Home > Consumer Reviews > Epson WorkForce 600 Wireless All-in-One Printer (Black) (C11CA18201)

I'm one to do a lot of research on a product pre-buy, but I bought this product on a whim at my local electronics store as a replacement for a blockheaded, poorly made, user-unfriendly HP All-in-One which I used as a secondary printer. Well, I must say, I was very impressed with this product from the moment I opened the box. The fit-and-finish is excellent and by touch, of an exceptional quality. Components fit and move smoothly and without the "jiggle" associated with hasty, sloppy manufacturing. Then, upon setup (this is on an Mac, by the way), I found the software intuitive, intelligent, and slick. Mine is setup using the Wi-Fi feature; the setup walks you through the process so concisely, efficiently, and simply that even a technological neophyte could accomplish it with ease. I simply plugged (temporarily, as the setup explains) an ethernet cable from the printer into my router (Time Capsule) and the software nearly instantly recognized the printer. A useful concept also is that with the Install CD, all you have to do is go to each computer on the network, and choose the "Add additional computer" option - this allows every computer in the network to print directly to the printer, rather than "through" a base computer (meaning that the printer is not connected to a computer which has to be on and not asleep for you to print with the printer). Speaking of printing, it exceeded by far my expectations for speed. I expect printing-over-Wi-Fi to be slower by some degree than wired printing; this printer responded as quick or quicker than wired ones to the printing command, with no lag in starting to print, or during printing, and printed color and black exceptionally fast and of high quality. Another thing I really appreciate (from my Canon i9900) is that the inks are separated by color, which means you can replace only those cartridges that are empty, and the printer comes in-box with all the necessary cartridges - full cartridges, not trial sizes, including a high-capacity black. It also comes with a phone line for fax setup and an ethernet cable for wireless setup or wired network hookup (so unlike most printers that you have to buy "real" ink and a USB cable for, you really can walk out the store with this box and have everything you need to get going - you'll need a separate USB cable only for direct printer-to-computer hookup, but who doesn't have a few of those lying around). The flip-out interface is also of great quality - the buttons are secure and pleasing to the touch, and the screen is large, bright, clear, and high-resolution. My one and only complaint is that if the screen were touch-controlled, the already quick interfacing would be even quicker and easier. But again, using the standard arrows and OK button is no hassle and accomplished the task readily. And for $199 (what I paid for it at the local big-box) I couldn't ask for a better, more complete, intuitive, capable, high-quality machine, than the one I got.

The Epson Workforce 600 is a very feature rich product, but it had me at 'scan to memory card.'

It's a very simple feature that I've always wanted one of these multifunction units to implement. And Epson has executed it perfectly. Simply put a document in the autofeeder or flatbed, select scan to memory card, and push the button. It scans and safely stores the document on flash memory (it accepts a variety of flash memory cards) in either JPEG for PDF format. Epson even smartly added a file server which effectively turns the printer into a network attached storage device.

These two features are so great I actually have no intention of ever plugging it into my computer. With its built in WiFi I keep it downstairs in my kitchen so I can grab and scan important documents before they get lost on their way upstairs to my office. When I'm ready I just connect to its file share over the network and drag the files into my document manager. Totally awesome.

And yes it does the other stuff well too. Scans are crisp and clean, it has a decent and fast printing mechanism, and it sends and receives faxes adequately.

I highly recommend this well designed and feature-rich product for those looking for a light duty document center.

Readers should be aware that the printer stops printing as soon as any of the colors run out of ink, including black and white. This means that if you run out of Cayan, you cannot print a word document....their explanation is that for every page a little color is used, regardless of whether you are just printing black and white. The color cartridges are quite expensive, run out quickly when the machine is used for photos, and the 68 cartridges which hold more ink cannot be widely found, other than at epson site or staples. This means that a/ you better always have spare cartridges of all colors ( which run out at very varying rates) b/ don't think you can refill the cartridges, which epson has insured with a small chip c/ pay full price for cartridges because epson has clearly kept a tight lid on availability. You can bet that Epson, who has been in this business a long time, knew full well that this inconvenience of not being able to print anything once any one of the color cartridges is empty was the best way to maximize their profit...as opposed to providing you with the best product.

The Epson Workforce 600 is yet another WiFi-enabled all-in-one printer in a market that is literally overflowing with them. Every major manufacturer has one out these days, but this particular printer does enough to set itself apart from the pack by its excellent print quality and blinding speeds.

Testbed:

MscBook Pro, OS X 10.5.5
MacBook Pro, Windows XP Pro

On opening the box, you're presented with packaging, manuals and a driver CD, typical of all-in-ones. The printer parts are held into place very securely with blue tape to make sure the cartridge holders etc aren't bouncing around during shipping. Installation of drivers is very simple on either the Mac side or the Windows side.

Once the drivers are installed, you have access to the usual array of driver utilities including nozzle cleaners, printing of test pages, ink levels etc.

The front of the printer has an excellent LCD screen where you can set up various functions of the printer, including making copies without actually connecting the Epson to your computer. You can also print directly from memory cards, for those who don't want to post-process their images first.

I had a little trouble getting wireless to work out of the box directly from the printer itself. I ended up connecting the printer via a network cable to my router, and after the printer was found, setting up the wireless from the computer worked first time. (There's also a Bluetooth menu option on the printer, but I'm not entirely sure what that's all about....)

Print quality is excellent. I'd be very surprised if anyone were disappointed by the consistency of the print. It's also very, very fast.

It's hard to get worked up by an all-in-one printer, but the Epson really is a fine unit. Quiet, fast, and excellent quality. Making copies is also a very speedy process, much faster than my HP J6410 which positively meanders by comparison.

My only quibble with the Workforce 600 is its description here:

"Save paper -- Built-in double-sided printing"

Having gotten quite used to automatic duplex printing on my HP J6410, this is exactly what I thought this would be with the Epson. Not so. The double-sided printing option is just a simple software tool that has you manually remove the piece of paper and put it back through. On the HP, it automatically pulls the sheet back through for the other side. Much better.

ALSO, this software-based double-sided printing tool currently does NOT work with Mac OS X. It does work with Windows, but the Mac OS is awaiting a software update, according to the representative at Epson with whom I spoke.

Overall, an excellent printer, just missing true duplex printing to make it one of the best all-in-ones out there. Just be careful you have enough headroom, as the paper is fed in from the back/top like a laser printer, not like most all-in-ones where the paper goes in horizontally.

4.5/5 (had to give it 5 since Amazon doesn't do anything by halves!)

I can send a fax from home! Can you believe that I am an IT professional and have never sent a fax from home? I always used the fax machines at work, but now I have the ultra-convenience of doing it from home. I sent one last night.

This printer does it all, from photo printing to scanning, to faxing, to memory card reading. To top it off, it is a wireless printer too. Setup was easy. It actually took longer to unpack the printer from its shipping box than it did to set it up. I'd say it took about 15 minutes from start to finish, most of which was the removal of all the blue shipping tape Epson uses. The LCD menus are easy to read, configure, and navigate using the button pad. This printer does not have a touchscreen like the Artisan 800. Nevertheless, you probably won't need to refer to the manual much.

You get a double-wide black ink cartidge with this model.

One more thing that is strange...My company "tailors" Windows XP to suit its needs. For some reason, The Epson Easy Network Setup for this printer would not find the printer over the network using my company laptop (Lenovo T61). All of my other computers (including my Macbook Pro) found the printer using Epson's software. To install this printer on my company laptop, I installed all of the Epson software and then configured the printer manually using TCP/IP printing in the Microsoft Add Printer Control Panel applet. My guess is that Epson uses Upnp. Upnp seems to be removed from my company laptop, but installing it did not resolve the issue. This is clearly not an Epson issue though.

I also want to tell you about Epson's support. I recently dealt with Epson Support for a printer issue on another printer. With over 10 years as an IT professional, I have seen and responded to countless support issues. Epson handled my other printer's issue perfectly, from my initial support call and troubleshooting steps to the personalized contact that they made with me via the web, email, and phone.

Back to this printer...Overall, this is an excellent printer, backed up by excellent support and service.

Wireless printing is going to change your world. It has changed mine. If you are thinking of buying a wireless adapter for your usb printer, I urge you to reconsider. While it may cost more for a new printer, in the long run, having wireless built-in to the printer will save you time and configuration hassles associated with the wireless printer adapters.