Out of the box the Epson Aculaser C1100 impresses, with solid build quality and styled looks. But the breadbin format gives the Epson Aculaser C1100 a larger than average footprint, and prospective buyers will have to sacrifice more desk space than they might want to. And while connectivity options are pretty standard, the Epson Aculaser C1100 model does not support Ethernet.

The Epson Aculaser C1100's monochrome print performance is crisp, with a near instant time-to-print and a steady throughput of 17ppm (pages per minute). This isn't quite as fast as is quoted, but it's enough for everyday office use. Colour performance is disappointing, however. Time to print is just 15 seconds, but the Epson Aculaser C1100's colour engine isn't capable of more than 5ppm.

For a single colour page, this fast time-to-print means the Epson Aculaser C1100 wins on speed. On longer print runs the Epson Aculaser C1100 drops behind the competition. Running costs are on the high side, with 10.5 cents per page for the low capacity toner option and 3.6 cents per page for highcapacity cartridges.

The biggest win for the Epson Aculaser C1100 is print quality, which is outstanding. Natural colour balance and good skin tones, combined with plenty of colour punch.