Printers: Ready, Set, Print! Your Guide to Selecting and Buying a Printer
 Printers: We may take them for granted, but the humble PC printer remains a necessity even in today's portable, always-connected world. And with more features being bolted onto even consumer-grade printers -- with features like faxing, scanning and print-from-Web -- things have never been more complicated for anyone shopping for a deal on a new printer.
Fortunately, you've got Hardware Central to show you the way. We've reviewed some of the hottest and best printers on the market, from tiny portable inkjets to powerful color laser printers, all with an eye to helping you decide which features are right for you. |
While color laser printers are chic, single-function inkjet printers are anything but obsolete -- in fact, they're the first choice of photo and publishing professionals. Here's how to shop for speed and quality that will surprise even diehard laser lovers.
Monochrome? Forget it. Today's high-performance, surprisingly affordable color lasers can make your business look better than ever. Here's what you need to know to make your best buying decision.
HP's new color laser printer isn't perfect, but it packs a punch if you want crisp color at a reasonable price.
Whether you're printing from a PC, a memory card or a mobile phone, HP's newest Wi-Fi- and duplex-enabled inkjet is versatile enough to handle the job plus any of a small office's copying, scanning, and faxing needs.
A simple, reliable design with four stationary LED printheads and a handy power-save button is just one attraction of Oki's new printer/scanner/copier/fax combos.
An affordable desktop model and a special low-TCO model for high-volume environments highlight Xerox's environmentally friendly, convenient color-laser-alternative technology.
Oki's $400 color laser printer alternative fits comfortably on a desk, but its DNA -- from its LED print engine to standard duplexing, Ethernet, and a hefty duty cycle -- is straight from the company's enterprise office model. James Miller says it hits the spot for a small network or busy solo user.
Dell puts a copier/scanner/fax atop a 40-ppm laser printer, then tops the whole thing off with a friendly touchscreen interface. Is this duplex-capable, high-duty-cycle device a suitable centerpiece of an office network?
Looking for a black-and-white laser printer for your small office or workgroup? HP's $199 entry offers Ethernet, duplex printing, and fast performance -- and can install itself with no CD to insert or driver to download.
Considering a color laser printer? Don't buy before you check out Oki's LED-based alternative, which offers plenty of paper-handling flexibility and produces genuinely great-looking business documents.
You can find a color laser printer priced below Samsung's 25-ppm duplex model ($599), but good luck finding a workgroup workhorse with sharper resolution, a higher monthly duty cycle, or more convenient features.
Buying a color laser printer? Before you budget that 10 to 15 cents per color page, think about 3.5 cents. That's the promise of Epson's industrial-strength inkjet, a $599 business printer that's one of the most compelling computer peripherals we've seen this year.
HP's newest inkjet is just a printer, no built-in copier/scanner, but it's a very nice printer, with wireless and double-sided printing standard. And its costs per page will put a smile on your face.
Intended to be shared among a small workgroup, this $899 flatbed scanner can capture all manner of paper documents directly to a network folder or e-mail.
Wanna buy a printer, copier, fax, and scanner for $32.50 each? Lexmark's latest entry in the multifunction market is a $130 inkjet all-in-one with a few handy extras (wireless network printing and an automatic document feeder, for instance) and some of the nicest utility software we've seen. But do its print quality and speed hold up their end of the bargain?
Invisible ink? Isn't that just for spies? Canon doesn't think so -- its $400 flagship inkjet printer/copier/scanner uses a special clear ink to give output on cheap plain paper the laser-sharp, free-of-fuzzies quality that usually requires coated inkjet paper. And in-house printing will never be the same.
Small on your desk (occupying less than 13 by 16 inches) and even smaller in your wallet (a street price as low as $200), Samsung's most compact color laser makes up for modest print speed with easy operation, high-quality output, and standard WiFi and Ethernet for office sharing as well as the usual USB interface for solo operators.
You know you can get a versatile inkjet printer/scanner/copier for $300 or $400. But for a fraction of that ($130)? In a fraction of the size (9 inches high)? HP's small-business breadbox is full of surprises -- yes, it has fax as well as the usual three functions; yes, it has built-in WiFi; no, they didn't forget the automatic document feeder. It's a one-person office's one peripheral.
A color laser printer for $300 is a pretty good deal, but depending on where and when you buy (hint: there's a rebate offer that expires at the end of this month), HP's colorful compact can be yours for as little as $200. Don't expect onboard Ethernet or blazing speed -- the USB desktop device is rated at 12 ppm for monochrome and 8 ppm for color, with minimal paper-handling and software options -- but expect to be tempted.
It's one fancy desk accessory: Samsung's 6.5-inch-high black box looks more like a jet-black piece of home theater equipment or modern sculpture than the monochrome laser printer/scanner/copier it is. The $300 all-in-one's speed, quiet operation, and output quality are impressive, too -- but small-office operators will have to decide whether to make a few sacrifices for style.
Tempted to put a color laser printer on your desk? Xerox just increased the temptation with an easy-to-use, 12-ppm PostScript 3 model that's a few inches trimmer -- and at $374, a few dollars cheaper -- than anything you've seen before. We think its price/performance mix is bad news for color inkjets, but it may not quite knock other color lasers -- including other Xeroxes -- out of competition.
When it comes to inkjet printers and multifunction peripherals, bang for the buck has become a sonic boom. The trend toward more features for less money continues with Lexmark's latest $150 printer-copier-fax-scanner, which turns options such as an automatic document feeder, double-sided printing, and wireless networking into standard equipment.
As if the inkjet multifunction market wasn't crowded enough, HP boldly says its latest, fully loaded printer/scanner/copier/fax can meet or beat the speed and quality of color laser models -- while erasing color inkjets' reputation for higher operating costs. Could this $399 small-business centerpiece be the best all-in-one we've ever seen?
Ready to check off items on your inkjet printer/scanner/copier/fax wish list? Check out this $280-before-discounts deluxe model, which comes with everything from an automatic document feeder and duplex to memory-card slots and a color LCD for browsing and producing borderless photos, not to mention three interfaces -- USB, Ethernet, and WiFi. Can Lexmark's jack of all trades satisfy a small-office ditto of ditto?
Under-$500 color laser printers have become the happy discoveries that under-$1,000 color lasers were a couple of years ago. Even inkjet shoppers, for instance, would be smart to take a look at Xerox's new entry: If its standard Ethernet as well as USB and choice of PCL or fancier PostScript driver doesn't impress you, there's a little thing called performance -- 20 color pages per minute for $449 after a rebate.
Color laser printers have become so affordable that a small- or even a solo-office manager can now shop for one that's also a multifunction color copier and scanner -- and HP has picked one of our most favorably reviewed printers as the basis for its new three-in-one. On the other hand, the favorable review was almost two years ago. Do the peripheral's price and performance keep it on the cutting edge?
What's the hub of your busy office? Besides you, it's a full-featured monochrome or color laser printer that's also a versatile copier, scanner, and fax. Here's what you need to know to make a smart purchase.
|
RSS Feed
