Not long ago I realized that I desperately needed to free up more space in my home office and just reduce basic clutter that has been building up over the last few years. My desk is especially crowded with dated office equipment – so much so that there isn’t enough space where I can open up my writing pad and write. 
Between the printer, scanner, and a small fax machine, which I still do use occasionally, I lose almost 40% of my work space, even with a desk extension.
Lately, some of my work has required for me to produce color brochures and post cards that my current home office equipment just would not be able to manage.
So I started to look for a solution to my aging office equipment and to the new requirements of my work assignments. All-in-one printers (AIO) or multi-function printers (MFP) perform multiple functions related to printing things onto paper, creating an electronic version of paper documents, or sending paper documents from one place to another.
After doing extensive research, I finally decided on the Epson Workforce 840 Color Ink Jet Wireless All-in-One with Fax (C11CA97201) to be one of the best multifunction printer that is available.
Important Considerations when Purchasing an All-in-One Printer
In doing my extensive research of all-in-one printers, I found that I needed to consider several things in choosing a multi-function device: -
- Overall Functionality
- Printer Speed
- Two-Sided Printing
- Networking and Wireless Connectivity
- Ink Cartridge Performance
- Energy Efficiency
Functionality
Printer
The printer you choose must be compatible with different types of computers that you currently use and possibly plan to use in the future. The Epson Workforce 840 Wireless All-in-One is one of the most flexible that I have come across because not only it’s Windows PC and Mac compatible, but with proper configuration, you can also print from tablet computers (IPad and such) and smartphone devices. If you’re like me and use multiple devices to manage your work and personal life, this will be a big time saver because you won’t have to email documents to yourself in order to print from your PC or Macs!
This printer has touch panel that is almost 8” wide that makes it very easy to operate and manage. With print resolutions of 5760 x 1440 DPI (Dots-Per-Inch), this inkjet printer produces superb images and text.
Another really nice feature is that you can print documents and photos directly from a USB drive (without having to use your computer).
Copier
The copier component can copy both sides of document sheet without you having to re-arrange the sheets and re-copying. You’ll find this time-saving feature very handy!
Fax
Sometimes it is convenient just to be able to sign a document and fax it. This is where the Epson Workforce 840 All-in-One fax comes in useful. The faxes component is efficient and fast on this printer, so if you are operating on a single phone line, it won’t be tied up for long.
The fax memory will hold up to 180 pages for incoming faxes so you can reprint faxes if necessary.
This multifunction printer also has speed dial storage of up to 60 numbers for faxes that you have to perform on a regular basis. You will find that not having to key in regularly used fax numbers saves a lot of time. It can fax both sides of a document.
Although I primarily use EFax for receiving and sending faxes, I like the fax component on this All-In-One as a backup and ultimate convenience.
Scanner
A very useful feature of the scanner on this all-in-one is that it can do two-sided scanning so that you don’t have to manually re-arrange document sheets in order to scan them.
Scanning of documents can be performed directly to USB drive on the printer – without involving your computer – and scanning works great over wireless networks. More on this later in this review.
Auto-Document Feeder (ADF)
The Workforce 840 Color Ink Jet All-in-One comes with a 30 page auto document feeder which means that you can simply place the document in the feeder and have it scanned, faxed, or copied. This frees you up to do other things without having to wait for the task to complete.
How many times have you printed a document from one part of your house only to go the printer much later and find out that it’s out of paper? This has happened to me many times and it’s frustrating. This will be less of an occurrence with the Epson Workforce 840 All-in-One C11CA97201 because it comes with 500 sheet paper capacity making it possible to print up to 1,000 2-sided pages without running empty.
For added convenience, the Epson Workforce 840 has two paper trays.
Need for Speed
Printer speed is an important consideration when buying a multifunction printer and each manufacturer measures this in their own way. Fortunately there is a global standards group, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that has developed a yardstick for measuring printer speed. It is called ISO Pages per Minute (ISO ppm). This is a good thing because now we can look at different all-in-one printer products and compare like-for-like. This measurement is representative of how we can expect the printer to perform straight out of the box.
The Epson 840 Color All-in-One Printer has print speeds of 15 ISO ppm for printing in black and just over 9 ISO ppm for color printing. Both these numbers are high and this is really good because the last thing you want is a slow printer when you have to get that all important document printed.
There are of course many variables when it comes down to how fast a document gets printed. For example, the size and type of document will determine how fast it prints. For printing normal word processing documents, spreadsheets, and PDF documents you will not be disappointed with this multifunction printer. It’s fast.
Two-Sided Printing
Two-sided printing, also known as Duplex printing, means that the printer will print on both sides of the paper. This actually has many benefits – the primary one being that you save money by reducing your paper use by 50%. If you have a small office area then you’ll save space by not having to stock as much paper. Also, it’ll save you time because two-sided printing with the Epson 840 Inkjet printer happens automatically without you having to manually sequence and re-insert the paper sheets. I never got that part right with my old printer!
If you ever have to create double-sided documents such as brochures, postcards, and newsletters then you’ll find duplex feature of this printer invaluable.
With the Epson Workforce 840 Color Ink Jet, you have the option of setting it up for continual automatic 2-sided printing or on a one-time basis. It is completely up to you.
Wireless (Wi-Fi) Printing
With wireless functionality, your documents will print just as easily and quickly as if the printer was physically attached to your computer. The computer you’re using sends out the print information to the receiver in the printer via radio waves. This means that the printer no longer needs to physically attached to your computer saving desk space and wiring clutter, and perhaps more importantly, the printer can actually be in a separate room upstairs or in the basement. There is no need to buy a separate printer for computers that are in different rooms if all of them can access the same one! It is very convenient not to have to email or somehow transfer files in order to print them from a particular computer. Additionally, wireless functionality provides a tremendous benefit both in cost savings and reduced energy usage!
The Epson Workforce 840 Wireless All-in-One is fully Wi-Fi certified. You don’t have to set up the printer with a static IP address – this makes the setup easy and straightforward.
This printer also comes with an Ethernet connection option in case you want to install it on your network at home or even at the office. Very nice!
Ink Cartridge Performance
Most Ink Jet multifunction printers come with a black and a combination of color or individual color ink packs. This printer comes with extra high-capacity ink packs meaning that you won’t have to install replacement ink cartridges as often thereby realizing a potential time saving. Also you can replace just the color you need.
The ink technology used in this all-in-one enables the ink to dry instantly, ideal for 2-sided printing. The ink also won’t blotch and is water resistant.
Because is Epson is big and well established name-brand, you will not have any problems locating replacement ink cartridges.
Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency is one of my “hot-buttons”.
The Epson Workforce 840 Color Ink Jet Wireless Multifunction printer is designed so that it uses up to 70% less power than a conventional multifunction printer, and is designed to be recycled in an environmentally safe manner.
This product is also Energy Star qualified and also ROHS compliant meaning that levels of dangerous substances (typically lead and cadmium) used in the product, if any at all, are very small and within acceptable guidelines.
No need to shun your eco-responsibility with this product!
What is in the Package?
Everything is well packed in a single box and consists of: -
- Workforce 840 All-in-One Printer. The printer weights about 22 pounds.
- Instruction manual
- CD-ROM with drivers and bonus software
- Free sample paper pack
- Power cord
- Telephone cord
- DURABrite Ultra Ink cartridges: – 4 127-series Extra High-capacity ink cartridges: Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow
Warranty
One-year limited warranty in the U.S. and Canada. You have the option of getting additional extended service plans, including exchange/repairs and replacement plans.
What Others Are Saying
- “Perfect Printer for Small Office”
- “Excellent all-in-one printer!”
- “Quite simply a fantastic, solid piece of machinery…”
- “Really a great wireless printer”
- “Super easy to install on network -PC & Mac”
- “Easy setup, great device with great quality”
- “The Best All-in-One I’ve tried! Print, Copy, Fax, Scan (5-stars)”
- “Excellent purchase”
Any Drawbacks?
A couple of the owners of this product have reported some problems with use with Macs, specifically in being able to use paper tray #2 and some issues with scanning though there is a workaround for this. Also, to print from iPhones and iPads, you will need to download a couple of free applications for those devices.
It is recommended that you download current printer drivers from the Epson website.
Where can You Purchase the Epson Workforce 840 InkJet All-in-One Multifunction Printer?
You can buy this Epson Workforce 840 Color Ink Jet Wireless All-in-One with Fax (C11CA97201) from Amazon. Since Amazon offers free shipping on most products over a certain price point, this is one of the best deals amongst online merchants.
Want to read more reviews on the Epson Workforce 840 All-in-One?
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