Epson Artisan 730

Epson Artisan 730

Epson touts the Epson Artisan 730 ($199.99 direct) as an all-in-one for the photo hobbyist—a more accurate description than you might assume. Unlike most ink jets today, including even the Epson Artisan 837 ($299.99 direct, 4 stars) that serves as the next step up in Epson's Artisan line, the 730 is most at home as a strictly home printer focusing primarily on photos. More than that, the high-quality photos are the best argument for considering the printer. The 730 is one of the few inkjet MFPs today that doesn't fit well into the dual role of home and home office printer, even for light-duty office use. It prints, scans, and copies, but it lacks office-centric features like a fax capability and an automatic document feeder. More important, its text and graphics quality aren't up to what you probably want for business use, even for a home office. On the other hand, its photo quality is good enough to make it stand out from the rest of the low-cost inkjet crowd. The printer also delivers a full set of photocentric and home-oriented features, including menu options on the front panel to print lined notebook and graph paper as well as personalized notepaper using scanned photos for the background.