Count the Epson WorkForce Pro WP-4590 ($499.99 list) inkjet multi-function printer (MFP) as a serious challenge to lasers in micro and small offices. Competitive in price, speed, and paper handling with color laser MFPs, it offers a far lower running cost than any laser in its price range. If you were thinking about getting a color laser MFP, in short, you ought to be looking at the WP-4590  too.

The WP-4590 is Epson's current top-of-the-line WorkForce Pro model. The next step up from the Epson WorkForce Pro WP-4533 ($400 list, stars), it lacks the WP-4533's WiFi, but it adds support for both PCL 6 and PostScript printer languages, a feature that's more common with lasers than with inkjets. For offices that require PCL or PostScript, that helps keep the printer in the running.

The Basics

The WP-4590 can print, scan, and fax, including over a network; it can work as a standalone copier and fax machine; and it can to scan to a USB key. It can also print through the cloud. Connect it to the Internet by way of a network, and you can use it with Epson Connect Email Print, which assigns an email address to the printer, then lets you print a document by sending it as an email attachment. You can also print with Google Cloud Print and even with Apple AirPrint if you have a Wi-Fi access point on your network. However Epson doesn't provide instructions with the printer for either of those options. To find them, you have to go to Epson's Web site.

Paper handling for the WP-4590 is a match for color laser MFPs in this price range, with a 250-sheet drawer, an 80-sheet tray, and a duplexer for printing on both sides of a page. The 330 sheet total capacity should be ample for most micro or small offices, but if you need more, you can add a second 250-sheet drawer ($99.99 list) for a total of 580 sheets.

Choices for scanning include both a letter-size flatbed and a 30-page, duplexing automatic document feeder (ADF) that can scan legal-size pages as well as multipage documents. The duplexing options lets you copy both single and double sided originals to your choice of single or double sided copies.

Setup

The level of paper handling in the WP-4590 requires a big printer for an inkjet, at 15.1 by 18.1 by 16.5 inches (HWD). That's a little large for most home offices, but small enough so it should be easy to find room for in a micro or small office. Also worth mention is that it's much lighter than comparable lasers, at just 30.4 pounds.

Physical setup is standard fare. Installing the drivers is a little unusual, with a choice of a PCL, PostScript, or standard Epson driver. You can install all three if you like, but you have to go through the installation routine separately for each one. Also note that the only way to install the fax driver (so you can fax from your PC) is to install the Epson driver.

What might be a problem for some people is that only the Epson driver installation is fully automatic. With the other two, you have to download the driver from Epson's Web site, and then install it manually. With the PCL driver, you also have to be knowledgeable enough to know how to find details like the printer's IP address, instead of having an installation program take care of that for you. If this isn't something you're comfortable with, plan on calling Epson's support line for help.

Speed

For my tests, I connected the WP-4590 by its Ethernet port and installed the drivers on a Windows Vista system. Because you can't install the fax driver without the Epson driver, I installed the Epson driver and ran most of my tests with it. However, because one of the main arguments for choosing this printer over one of the less expensive Epson models is to take advantage of PCL and PostScript, I installed both of those drivers also and ran our business applications suite with all three drivers.

With the Epson driver (and using QualityLogic's hardware and software for timing), I clocked the printer at an effective 5.7 pages per minute (ppm). That's essentially a tie with both the Epson WorkForce Pro WP-4540 All-in-One Printer ($399.99 direct, 4 stars) and the Editors' Choice HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus e-All-in-One ($299.99 direct, 4.5 stars), as well as the WP-4533.

As with many printers, the driver you use makes a significant difference. Although the PostScript driver turned in the same speed as the Epson driver, the printer slowed down with the PCL driver, to 4.4 ppm. Even this slower speed is a match from some color lasers, however. The Editors' Choice Dell 1355cnw Multifunction Color Printer SEE IT (4 stars), for example, managed only 4.5 ppm.

Output Quality and Other Issues

Output quality is the one area where the WP-4590 has more in common with most inkjets than with lasers. Text quality is par for an inkjet. Unless you have an unusual need for small fonts, you shouldn't have any complaints about it.

Graphics is also par for an inkjet, which makes it good enough for any business need, including PowerPoint handouts, for example. Depending on your level of perfectionism, you may consider it good enough for output going to an important client when you need to convey a sense of professionalism. Also worth mention is that text and graphics on plain paper are more water resistant than you might expect. In my tests, the output resisted smudging almost as well as laser output.

Photo quality is at the upper end of the small range where the vast majority of inkjet MFPs fall, making it better than what you'd get with some drugstore prints. For those businesses that need to print photos, including real estate offices for example, that can be a welcome extra.

Also very much a plus is the low running cost. When I reviewed the WP-4540 , I pointed out that one of its strengths was a lower cost per page than you'll get with most inexpensive lasers. The WP-4590 offers an even lower cost—for color pages at least. Based on ink cost and claimed yields for the cartridges, the running cost comes out to 1.6 cents for a monochrome page and 6.8 cents for a color page. This is one of the lowest running costs for any inkjet or laser printer in this price range. The more you print, the more attractive the savings per page will be.

WP-4590 is one of the more impressive inkjets that's ever come through PC Labs. It's faster than some lasers, delivers more that acceptable output quality for business use, includes all the MFP features a small office needs, adds conveniences like cloud printing, and sweetens the pot still further with an extraordinarily low cost per page.

If your office doesn't need PCL or PostScript for a particular application, you're better off with the HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus  or with one of Epson's less expensive, but otherwise equivalent, models without PCL and PostScript support. If you must have a printer with one or both of those languages, however, the Epson WorkForce Pro WP-4590 goes beyond being just the obvious choice among inkjets. Its speed and low cost per page makes it awfully attractive compared with laser competition as well.

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