Epson America Inc. has added two new high-yield color A4 inkjet models to its line of replaceable ink pack system printers.
The new multifunction WorkForce Pro WF-C579R and monochrome WF-C529R, which replace the earlier WF-R5690 and WF-R5190 respectively, are designed to provide significantly greater paper capacity in a smaller footprint.
“In the previous models we were able to really have extremely high-yield inks, but we actually weren’t able to provide a lot of capacity as far as paper goes,” says Alan Chen, a product manager for commercial business inkjet printers at Epson, which is headquartered in Long Beach, Calif. “You didn’t have to change the ink a lot, but you probably had to change the paper a lot.”
Both of the new units offer an 830-page base capacity, up from 580 in their predecessors, and can support as many as 1,330 pages when equipped with the optional 500-page external tray.
Buyers can choose between a standard replaceable ink pack and an extra-high-capacity option. The former delivers up to 5,000 color pages and 10,000 black pages. The latter raises those figures to 20,000 color pages and 50,000 black pages.
Both the WF-C579R and WF-C529R print 24 ISO pages per minute, up from 20 per minute in the products they succeed. They support the PCL and PostScript 3 standards as well, and offer built-in integration with third-party applications such as Nuance Equitrac Office/Express, Nuance eCopy ShareScan, PaperCut, and nddPrint. Security features include support for SSL, TLS, and IPsec encryption.
As with the earlier WF-C5000 series printers that Epson introduced in February, the replaceable ink packs for the WF-C579R and WF-C529R are located inside the case, rather than mounted on the side. The end result, according to Chen, is products that are a little over nine inches less wide and three inches less deep than the models Epson is retiring.
The WF-C579R features a 4.3-inc LCD color touchscreen interface, while the WF-C529R comes with a 2.4-inch monochrome LCD without touch capacity. Both panels are designed to mimic those shipped with Epson’s earlier C5000 units. “We’re really driving home a consistent user experience across the entire portfolio,” Chen says. “The idea is you learn to use one of our printers, you know how to use all of them.”
Both the WF-C579R and WF-C529R are available now to members of Epson’s BusinessFirst reseller program in two SKUs, one with no ink in the box and another with extra-high-capacity ink packs included.
Also debuting from Epson is new fleet management software for the entire Epson business inkjet portfolio, including the WF-C579R and WF-C529R. Called Epson Print Admin, the system supports user authentication via passwords, PIN codes, and card readers, and includes secure job release functionality. It also allows technicians to provide remote support, manage user rights, log and track service records, and more via a centralized interface.
Lexmark International Inc. rolled out fleet management software of its own yesterday.
While many of its competitors sell both laser and inkjet printers, Epson is 100 percent committed to inkjet printers only.
