Epson Stylus Photo TX650 inkjet multifunction

• 
• 
• 

• Expert Rating

  3.75 / 5

• User Rating

  Be first to review

• Where to buy

  Priced from: $ 156.40

  Selling at 6 stores

• $199.00 - Howard William Office National
• $188.00 - NES online
• $203.78 - AOM IT

See all prices

James Hutchinson PC World Australia (online) 19/01/10 Follow @pcworldau

Pros

• Prints vibrant and crisp photos, easy CD/DVD printing, reasonable consumable costs

Cons

• Slow print speeds, no Wi-Fi, can't print from USB flash drives

Bottom Line

The Epson Stylus Photo TX650 inkjet multifunction works best as a photo printer with extra features, rather than an all-purpose machine for the home office. Printouts using glossy media are fantastic quality for the price, though documents leave something to be desired.

Would you buy it?

• Yes 8
• No 3

Own this? Write a review

The grey lever lets you adjust the output tray when printing directly to CDs or DVDs

Epson claims the Stylus Photo TX650 inkjet multifunction has "cutting-edge Italian styling", though to us it looks like your average printer. There's no paper cassette so paper must be fed through the rear tray, but this is much sturdier than we expected. Adjusting the printer for feeding CDs and DVDs is much better than on other Epson printers we've tested like the Stylus Photo 1410; just flick a lever on the left to adjust the output tray and insert the included pallet.

The Stylus Photo TX650 offers USB connectivity, as well as a PictBridge port and card reader support SD, Memory Stick, xD and CompactFlash. Unlike the Canon PIXMA MP560, the PictBridge USB port won't recognise flash drives. Bluetooth connectivity is available through an optional dongle for $79.

The control panel sits flush with the printer by default but can be tilted upwards. The panel is fairly easy to operate, though some things seem counterintuitive; scan and print options are segregated into "Memory Card" and "Specialty Print" menus, for instance.

The Epson Stylus Photo TX650 sprints when printing in draft mode but documents appear faded and are largely unusable. When printing at a more acceptable quality print speeds drop dramatically. Even when printing at normal quality the multifunction is noticeably noisy. A "quiet mode" option works, though it slows normal print speeds to 4.3 pages per minute (ppm) and 4.8ppm for mono and colour documents, respectively.

Printing on matte paper doesn't produce the best results; colours are undersaturated while text characters are over-bold and inaccurate, particularly at smaller font sizes. On glossy media, results are much sharper and more vibrant. Some colours appear slightly dark, making red and purple hues inaccurate, though the Stylus Photo TX650 produces surprisingly clear black and white photos. At an average of 19.1c per A4 page, it isn't too expensive to print from this inkjet multifunction either.

The quality of printed CDs and DVDs is largely dependent on the optical discs themselves; while matte discs can appear oversaturated, glossy media can look good but smudges easily. The software is easy to use and the process simple enough to pickup, but the standalone pallet can get lost when not in use.

Scan quality is limited by a maximum resolution of 2400dpi. You will have to upgrade to Epson's more expensive Stylus Photo models to get better scan quality, though the Stylus Photo TX650 inkjet multifunction is sufficient for scanning documents and the odd photo.

Stay up to date with the latest news, reviews and features. Sign up to PC World’s newsletters

Follow PC World Australia on Twitter: @PCWorldAu