Epson Office ME 535 - Diminutive Dynamo (Updated)

Introduction and Physique

Smaller and Smarter

Late last year, Epson launched its K-series monochrome printers for the high-volume office set. It seems like the Japanese imaging firm has seen success as it now re-enters the All-in-One segment with the Office ME 535. One of the main selling points of the new printer is its small size. At just 390mm (15.35 inches) on the long side and 145mm (5.7 inches) tall, it is currently the smallest All-in-One printer in the market. Epson engineers achieved this feat by reducing and rearranging the previous model's key components, resulting in a form factor that is 39% smaller (they even made a video of how they did it). The result is an ultra-compact All-in-One printer unit that would fit well in even the most cramped working space. 

Epson has added to the Office ME 535's minimalist form factor a matte black paintjob, which is a plus compared with the high-gloss, fingerprint-magnet finish of other All-in-One printers these days. Also unlike other models in its price range, the printer's main control panel is on the front, and is adjustable, just like its monochrome cousin, the K300. It has a similar four-way navigation button but this time the LCD display is colored. The reason for this (aside from the fact that it's easier to read) is that the Office ME 535 has a built-in SD card reader for direct photo printing. 

The Office ME 535 uses four Epson 141 ink cartridges. One black and the rest are Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. The Black cartridge costs PhP 320, while each of the CMY cartridges cost PhP 360, so a whole set will cost PhP 1,400. Epson tells us that the Black cartridge has a page yield of 235 pages, while the rest of the cartridges combined put out 510. This works out to PhP 1.50 for each black and white page, PhP 0.50 for a colored page, and almost PhP 2.00 for each page with black text and colored graphics.