality Adhesive Sheets
Iron-on Cool Peel Transfer paper

Automatic Document Feeder:
30 sheets
1-side to 1-side
8.5" x 14" max. size

Borderless Sizes:
3.5" x 5"
4" x 6"
5" x 7"
8" x 10"
Letter
A4
16:9 wide

Envelope Types:
No. 10

Input Paper Capacity:
100 sheets plain paper
20 sheets Premium Photo Paper Glossy


Have a Great Week, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !
Regards,
Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes - Rent to Own Homes, since 2002
"Located at the Corner of Technology and Real Estate"
Rent to Own Homes and Real Estate Blog for HomeRun Homes: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
HomeRun Homes Websites: http://www.lease2buy.com and http://www.homerunhomes.com


TAGS: #Epson #WorkForce #All-In-One #Printer #Scanner #Copier #Fax #WF-2830 #Productivity #Office #SmallBusiness #Wireless #Wi-Fi

June 26, 2019

Be There Even When You're Not! The Hubitat Elevation Redefines Security!

Hi folks,

   I have been working in the technology field for longer that I care to say, but let's just say north of 20 years! One of the most awesome developments that I have seen over that time has been the ability to reach out and touch something that you are not physically near or physically connected to. For example, without going too geek on you, having a server that needs to have some upgrades done that have to be done from the physical console/screen...but the server is located a few thousand miles away in our L.A. Office. Some years back, I would need to arrange to have someone in that office to be in front of the server and perform the upgrade as I direct them step by step. Time-consuming and inefficient, but necessary.

   However, as time moved forward, we began using remote access tools, allowing me to connect to that server and perform all of the functions required, from the comfort of our New York HQ. On a similar scale, this same base of technology allows us to see and hear who is at our doorbell and communicate with them, as if we are right there, even if we are laying on a sun-drenched beach in the Caribbean. Heck, you can woof like a vicious dog and watch people jump with fear. Of course, never do that to your neighbor...especially those that hold grudges...I'm just saying!

   In keeping with the thought of that remote reach out and touch technology, the market has quite a few players now with smart home devices, such as Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and others. One of the players in this Smart Home niche is a company called Hubitat, and they have a very unique twist on this market, with their "Elevation" Smart home hub. It is a centralized "hub", as its name suggests, which acts as the control center for all of your home devices that you choose or will choose to connect in your home.

   I recently had the pleasure of testing out the Hubitat Elevation, and based on what I found as a result, from Set-up and Testing on through General Usage, this could just be what you were looking for or maybe something you did not even realize existed...something to help you keep on top of the safety of your home, as well as your gadgets and possibly even your energy efficiency.

   The Hubitat Elevation hub came very well wrapped and secured in a box about 2.5 times the size of the actual device, and when I saw the physical hub, I was surprised at how small it was. I was trying to figure where it would go and how will I be able to have it in a secure location (it's advantageous to keep something that can possibly control the power and security of your home in a tamper-free location). However, the device fit's literally in the palm of your hand, so finding a place with a power source nearby was incredibly easier than I had imagined.

   The Hubitat needs to be connected into your Router via an Ethernet cable (an RJ-45), so after you plug in the power to your Hubitat, you have a few choices: connect the cable to the Hubitat and the router, get a longer RJ-45 cable in your local shop and run the cable through a ceiling or floor, if need be, or have a network drop (or a patch panel with a network wall outlet). The latter might be a little much for folks, so the first two options work fine.

   Once the Hubitat is connected up physically, the next step is where you get it recognized to make it active. From your computer that is on the same exact network as the Hubitat (the computer and Hubitat must both be connected to the same router), you access the Hubitat portal website (where you should see the device icon), sign up, enter some basic information, and name your device. Activation is that simple. There are no tricks, changes to make on your router, with your ISP. No headaches. Just a simple and straightforward way to get your Hubitat Elevation online, alive, and kicking.

   Now, the benefit of using this device, as we discussed, is all about remote administration, and the first piece I added to my Hubitat family is the Centralite Smart Outlet. The way I found it best to add this outlet was to download in the Google Play Store the App, "Hubitat Dashboard". Once I downloaded the App and logged into it with the credentials I set up when activating earlier, I saw the Hubitat Elevation on the Dashboard. At this point, I simply selected to Add a Device, and the Smart Outlet is by Centralize, but also can be selected as Zigbee, which I did. Once that Smart Outlet showed up, I saw there was a toggle option....basically, on and off. I have a tester bulb that has a prong to plug into an outlet for testing power (but you could easily plug in a radio with the volume on), and now the bulb was on, indicating power to it, but the Smart Outlet has a small blue light indicating it is on, as well. When I clicked the toggle on the app on my phone to turn the Smart Outlet "Off", the Bulb went out! When I clicked, "On", it went on! I had my security camera pointed at the outlet, and I went food shopping, and while I was out, I planned on testing the Smart Outlet from a different network (not on my Home Wi-Fi), and on a split screen on my phone, using the Hubitat Dashboard on the top section of the split screen, I was able to Toggle the Outlet on and off and the Bulb went on and off and I watched it from my security camera app on the bottom split screen. Cool! Why cool? This means I can control my lights and anything else I want to control from anywhere in the world. I had the capability to add more Smart Outlets and control literally every device in my home, possibly even my thermostat to conserve energy and lower my bills, if I wanted to!

   The next device I tested was the Centralite Micro Door Sensor, which had the same type of set up. This device is akin to the old "open circuit", that signals when it is opened. When setting this up, which required connecting both parts of the sensor to an internal door in my home (just for testing). the parts have to be lined up precisely, so they can open and close without friction, and allow the circuit to be opened. Once I had this set up, I created an alert to be notified upon the circuit being opened, and I had a friend randomly open the door and write down the exact times it was opened, while I went to a location away from my Home Wi-Fi. The times the door was opened corresponded exactly to the times I received the alerts, which meant there was no delay in the relay of the alerts, and no latency. This is fantastic and once it is used on an entry door, it can prove incredibly valuable. If you have a cleaning service or workers in your home while you are away and you close doors to the bedrooms or other rooms you do not want anyone to have access to, you can add one of these to each of those doors and be immediately notified if they were opened.

   There are infinite applications and ways in which you can use the Hubitat Elevation, along with the Smart Outlet and Micro-Door Sensors. Not only are they intuitive to use and to set up, but they work precisely as they are supposed to, and can provide you the ease and comfort of usage from anywhere in the world, and provide you with the security that you would come to expect from such a device. I know that the Hubitat team are working on new applications and further ways to use the Elevation and family of devices, and I cannot wait to see what additional ways that I can make my life easier, safer, and at the same time, have fun doing so!


Have a Great Week, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !
Regards,
Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes - Rent to Own Homes, since 2002
"Located at the Corner of Technology and Real Estate"
Rent to Own Homes and Real Estate Blog for HomeRun Homes: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
HomeRun Homes Websites: http://www.lease2buy.com and http://www.homerunhomes.com


TAGS: #Hubitat #Elevation #SmartOutlet #Micro-Sensor #Smart #Centralite #Zigbee #Dashboard #Security #Remote #App





June 7, 2019

Epson Redefines Productivity With Their New EcoTank ET-M3170 All-in-One Supertank Printer

Hi Folks,

   I hope everyone is having a nice June, thus far. The heat has definitely started to pump here in the Northeast, and to me, an 80-degree day is hot, regardless of whether the calendar says April or June, so the Air Conditioner technology is getting a full-fledged workout!

   That is exactly where I will pick up on...the topic of Technology!

   In the day and age of High-Quality Color Printing, one may question why they would need a Monochrome Printer. Well, for example, what if most of your print jobs required just Black and White output? What if you could find a true work-horse that can churn out Black and White printed output at about as fast as you can bat your eyes, and can turn out high-quality scans and copies with sharp images, as well, with a lightning fast fax feature, too? If that's not what you are looking for, keep reading anyway, because you might just realize this was something that can make your life substantially easier!

   What am I talking about? The Epson EcoTank ET-M3170 Wireless Monochrome All-in-One Supertank Printer. I have reviewed this unit, and I'd like to share with you what I found in terms of its set up, speed, quality, and features that have impressed me, and will most probably impress you, as well!

SET-UP:

   Setting the tone right from the start, this printer was wrapped very well and secure, taped well and secured between to large pieces of foam cushioning to prevent any damage from movement during shipping. It's not a very heavy device, so it is easy to maneuver. Once it was out of the box and unwrapped, etc., I got my first look at a very impressive looking unit, one that looks like it belongs in a high-tech, modern office, which is exactly what you want clients to think if they visit your office (you want them to know that you are on the cutting edge of the latest technology...at least it can't hurt!).

   When you fire up the printer, one of the features you notice right away is the vivid, bold-colored touch screen, with razor-sharp fonts, and what I came to find as very well organized (extremely intuitive/very user friendly). But first, the ink.

   When you see this bottle of ink, you might panic at first. Don't! It's revolutionary, cutting edge, and will save you a lot of headaches and a lot of money. You have easy access to where you add the ink. It is so easy to twist in the bottle, fill the ink reservoir, and you're done! There is no mess, no spill. It was literally seamless. Once it is filled up, you can visually see the ink level, which should cover you for 6000 pages. Yes, that's a heck of a lot of printing for you without having to add more ink.

   After a few minutes of the ink charging up, as directed through the instructions on the printer, you then run through a page alignment test that you just navigate through via clicking through on the menus. Then, after printing up these test pages and selecting the right numbers on the touchscreen to confirm that all is on par with how you want the pages and alignment to look, the next step is the wireless connection.

   Setting up the wireless connection was simple, from detecting the Wi-Fi and connecting to it, end to end, it could not be any easier than it was. The Color LCD screen does not have a step out of place in leading you towards complete and perfect configuration of your wireless set-up. The paper capacity of this printer is 250 pages, which should keep you humming along while printing for quite some time. At this point, after loading up the paper tray to almost full capacity, I realized that the time for testing had arrived!

SPEED:

   There is no other way to say it; this is one truly fast printer! It zips along at 20 Pages Per Minute (PPM), but at times, it felt as if it was even faster, so I think that is more like an average speed. In one test, I sent 3 consecutive 8-page jobs, and by the time I went to hit send on the next job, the previous job was done! As it's churning along, it has normal operating sounds, which can be almost completely silenced by selecting the Quiet Mode option.

   In testing the Automatic Document Feeder (ADF), which is incredibly easy to use, I tested the speed of duplex printing (2-sided printing), and I found the speed of that feature quite impressive, as well. Even better, you do not have to feed the paper back for the second side; this is all done automatically for you! Overall, an ultra-fast printer, for standard duty and 2-sided copy, as well. Next, let's take a look at the quality of the printed output, scans, etc.

QUALITY:

   When you need to print out sensitive information, critical data, or whatever is important to you enough to render it as printed output, speed is important, but quality, for many, will rank higher between both.

   My experience for many years has been on high-end laser printers, and their sharp and crisp printed output, but in reviewing several batches of print jobs I sent through on the ET-M3170, I was very surprised to find that the quality was equal to or even superior to the laser printers I have used for many years, most of which have been on the high-end of the printers offered on the market, in my office and in the offices of various of our clients.

   Even just moments after printing, there was no smudging, the characters appeared super sharp on the pages, and the ink on the top of the page and the bottom of the page was uniform, with no alignment issues or differences in shades of the printed black ink. There are an incredible amount of settings that I could have tweaked in order to get my printed output to this point...these options are all included in the LCD Screen menus...but the default output via printing and also copying both exceeded my experienced expectations!

   This same pattern goes for the Scanning. Scanning with the unit is very easy to use (very intuitive), and the results were obviously high-resolution scans, with sharp, completely crisp images, that far surpassed that which I have seen from laser-quality Scanners.

   Another important feature of this All-in-One Printer is Faxing, which I tested both inbound and outbound. What I found was that after connecting the physical line to send and receive faxes (I tested between a fax machine I have on a different phone number), and found High-Speed faxing results that went out and were received, both of very high quality, with sharp images and text!

   Overall, these high-quality results tell me that this Supertank Printer is a high-quality All-in-One Printer that is built for high volume copy, blazing fast speed, and incredibly sharp output! However, there are even more features that I have tested and also found to be incredible components of an overall workhorse!

FEATURES:

   The key benefits that most folks are looking for when purchasing a Printer, or really any new technology, are those features that make your life easier, and save you money. I found both of these benefits in testing and reviewing the ET-M3170.

   Making your life easier really boils down into both saving time and accomplishing your tasks more efficiently. During the time I spent testing and reviewing the bonus features of the ET-M3170, I noticed a trend towards both of these components of a life with fewer hassles:

   * I like the huge storage capacity of 250 sheets, saving me the hassles of constantly re-loading the paper tray in the middle of 100 other things I am doing.

   * I like being able to use my voice to send print jobs.

   * I love the mobile printing feature, because it allows me to send a print job from anywhere vs. needing to be right near the printer physically connected to it.

   * I love seeing the ink level on the printer...it is way cool!

   Additionally, the benefits affecting your financial bottom line are also evident with the ET-M3170, such as:

   * How efficient the printer is with ink usage, with hardly any movement in the level marker after several large ink-hungry print jobs of pages filled with text, top to bottom.

   * How I can see an end to the hundreds of dollars of ink each year by using this 6000-page capacity productivity beast of an ink tank!

   * How it makes financial sense to have an All-in-One Printer with a 2-year warranty with your registration, to show you the confidence that Epson has in their product, giving you true peace of mind!

SUMMARY:

   In closing, if you did not already get that impression from me, I was extremely pleased with the ET-M3170, due in part to its blazing print speed, sharp quality output, it's All-in-One features including Scanning and Faxing, and all of the other "quality of life" features that this printer offers.

   Whether you are looking for a printer for your home, office, or home office, the ET-M3170 exceeds every single level of service and every class of features that you could possibly desire in an All-in-One Printer. Great work, Epson!!


TECHNICAL SPECS:

EPSON ET-M3170

Exclusive EcoFit bottle design — uniquely keyed for easy filling of each color
Ultimate wireless — easily print from iPad, iPhone, Android tablets and smartphones;
includes Wi-Fi Direct plus Ethernet; voice-activated printing
Save energy — lower power consumption vs. laser
Compact, space-saving design — fits into any office environment
Eco Features
Save energy with lower power consumption vs. laser
Save up to 50 percent of your paper supply with automatic, 2-sided printing
ENERGY STAR qualified
RoHS compliant
Recyclable product
Epson America, Inc. is a SmartWay Transport Partner

Better Products for a Better Future
For more information on Epson's environmental programs, go to www.epson.com/environment

What's In The Box:
EcoTank ET-M3170 monochrome printer
Manual
CD-ROM for product setup
Power cord
1 bottle 532 Black (120 mL)

Print:
Printing Technology:
PrecisionCore (TFP1S-mono printhead)
Minimum Ink Droplet Size:
2.8 picoliters
Maximum Print Resolution:
1200 x 2400 dpi
ISO Print Speed:
Black: 20 ISO ppm
2-Sided ISO Print Speed:
Black: 9.0 ISO ppm

Ink:
Ink Type:
EcoTank Ink Bottle
Ink Palette:
Black
Ink Configuration:
1 ink bottle (Black)
Replacement Ink:
532 Black ink bottle (120 mL)
Epson strongly recommends the use of genuine ink to ensure optimal print quality and performance.
Ink Yield Information:
6,000 pages

General:
Operating Systems:
Windows 10
Windows 8, 8.1 (32-bit, 64-bit)
Windows 7 (32-bit, 64-bit)
Windows Vista (32-bit, 64-bit)
Mac OS X 10.6.8 – macOS 10.13.x10
Server Systems:
Windows Server 2003 SP2 or later, Windows Server 2016
Temperature:
Operating: 50 to 95 F (10 to 35 C)
Storage: -4 to 104 F (-20 to 40 C)
Humidity:
Operating: 20 – 80% RH
Storage: 5 – 85% RH (no condensation)
Sound Level:
Power: 6.9 B(A)
Pressure: 56 dB(A)
Dimensions:
Printing: 14.8" x 13.7" x 13.6"
Storage: 14.8" x 13.7" x 13.6"
Weight:
16.1 lb
Safety Approvals:
UL60950-1-CAN/CSA-22.2 No. 60950, EMC FCC Part 15 subpart B class B, CAN/CSA-CEI/IEC CISPR 22 class B
Country of Origin:
Phillipines
Warranty:
2-year limited warranty in the U.S. and Canada, second year requires product registration

Copy:
Copy Speed:
Flatbed: 17 ipm
ADF: 14 black ipm (simplex), 9.0 ipm (duplex)
Copy Quality:
Copy Resolution: 600 x 600 (input from ADF and flatbed), 1200 x 1200 (print)
Input Resolution, ADF: 300 x 400, 600 x 600
Input Resolution, Flatbed: 300 x 600, 600 x 600
Copy Quantity:
Up to 99 pages from standalone
Maximum Copy Size:
Legal 8.5" x 14" via ADF
Copy Features:
Automatic reduction and enlargement (25 – 400%)
1-to-1 Copy and 1-to-2 Copy (user must flip the scan manually)
256 gradations (1 color)

Specifications Scanner:
Scanner Type:
Color flatbed / ADF
Photoelectric Device:
Color CIS line sensor
Hardware Resolution:
Max.: 1200 x 2400
Maximum Resolution:
9600 dpi interpolated
Color Bit Depth:
48-bit color input / 24-bit color output
Scan Bed Size:
8.5" x 11.7"
Scanner Features:
Scan to Computer Event Manager
Scan to Computer
Scan to Cloud
Not Supported: Scan to Memory Device

Scan Features:
Other:
Compatibility TWAIN, WIA, ICA
TWAIN Reading Resolution 75 – 9600 dpi (1 dpi step)
TWAIN Output Format PDF, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, Multi-TIFF, BMP (Windows), PICT (Mac)

Automatic Document Feeder:
Capacity:
35 sheets Letter
10 Legal (25 lb at 95 g/m2) max.
(Note: Auto 2-sided scan not supported, but the printer will auto 2-side copy
once the user flips the scan page manually)
Speed:
ADF (ISO 24735 Annex D) (ipm)
ADF: 7.0 ipm Black, 7.0 ipm Color
Document Table: 12 ipm Black, 27 ipm Color
Document Sizes:
Max. Legal
Paper Weight:
Plain Paper: 17 – 25 lb, 64 – 95 g/m2

Fax:
Fax Settings:
Transmit Size Letter/A4 (flatbed and ADF)
Receive Size Letter/A4/Legal
Fax Speed:
Up to 33.6 Kbps, transmit ~3 sec/page
Memory:
Up to 180 pages, 2MB receive memory
Speed Dials:
Up to 100 speed dial numbers, up to 99 group dial
PC Fax:
Available
Features:
Contact List: Address Book
Transmit reservation
Broadcast fax (mono)
PC-Fax
Up to 99 group dial
Polling reception
Fax preview

Connectivity:
Standard Connectivity:
Hi-Speed USB
Wireless 802.11 b/g/n
Wired Ethernet (10/100/1000 Mbps)
Wi-Fi Direct

Mobile Printing Solutions:
Epson Connect:
Epson E-mail Print, Epson iPrint App (iOS, Android), Epson Remote Print
Other:
Google Cloud Print 2.0, AirPrint 1.8

Paper Handling:
PC-Free Paper Support:
Plain (Letter, 8.5" x 14", A4)
Photo (4" x 6", 5" x 7", 8" x 10", Letter, A4)
Paper Sizes:
4" x 6", 5" x 7", A6, Half Letter, Letter, A4, Executive, Legal, User definable (from 2.2" x 3.4" to 8.5" x 47.2")
Maximum Paper Size:
8.5 x 47.2 inch
Paper Types:
Standard:
Multipurpose Plus Paper
Bright White Premium Paper
Premium Presentation Paper - Matte
Front Tray:
Multipurpose Plus Paper
Bright White Premium Paper
Premium Presentation Paper – Matte
Premium Presentation Double-Sided Matte Paper
Envelope Types:
No. 10
Input Paper Capacity:
Cassette 1 – 250 sheets (80 g/m2)
Output Paper Tray Capacity:
100 sheets Letter plain paper (Standard Print Mode)
Rear Feed:
1 sheet

Printer Details:
Display:
2.4" color touchscreen
Printer Language:
Epson ESC/P®-R
Software Included:
EPSON printer drivers

Power:
Rated Voltage:
AC 100 – 240V Universal (Automatic)
Rated Frequency:
50 – 60 Hz
Power Consumption:
Approx. 12 W ISO 24712 (Standalone copy printing)
Approx. 4.3 W (Ready Mode)
Approx. 0.7 W (Sleep Mode)
Approx. 0.2 W (Power Off Mode)
Rated Current:
0.4A – 0.2A


Have a Great Weekend, and Happy Rent-to-Owning !
Regards,
Rob Eisenstein
HomeRun Homes - Rent to Own Homes, since 2002
"Located at the Corner of Technology and Real Estate"
Rent to Own Homes and Real Estate Blog for HomeRun Homes: http://blogging.lease2buy.com
HomeRun Homes Websites: http://www.lease2buy.com and http://www.homerunhomes.com


TAGS: #Epson #Printer #All-in-One #ET-M3170 #Travel #Office #Home #Document #Scan #Fax #Wireless