Epson has held a place of prestige in the printer market for quite some time and it is no wonder that their AcuLaser C2800N colour printer is one of the best sellers. The C2800N did not break any barriers in terms of new features or technology. Instead, it prints quickly, cleanly, and at a very good price per page. For these reasons it is a very popular choice for small to medium sized businesses and work groups looking for a single task printer.
Design
The C2800N body is a basic box design with nothing outside of a few navigational buttons and latches. At 24 kg and 50.1 cm tall, it is one of the largest non-standalone printers. The base model comes with a single 400 sheet input at the base of the machine with an optional upgraded bin which can reach 950 sheets. A side hatch reveals the high-yield Epson C2800N toner cartridges and the drum unit. An attractive LCD display and navigational buttons are on the face of the machine while the networking plugs, both USB and Ethernet, are situated in the rear.
Advantages
Using 'single pass' technology, the C2800N reaches a respectable 20 pages per minute in black and 18 pages a minute for most colour prints. The print quality is also above average for any printer that can handle this quantity and is within this price range. This particular model comes standard with long lasting Epson AcuLaser C2800N toner cartridges, also available in high yield versions, which make for very low operating costs. Along with the networking options, this is a reliable purchase for any mid-sized office.
Disadvantages
This printer straddles the line of what a medium and larger office or business may need. While the low running costs are a huge bonus, a few minor additions, such as wireless networking or better operating software, would have made it the best printer on the market. The only other problem comes down to a feature which automatically goes to greyscale once the colour ink has run out. This can be troublesome if a large quantity of colour prints are being made and the user comes back to find a portion of the batch in black and white.
