Small business offices are often as cramped for space as they are tight on cash, which makes multifunction printers particularly attractive. In this first edition of Tech Review, I’ll be looking at the Epson WorkForce 635 all-in-one, a new device that bundles fax, copying, and scanning capabilities with very high-speed ink jet printing, all in one package.

The WorkForce 635 is a handsome machine, with its black body, piano black accents, and color LCD front panel. It’s also not too large for such a versatile device, and should fit nicely on a desk or small shelf.

Instructions on the LCD and the bundled software CD walk you through the setup process, and the WorkForce 635 was up and running on my wireless network in minutes. (Wired network or USB connection options are also available.) The device supports either Windows XP and later or Mac OS X 10.4.11 and later.

I was pleased with the output on my test prints. Blacks were crisp and dark, and color fidelity was very good, even when printing on plain paper in an economy mode. Also, kudos to Epson for shipping this device with a set of four full, high-capacity ink cartridges, instead of the half-full cartridges that some manufacturers provide.

I was particularly impressed by the high-quality photo output mode, which was better than I expected for a business-class device, although it still won’t match professional-grade photo prints.

One downside, however, is that while the paper tray can hold 250 sheets, there’s just the one tray for every size of paper, and no single-sheet feeder. The tray can’t detect what size paper is loaded, either, so you’ll want to double check before you use the one-touch photo printing feature.