Printer Does All But Fax
The Age
Tuesday September 27, 2005
As the digital revolution reaches into every corner of our lives, gadget makers seem determined to ensure "going digital" requires as little interaction as possible with an actual computer. Your average user thinks computers are actually designed to crash at the most inopportune times, although the Upgrade Legal Team advised us against speculating on exactly who is responsible for giving people this impression. With all this in mind, Epson's Stylus Photo RX700 is designed for those who want to jump into digital imaging without messing about with a computer. It's a combination colour inkjet printer, copier and flatbed scanner using six ink colours: black, magenta, cyan, yellow, light magenta and light cyan. Individual cartridges ensure you don't waste too much ink. Thanks to a 6.3 cm colour LCD and an extensive range of front panel buttons, most of the RX700's features can be accessed without touching a computer. Along with colour photocopying you can scan photos, negatives and slides and then print them or save them to memory card (SM, xD, MS, MS Pro, SD, MMC, CF or Microdrive). You can also print directly from a memory card, digital camera or USB storage device. There's even an optional Bluetooth module for printing directly from mobile phones. The RX700 scans at up to 3200x6400 dpi and the built-in transparency unit lets you to scan both positive and negative film. Front and rear paper trays allow you to print on thick paper that wouldn't bend 180 degrees through the front paper tray, and a CD holder allows you to print directly onto CDs and DVDs. The front tray is a double paper tray, which means you can stock one tray with plain paper and one with specialty sheets such as photo paper. The adjustable LCD makes menu navigation easy and also allows you to preview images before you print. Don't be fooled by the "photo restore" function - it does a quick levels balance like you might do in Photoshop but it doesn't go as far as removing scratches. For this you need to use the supplied Epson Scan software. This is where Upgrade's techno-snobbery comes into play - personally we'd never print an image directly from a device without giving it the once-over first in something like Photoshop, but not everyone wants to do that. Devices such as the RX700 are a trade-off between quality and convenience, and those willing to sacrifice the first to get more of the second will be attracted to this unit. Still, at this price we're disappointed at the lack of a fax option. Out of the box the RX700 feels big and clunky, and the plastic extremities feel somewhat flimsy. Annoyingly the rear power plug sticks straight out rather than at an angle of 90 degrees, stopping you from pushing it back against the wall and thus increasing an already big footprint (450 mm wide and 418 mm deep). Once you've made space for it, the RX700 is very easy to use and comes with an excellent printed Basic Operations Guide along with a range of software, including ArcSoft PhotoImpression 5. If you don't have the space, budget or tolerance for a desk full of peripherals, Epson's Stylus Photo RX700 is a good compromise.
Epson's Stylus Photo RX700 retails for $699. For more details call 1300 361 054 or visit epson.com.auTyping on the wing of a gullIf you're worried your keyboard is conspiring to do you no good, Microsoft's Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 is designed to encourage a "more natural typing position". The gull-wing design brings the keys closer to your fingers to minimise hand movement, and a reverse -seven degree slope and cushioned palm rest reduces strain on the wrists. The zoom slider is located in the centre of the keyboard, to be used with your thumbs. It also has the Microsoft advanced function keys such as zoom, favourites, mail and search.Microsoft's Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 retails for $79. For more details call 132 058 or visit www.microsoft.com/hardwareEn garde!Verbatim's VideoGard DVD Media is especially developed for audio/video recording, multimedia development, digital image storage and transferring home movies from video tape to DVD. According to Verbatim, VideoGard-enhanced discs are 40 times more resistant to damage, based on calibrated scratch tests against standard discs without the hard coat. They are available in 8x DVD-R and 8x DVD+R formats and come in movie-style cases.Verbatim's VideoGard DVD Media retails for $19.95 for a 10 pack. For more details call (03) 9823 0999 or visit verbatim.com.auHold terabytes in reserveApple's Xserve RAID rack storage system now has up to 7 TB, working out to as little as $3.14 per GB. It sports 14 independent 500 GB Ultra ATA drive channels, and the dual independent RAID controllers, with 512 MB cache per controller, have sustained throughput of more than 385 MBps and RAID 5 data protection. The Xserve RAID is certified to run in Mac OS X, Windows, NetWare, SUSE and Red Hat Linux.Apple's Xserve RAID retails from $9999. For more details call 133 622 or visit apple.com.auScout with detecting skillsThe Targus WiFi Scout locates 802.11b/g wi-fi hotspots up to 50 metres away. Weighing in at 25 grams and measuring 59x40x13 mm, the WiFi Scout has a single push-button operation, with red, yellow and green LEDs indicating signal strength.The Targus WiFi Scout retails for $49.95. For more details call 1800 641 645 or visit targus.com/au
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