SINGAPORE - Epson has launched a new series of ink tank printers touted to offer one of the lowest printing costs in the market.
Unlike conventional inkjet printers that use ink cartridges, Epson's ink tank printers come with an integrated ink tank that can be refilled by users using spill-free ink bottles.
The new models, sporting a more compact design than previous versions, are targeted at small and medium enterprises (SMEs), small offices and home offices (SOHO). These new models can print 7,500 black-and-white pages and 6,000 colour pages with each set of four ink bottles. Each bottle of black ink costs $14.90, while colour ink costs $9.90 for each bottle.
According to Epson, printing costs are the third highest business operating expenses behind rent and payroll. "We have re-designed the experience of our L-series ink tank printers to bring greater convenience and ease-of-use to users, as well as added new features that support the business needs of our customers," said Ms Tan May Lin, general manager of Epson Singapore's sales, marketing and customer service division.
The new models are the L4150 ($359), L4160 ($399), L6160 ($459), L6170 ($499) and the L6190 ($539). They will be available from September 22 at major retailers.
Except for the L4150, all these A4 printers can print on both sides of a page, thanks to an auto-duplex feature. Epson says it is the only brand in the market with this auto-duplex feature on its ink tank printers.
The L4000-series printers offer an ISO print speed of 10 images per minute (ipm) for standard black-and-white printing, while the L6000-series models are rated at 15ipm for black-and-white documents. They can also print wirelessly from within a network, from a mobile device and via the cloud using Epson's software.
The flagship model in the lineup, the L6190, includes a fax feature and a 30-page automatic document feeder.
Epson first launched its ink tank system printers here in 2010. The firm says it has sold over 20 million units worldwide since their introduction in 2010.
