The Epson WF-C5790 business inkjet at 24 ISO pages per minute and the  HP M479fdw LaserJet Pro laser printer at 28 ISO pages per minute are both fast colour office printers. But does 4 pages per minute make that big of a difference? Is the slight boost in speed worth the higher purchase, energy, and consumable costs? Let’s take a look.

Epson WF- C5790 Business Inkjet Printer — Starts at $389 CAD

The Epson WF-C5790 is a colour inkjet printer using innovative Epson PrecisionCore Heat-Free Technology that allows for speed, accuracy, reliability, and low energy consumption. The Epson WF-C5790 is an all-in-one printer that prints, scans, copies, and faxes across the office network, wirelessly, from mobile devices, and remotely. The Epson WF-C5790, which is recommended for up printing to 2,500 pages per month, has a 4800 dpi print resolution and uses durable, fade-resistant pigment inks.

Epson’s Replaceable Ink Pack System makes the Epson WF-C5790 affordable to operate with massive ink packs with page yields of up to 10,000 pages. The $389 CAD version includes a set of starter ink packs while the $999 CAD  "Supertank” version comes with two years of ink in the box. With the Supertank, you’re essentially buying the ink (and at a discount) and getting the printer for free.

At 24 ISO pages per minute, the Epson WF-C5790 is nearly as fast as the HP M479fdw laser printer. Since the Epson WF-C5790 inkjet printer doesn’t use heat, it does not need to warm up before printing, an important point that is often overlooked when comparing print speeds with a laser printer.

HP LaserJet Pro M479fdw — $749.99 CAD

The HP LaserJet Pro M479fdw is a colour laser printer. As you might expect, this is a fast printer with a print speed of up to 28 ISO pages per minute. It too prints, scans, copies, and faxes and has both wireless and remote printing capabilities. The HP M479fdw, which is recommended for printing from 750 to 4,000 pages per month, has a 600 dpi print resolution and uses toner cartridges.

The four individual toner cartridges (black, cyan, magenta, and yellow) come in standard and high capacity versions with a max yield for the black toner of 7,500 ISO pages. A complete set of high yield cartridges can cost more than $1,000. Remember, you can get the Epson WF-C5790 Supertank with two years of ink for just $999 CAD.

At 28 ISO pages per minute, the HP M479fdw is technically 4 pages per minute faster than the Epson WF-C5790. However, it must warm up first, which gives the Epson WF-C5790 a headstart. For practical purposes, this puts the two printers on an even playing field. In the video below, you’ll see how this plays out as you watch the two printers print an identical 16-page document side by side.

See the speed comparison for yourself here: