With all the hoopla about digital cameras and home photo printing, it's easy to think that most inkjet manufacturers have completely forgotten about mundane tasks such as text and plain-paper photo printing. Epson hasn't. Its Stylus C84 is an inkjet refined to produce its best output on regular copier paper.

To accomplish this feat, Epson equipped the C84 with a brand-new printhead that sprays the company's DuraBrite ink, which comes in nice individual cartridges. DuraBrite inks are pigment-based and supposedly produce plain-paper images that resist blurring and fading when exposed to water and light. The printhead itself has a laughable resolution of 5,760 x 1,440, and Epson says the C84 will print at 22ppm (black) and 12ppm (color).

Testing revealed much slower printing speeds. This printer whisked out text at a rate of 10ppm, which is a respectable speed for a product that costs less than $100. It also completed a three-page PowerPoint file in less than two minutes and needed less than four minutes to finish a six-page Word file that mixed text and clip-art graphics.

The low-resolution text wasn't worthy of a business report, but standard text was much blacker and had only a few fuzzy characters. Clip art was clear and colorful. Banding was a bit of a problem but won't alarm many users.

Glossy photo printing was consistently inconsistent. Banding marred the leading edge of many of my prints, and a reddish tinge was apparent on some darker colors. It's no stretch to say that this printer makes better images if you stick with plain paper, which is much cheaper than Epson's DuraBrite media, anyway.

If you're a plain-paper aficionado, this is the budget-priced printer for you. But if you need good glossy photos, stick with a Stylus Photo or a low-priced unit from Canon or Hewlett-Packard.

by Nathan Chandler

Stylus C84
$99
Epson
(800) 463-7766
(562) 981-3840
www.epson.com