Leave it to Epson to brand its new home-workhorse ink jet printers "Artisans," but with the stylish piano-black finish and sleek profile, these almost seem like masterpieces of design. The premium Artisan 800 features Wi-Fi, fax, and an automatic document feeder, as well as a 7.8-inch smart-touch panel and 3.5-inch LCD interface that makes copying, cropping, and editing of photos easy.

Both the Artisan 800 and 700 use six-color ultra-HD ink, so photos promise to be vivid with true-to-life colors. Best of all, the Claria ink is smudge-, scratch- and water-resistant. Both models feature 48-bit color, and the 700 model features 2,400-dpi resolution; the 800 model offers full 4,800-dpi resolution.

Each printer can handle borderless photos in a variety of sizes, including 4 by 6, 5 by 7 and the popular 8 by10, and each features a paper cassette with two paper trays, so you won't have to switch between plain and photo paper to print.

Both models will arrive in September. The Artisan 800 will be available for $299.99 (list), while the Artisan 700 will cost $199.99.

Post by Peter Suciu