Epson TM-T88IV Review Review
|
Typical uses and environments:
The TM-T88IV finds best use in high volume retail locations, payment stations in restaurants, or locations requiring quick printouts at room temperature settings.
Unique Features & Advantages:
Epson receipt printers have the option of being a device hub, allowing peripheral devices such as Epson pole displays, as well as cash drawers, to plug into the back of the printer and receive power and data necessary to work properly. This eliminates excess cables from having to be run to the PC and provides a cleaner look to your point of sale station.
Standard Features:
The TM-T88IV comes out of the box with power supply, a/c line cord, starter roll of receipt paper, and driver disc. 3 LEDs on the top indicate power, paper being out, or the printer feeding paper. A buzzer is an optional feature that provides an audible notification of paper being out or the cutter jamming.
The interface that connects the TM-T88IV to a PC is interchangeable, allowing for easy upgrading if a PC is purchased and lacks the appropriate interfaces.
Performance
Testing:To determine the capabilities of the Epson TM-T88IV, we ran it through a battery of tests designed to show ease of installation, ease of configuration, print speed, and print quality. Our tests showed the TM-T88IV to be a solid and easy to use receipt printer. The model used for the tests was part # C31C636101, which comes with USB interface, power supply, and no peripheral hub.
Driver installation is handled via Epson’s printer installation utility, as opposed to the Add Printer Wizard in the Windows Control Panel. This allows the printer to communicate via an Epson print monitor port and ensures print data is sent in a way that the TM-T88IV understands. When testing our printer, we did run into issues after switching which port the printer was plugged into, requiring us to uninstall and reinstall the printer drivers.
Configuring the printer is relatively easy, and all contained within the printer driver itself. Most importantly, cutting style and drawer kick can be controlled from the driver. This is excellent when working with software that may not have full receipt printer compatibility, such as web-based point of sale applications.
Print speed was fast, at nearly 8” per second for single color mode, with speeds diminishing for 2 color mode. Though other printers in its class boast higher speeds of nearly 10” per second, the difference would only be noticeable on incredibly long printouts. The auto cutter is quick and clean, leaving a slight tag on the left side to connect receipts as needed.
Conclusion:
The Epson TM-T88IV is a solid thermal receipt printer for any retail location. The ESD printer ports can sometimes be problematic, requiring deleting and reinstalling the printer and driver. Otherwise, the printer is pretty easy to set up, has decent configurability, and good support.
To Purchase this product, go to the Epson TM-T88IV page.
To see our complete line of receipt printers, visit our Receipt Printers section.
For Additional Reviews, visit our Product Reviews page.
| Similar Products | Ideal Settings | Description |
 TM-T88IV |
Medium to high-volume retail, hospitality environments | The TM-T88IV is standard bearer for thermal receipt printing. Easy to install and sturdy enough to last quite some time. |
 TM-U220 |
Medium volume retail, restaurant kitchens, bars, locations with variable temperature | The TM-U220 provides impact printing in an easy to install design, excellent for kitchens, bars, or locations where temperature and humidity prevent thermal printer options. |
 TM-H6000II |
High-volume retail, locations requiring receipt and slip printing | The TM-H6000II provides both high-speed receipt printing and slip printing in one package, cleaning up your checkout location and providing an efficient solution. |
Testing and evaluation results for the Epson TM-T88IV Review
POSGuys.com - your single source for barcode scanners, POS software and POS equipment.
All content included in this report is property of POSGuys.com and protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. Any use, including the reproduction, modification, transmission, republication, or display of the content without the express written consent of POSGuys.com is strictly prohibited.