We call it ‘working from home’. Or operating a home office. Or remote work. A trend that peaked during the Covid-9 pandemic from 2020 through to 2021. So long as you’re driven and possess the requisite skills in whichever field you’d like to get into, working from home needs just the bare minimum (or basics) to set up and operate a home office.
In terms of equipment, however, there are some essentials that you’d need before you’re up and running.
According to Remote Work, a portal which publishes content related to remote work(ers), there are 6 pieces of equipment that remote workers must have. The six are: Desk with Standing Desk Option; Ergonomic Chair; Laptop (of course); Headset; Transcription or Editing Software; and finally, a Printer with Scanner.
“Another important piece of work equipment for any home office will be a quality printer with scanning capabilities. The scanning capability may get the most use, as a virtual office environment works heavily with email, and scanned documents can be quickly and easily shared if your printer is scan compatible,” notes Remote Work.
And for those who operate in the SoHo (small office or home office) space, the printer to go for is, without a doubt, the Epson Ecotank L3250.
The Epson Ecotank L3250 is a compact and portable printer, weighing just 3.9kgs. The multi-function unit, designed with the user in mind, enables you print, scan, and make copies of your projects, all from the convenience of your home (office). And this can be done wirelessly after connecting the printer to your mobile device.
Before highlighting its other features and capabilities, let’s take a look at the Epson Ecotank L3250’s specs:
In the Box:
- Ecotank L3250 main unit
- Power cable
- Setup guide
- Warranty document
- 4 x 65ml individual ink bottles (BK, C, Y, M), plus 1 extra black ink bottle
- Driver and utilities (CD)
Unboxing and Setup
- After unpacking the printer from the box, and unwrapping it out of the polythene cover, the next step is to remove the blue safety tapes and all the other protective material(s) attached to the unit to keep the various components in place and also to guard against damage.
- From here, the next step is to fill the printer’s ink tanks with the correct ink (starting with Black – BK, to Cyan – C, then Yellow – Y, and finally Magenta – the bottle marked ‘M’) to the top upper line indicated on the tank. And remember the unit comes with an extra Black bottle of ink
- Now, done with the process of filling up the four tanks with ink, connect the power cable then power on the printer by pressing the power button until it turns green.
- With the printer turned on, press the ink button (the button on the right) for about 5 seconds to begin the process of ink initialization. During initialization, the printer readies the ink system for operation by blending the inks in order to ensure normal ink formulation. During the process, which takes slightly less than 10 minutes, the power button will keep flashing (green) while the ink button will be indicating yellow.
- Once done with the ink initialization stage, it’s finally time to try out and see the printer’s output via a test printout. For this, load A4-size papers into the top paper tray. After this, press both the power and ink buttons simultaneously until the printer begins loading the paper for printing then release the buttons. Once the printing is done and the paper ejected through the bottom tray, collect it and check the print quality.
- After this and having printed its first project, the status sheet, refill up the tanks with ink which was left in the bottles during the first fill-up. Then close the ink tank cover.
- Depending on how you’d like to operate and use the printer (either from your PC or wirelessly via the Epson Smart Panel mobile app), you can run the Driver and Utilities CD on your PC or download and install the Smart Panel app to your phone. Another app which conveniently controls the printer while sending tasks remotely is the Epson iPrint app. You can download and install both apps to your smartphone then decide on which one to use with the EcoTank L3250 printer.
- With the Epson EcoTank L3250 now fully set up, you’re good to go.
Capabilities and Performance
With the printer now setup, it’s finally time for you to locate (or create) the ideal location within the residence (or office) to place the unit and use it conveniently. Being a relatively compact and light printer (it weighs less than 4kgs), the unit can also be easily moved from the residence to the office when need be, to meet the user’s printing, scanning, or copying needs.
Despite its small size and non-imposing frame, the EcoTank L3250 comes packed with impressive features and capabilities. Because it can print, scan, and copy, it then means that the user is saved from spending additional cash to acquire a scanner of photocopier, translating to cost savings and much-desired peace of mind. This is more than ideal for home office and remote workers who have to derive the maximum benefit from any cash expenditure, while making all the effort to deliver value to their customers.
When it comes to performance and overall output, Epson has done away with cartridges in this printer, replacing them with the ink tanks which can be refilled once empty. This innovation is crucial for Epson as it builds on the brand’s sustainability goals, contributing to the company’s efforts to reduce electronic waste and environmental impact. Because printer components subsequently have significant environmental impact, the phasing out of cartridges has a positive contribution towards environmental conservation.
A single set of bottles is the equivalent of up to 72 cartridges worth of ink. This means that the user can print thousands of pages before the ink tanks need a refill, while the overall print quality is also superior.
Epson’s EcoTank for heat-free printing technology also consumes less energy as it doesn´t use heat to warm up, leading to further cost savings for the user arising from less power usage.
Using the WiFi Direct function, as you monitor and control the unit from your smartphone, you’ll get your projects done promptly and to the utmost quality. The L3250 has been designed with the capability to hold 100 sheets of paper on its rear paper tray, and ability to print up to 10 pages per minute, a speed which is just sufficient for remote workers or home office entrepreneurs with relatively light printing, scanning, or photocopying tasks.
Still on cost savings while using the EcoTank L3250, the user can ideally save up to 90% on printing costs while using the printer. Again, the unit is shipped with up to 3 years’ worth of ink, enough to give the user up to 8,100 pages in black and 6,500 in colour.
Availability and Pricing
Retailing at Kshs 25,000, the Epson Ecotank L3250 is available for purchase from Gaab (located at Jamia Mall within Nairobi CBD), Marksonic (at Bihi Towers along Moi Avenue), Novelty (based at Revlon Plaza), and Al Imaan (also located at Bihi Towers). You can drop by any of these retail outlets to check out and get a feel of the unit, then pick it for your document printing, scanning, and photocopying needs.
Conclusion
Having used the Epson EcoTank L3250 for exactly a month now, I can confidently vouch for it, as it is undoubtedly good value for money. For someone who is either a remote worker or operates a home office, it is an ideal and necessary equipment which comes at a fairly modest cost to the owner.
Like any piece of equipment, the Epson EcoTank L3250 is not without its shortcomings, though they are not as numerous. Unlike the Epson EcoTank L6550 (which we reviewed early last year), the L3250 has no LCD screen. This makes it impossible for the user to direct tasks from the screen. This is also means that you can’t preview tasks before printing, copying, or scanning them. And because of its comparatively smaller size, the user can’t print projects larger than A4 size, which limits the user in regards to projects can be printed.
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