Epson Expression Photo XP-970 Print/Scan/Copy Wi-Fi Colour Printer, Black

Product Information

I see the message Printer is Offline when I try to print with an Ethernet connection on my Mac. What should I do? I tried to install the product on my Mac with a wireless connection, but the installation failed. What should I do? Dual input paths include an internal cassette and rear feeder. You can control the printer from a smartphone or tablet, complete with print, copy and scan functions and linking to the cloud via the Canon PRINT app, or print with AirPrint and Mopria. Overall print performance is outstanding.

For our money, it’s the best letter-sized photo printer on the market, but it’s equally adept at document printing. Key features include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, a memory card slot, and a facility for printing on white-faced CDs and DVDs. If you just want big, high-quality prints for the home, though, then the XP-970 is by far the best value choice. If you want your prints to look their absolute best – and last longer to boot – then that’s reason enough to pay the premium for its pricier rivals. Epson Expression Photo XP-970: Design and setup There are two paper trays, one for up to 100 A4-sized sheets, the other for a secondary store of photo paper or envelopes. The rear tray is where you can put A3 paper, for those occasions when you need a larger print, though it will only take one sheet at a time. The print quality isn’t up to the extremely high standard of the most expensive photo printers on this list, but still produces impressive-looking results.The four dye-based inks for photo printing naturally have a smaller gamut (or color space) than in Epson’s competing photo printers that use six dye-based inks but, even so, the Canon’s color rendition looks very lifelike and natural for everything from portrait skin tones to vibrant landscapes. The option for 2-Sided Printing (Windows) or Two-sided Printing Settings (Mac) is gray or not available. What should I do? Ease of use is generally a strong point. Epson’s driver interface is on the cluttered side, but the options are logically laid out, and the XP-970’s touchscreen interface makes configuration, copying and scanning a breeze. It is a mite annoying that you have to regularly reassure the printer that it’s finished a print job or selected the right sort of paper in the tray – but even that’s better than other printers that give you too little information and no indication as to why a job just failed. In addition to writing hundreds of articles for PCMag, over the years he also wrote for many other computer and business publications, among them Computer Shopper, Digital Trends, MacUser, PC World, The Wirecutter, and Windows Magazine. He also served as the Printers and Scanners Expert at About.com.

We use the various available quality modes, including optional image enhancement features. We also create prints from our own specially created test chart, to test the printer's accuracy in terms of color reproduction, tonal range, retention of detail in bright highlights and dark shadows, and the ability to deliver smooth gradations in subtle color variations. The printer manufacturer’s own-brand inks and papers are used throughout the entire testing procedure. Physical controls come down to a single power/standby button, which glows and sometimes pulses with a white surround, and the front is dominated by a panel with a big 4.4in central touchscreen, which tilts upwards at an angle when you turn the printer on. Very broadly, pigment inks last longer without fading, but dye inks tend to give richer, denser colors and sink deeper into the paper surface. They're both 'inks', but they have different pros and cons, and printer makers will choose one or the other (or combine them) according to what the printer's designed for. The best photo printer doesn't necessarily use one or the other – it's up to you how you want to balance immediate print quality against long-term stability. Ink costs Mono and color print speeds are fast and there’s an auto duplex facility. A motorized tilting front panel and output tray add refinement, along with auto paper width detection, which can save setup time when using different types of paper.I can print with a wireless connection on my home network but not on a VPN (virtual private network). What should I do? Key specs – Technology: Inkjet; Maximum print resolution: 5,760 x 1,440dpi; Scan specifications: 1,200 x 4,800dpi; Recommended monthly duty cycle: N/S; Dimensions (HWD): 148 x 479‎ x 356mm; Weight: 8.7kg; Maximum paper size: A3 Ultimate wireless– designed for easy printing from you iPhone ®, iPad ®, Android™, mobile devices and many more 3, includes Bluetooth and Wi-Fi Direct ®2, for router free printing I see the message Printer is Offline when I try to print with a wireless connection in Windows. What should I do? It has a generous 200-sheet paper tray for A4 paper but can only store A3 paper in the rear feed. While it isn’t quite as adept at printing on plain paper as you might hope, it will certainly cope if your main focus is large photos and you don’t want a second printer for all your other print jobs.

We've divided this guide into two sections. First, we run through regular A4 printers, and then we look at larger A3+ (13-inch) printers. As you might expect, the smaller printers tend to be more affordable, while A3+ printers usually produce prints of higher quality (and bigger size). I can't print from Windows with a wireless connection since I received an exchange product from Epson. What should I do? Finally, the XP-970 printed our detailed and colorful 4 by 6-inch test snapshots in an average 33 seconds apiece, which is middle-of-the-road performance for a consumer-grade photo printer. Worth Waiting For If you really can’t be bothered to read the rest of the review, then here’s a spoiler: the XP-970 really does churn out great quality A3 prints. It also has all the essential features you could ask for at the price, including trays for photo media and a 5760 x 1440dpi six-colour printing system that uses Epson’s Claria Photo HD inks. The main paper trays only hold up to A4 paper, but the rear paper feed takes A3 sheets. In short, you get an affordable printer for more modestly proportioned 6×4 and 8×10 prints, but you can stretch to the larger format for framing or exhibition prints. Few printers come with more connectivity options than the XP-970. The Small-in-One's standard interfaces are Ethernet, USB 2.0 for plugging into a single PC, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Wi-Fi Direct for making peer-to-peer connections to mobile devices without needing a local network. You also get support for most flavors of SD and mini SD cards, the memory devices of choice for most digital cameras and smartphones.

Wide Meets Small

Key specs – Technology: Thermal inkjet; Maximum print resolution: 5,760 x 1,440dpi; Scan specifications: 1,200 x 4,800dpi; Recommended monthly duty cycle: N/S; Dimensions (HWD): 169 x 523‎ x 379mm; Weight: 11.1kg; Maximum paper size: A3+ It makes the most of its six-ink setup, and can put out high volumes of prints: a full tank load can produce up to 3,800 6x4-inch photos, 3,700 mono documents, or 8,000 color documents. It's not the fastest printer, but it is extremely efficient. When I combined those results with the scores from printing our suite of PDF, PowerPoint, and Excel files containing color, graphics, and photos, the XP-970 churned to a rating of 4ppm. The TS9520 beat that by 0.7ppm, and the ET-7750 was twice as fast as the XP-970.

I see the message Printer is Offline when I try to print with a USB connection in Windows. What should I do?

If you regularly need to print on paper that’s larger than A4, why not upsize your printer? Here’s our guide to the best A3 printers

I see the message Printer is Offline when I try to print with an Ethernet connection in Windows. What should I do? I see the message Printer is Offline when I try to print with a USB connection on my Mac. What should I do? Of course, all this wouldn't mean much if the prints didn't look any good. Fortunately, the Canon PIXMA G650 MegaTank (G620 in the US) puts out images of great quality, with good color rendition and tonal range. I can't print from my Mac with a wireless connection since I received an exchange product from Epson. What should I do? I can't print from Windows with a wireless connection after I replaced my router. What should I do?