Epson WorkForce 845 Review: Many Positives, Few Negatives

BUILD AND DESIGN
The approximate dimensions of the Epson WorkForce 845 are 18 x 22 x 12 inches, so it stands taller than most other small office/home office inkjet all-in-one devices. This is mainly due to its high volume paper handling capacity. Even though it's a bit bigger than other SOHO inkjets, it's still a reasonable size and will fit nicely on most office desks.

The WorkForce 845 can hold up to 500 sheets of paper in all. It's also fairly lightweight for its size as it's only 22 pounds. It sports mainly black matte surfaces, but it also has some glossy surfaces around and on the control panel and a number of silver accents.

At the top of the device is a 30-sheet automatic duplex document feeder (ADF). Meaning, users can feed scans, copies and faxes automatically. Under the ADF is the 48-bit flatbed scanner, where users can scan documents and media to a memory card, PDF, email, or PC. The scanner has a maximum optical resolution of 2400 dpi and an interpolated resolution of 9600 dpi; meaning scans should be of good quality. It can fit media up to the standard A4 size.  

Underneath the scanner unit is the location of the inner compartment, print head and ink system of the WF 845. It works on a 4-toner system; black, cyan, magenta and yellow. It takes Epson 126 high-capacity ink, but is also compatible with what Epson calls their extra high-capacity ink, Epson 127. 

The large control panel on the WorkForce 845 lies at the centerpiece of the device. The LCD is a 7.8-inch color touch panel with a 3.5-inch TFT screen with only one physical button - the power button. Users can do just about anything from the touch screen, including printing photos, troubleshooting, scanning, faxing, copying and setting up the device for first use.

Directly below the touch panel and to the left is the memory card reader and flash drive slot. The memory card readers are compatible with a multitude of memory mediums (24 in total); so we won't list them all, but a few include CompactFlash, SD, SDHC, Memory Stick, MMC, and xD-Picture Card. 

Located in the middle of the device is the first input tray that can hold up to 250 sheets of paper alone. It takes a large variety of media sizes, including 3.5 x 5, 4 x 6, 5 x 7, 8.5 x 11, A4, B5, A5 and A6, half letter, executive, and user definable (3.5 – 44 inches). It has another input tray on the very bottom that can hold an additional 250 sheets for a total of 500 sheets. The printer can process plain paper, brochure and flyer matte double sided, matte, a variety of glossy photo paper (including ultra and premium types and everything in between), bond paper, transfer paper, and No. 10 envelopes.