Epson K300 – Monochrome Masterpiece

Introduction and Physique

Beyond Black and White

For a majority of consumers, color printing is a basic function of every printer. Therefore, the idea of a monochrome printer sounds a bit half-baked to the ordinary person. However, places like schools and small offices (also known as SMEs) constantly need vast quantities of black and white documents printed out or copied quickly and economically. By most accounts, this market for strictly monochrome printers is growing, and Epson had the good sense to release a trio of monochrome printers under its K-Series last October, promising a printing cost of as low as PhP 0.45 per page, thanks to its Micro Piezo technology. Situated right at the top is the K300 All-in-One.

Like its two smaller siblings, the K100 and K200, the K300 takes on a decidedly utilitarian look, coming in a beige and grey box measuring about a foot and a half wide and eight inches tall. This makes it a bit taller than your average all-in-one printer, but not much wider. The extra height is due to an Automatic Document Feeder (or ADF) on top, which means that the K300 is capable of multiple two-sided scanning and copying - a real time-saver for the office set. Optionally, you could use the document table underneath it for single-page scans and copies.

While the ADF is unique to the K300, there are a couple of very handy features that come standard throughout Epson's K-Series monochrome printers. The first is a built-in Ethernet port, which gives you the option to set it up as a network printer, without the need of a PC. Second, all the K-Series printers come with a duplexer, which means that they are capable of double-sided printing, which should be a boon for offices and schools trying to cut down on paper use. 

On the front side, you have a cassette-type paper tray on the bottom with a capacity of up to 150 sheets of A4-sized paper. Above it is a tilting control panel with a two-line LCD and a four-way navigation button. Making our way through the printer’s options was simple enough, but the lack of space on the LCD slowed us down a bit as there are plenty of functions to choose from. There are a total of 12 to be exact, not counting the sub-menus.