Testing suggests that some images created by cheap replacement ink fade in as little as three months. Pigment-based inks have solid particles in the mix and consequently last longer. Dye-based inks are 100% liquid the color is dissolved in water. Inkjet inks fall into two categories - dye-based and pigment-based.Here’s what you need to know about ink technology as it stands today: Of course, you want your prints to last forever - especially if you use your printer to create copies of treasured photos. Ink refill subscription program: A program such as this could save you money, but we urge consumers to think about their usage patterns before choosing a printer with this feature. Paper tray capacity: If you do a lot of printing, a large-capacity paper tray comes in handy.Īutomatic feeding: If you print lots of envelopes or cards, automatic feeding of multiple sizes is useful.Īutomatic duplexing: This feature is great for those who want to execute rapid double-sided printing.īorderless printing: This is great if you want to print lots of photos, but you should check the print sizes available before making a purchase. Here are some notable “other” features you might be interested in:
And, as we've seen, scanning, copying, and faxing are common. Many offer WiFi so you can share the printer with other users. Almost all can communicate wirelessly with your smartphone or tablet. Most inkjet and laser printers offer similar features. The graphic quality of our inkjet finalists is well above average. Even cheap inkjets render a decent output. Print resolution is no longer an issue.And although laser toner remains much more expensive, you get up to ten times as many pages from a cartridge. Laser and inkjet printers share similar price tags. Today's printers employ the same basic technologies, but much has changed. Inkjets were far more affordable, but the final product wasn’t nearly as sharp. Back then, laser printers created images with superior detail, but the machines were prohibitively expensive. In the early days of home printers, the choice between inkjet and laser was rather straightforward. However, all agreed that your final choice should depend largely on what you intend to use the printer for. This is always going to be a difficult question to answer, and even the BestReviews lab testers had differing opinions. Even the very best inkjets struggle to produce text that's as sharp (particularly at sizes below 12 point), and when they do, they run much slower because they're on a “high resolution” setting. Notably, all of the monochrome models we looked at were laser printers, designed for rapid output of large amounts of text and/or black and white images. So why not have the color option? There are several reasons, actually.Īlthough a color printer may be more cumbersome and slightly more expensive than a black and white model, the benefit is undeniable: you get color prints.Īs such, some consumers find it prudent to buy a cheap monochrome printer for text printing and an all-in-one color printer for everything else. Little difference exists between the cost of a color printer and the cost of a black and white printer.
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For example, should you go monochrome or full peacock? A single-purpose model or an all-in-one number with scanning and faxing capability?
inkjet question is a big one, but other issues also figure prominently. Should you buy a laser or an inkjet printer? Yes, the laser vs. You can also check out our product list, above, to discover this information. Read on to discover the price of each of our shortlist contenders. Even at the top end of the pricing scale, a high-quality multifunctional printer is remarkably affordable.
And, the truth is, a decent machine could cost you just a little more than $50. It's possible to buy a cheap printer for less than $50, but the faults of these bargain models frequently outweigh the savings. During testing, we noted the offerings of each model. Most printers can still plug into a computer, but WiFi is everywhere now, and an increasing number of machines print wirelessly from smartphones and tablets. Are print-only machines worth the expense? Do these models save you money or grant a better performance? Our lab staff noted and tested the features offered by each printer we considered. What’s more, the prices of these machines are now well within reach of the average home user. Featuresįew printers just print any more multifunctional models abound. The BestReviews lab staff examined each printer’s output statistics: pages per minute, color quality, and so on.