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Printers
Best choices from our tests
o printer combines all-around excellence with rock-bottom printing costs, our latest tests found. But a pair of all-in-ones, A5 Dell and A6 Lexmark, offer speed, economy, and very good printing at very good prices. Like any all-in-one, each saves space and money compared with a separate printer, scanner, and copier. We also found some fine choices in regular printers. Here are more details: Decent print quality is universal. Every inkjet printed photos that we rated at least Good; most produced very good ones. And most produced text that was at least good. In choosing between printers, then, use lower cost and speedy operation to distinguish the best performers. Excellence has its price. Quite a few all-in-one inkjets excelled in one task or another. Seventeen printed excellent photos, six printed excellent text, and seven cranked out a page of text for 3 cents or less. But many were either slow or costly to use. For example, the A46 Brother produced excellent photos. But it printed those photos relatively slowly, and it was expensive for printing text. If excellent photos are important, you might consider that printer. But most people should consider the recommended models, which better balance quality, speed, and convenience. Connectivity is common. Most of the all-in-ones can be connected to a home network, either wirelessly or via Ethernet cable, so that you can print from M any computer in the r iN T f r o 1 P oNe home. Models withyo u r P h ma out such networking anon Pix The C ne $139, is o were usually priced MG5220, l new of severa rs lower. A wireless ble printe networka r nt text o Bluetooth connecat can pri e, th an iPhon tion lets you print tos from pho sed ndroid-ba photos wirelessly iPad, or A pp ng an a phone usi ore from some cell les App St from App rket. phones and camerdroid Ma or the An more on as. Four all-in-ones ell have (W nters in a those pri have Bluetooth port.) future re built in: the recommended A2, as well as A1, A10, and A43.

A2 HP

A5 Dell

Text cost per page

Text speed (ppm)

Cost (4x6 photo)

Recommendation

100 P | F | G | VG | E

A ALL-IN-ONE INKJETS Best if you need to copy or scan in color.

1

n d n d n d

HP Photosmart Premium Touchsmart Web C309n HP Photosmart Premium C309g

$300 170 130 90 130 120 300 130 200 170 140 170 100 300 130 130 150 150 120 130 $70 170 130 50 130 60 140 200 80 100 250 100

74 73 72 71 71 71 71 70 70 70 69 68 68 68 68 68 68

&Z 1.4 $0.40 &X 7.0 5.3 E, W &X &Z &Z &Z
0.8 0.35 &X 6.8 4.8 E, W 0.8 0.40 &X 6.7 7.8 W 0.8 0.35 &X 6.8 4.5 E, W 0.35 0.50 0.35 0.35 0.40 0.50 0.40 0.35 0.50 0.35 0.30 0.50 0.35 0.35 0.40 0.30 0.55 0.50 0.50 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.35 0.50 0.30 0.50 1.4 0.40 &X 6.8 4.9 E, W

3 Dell P713w 4 Dell P513w 5 Dell V715w 6 Lexmark Prospect Pro205 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Canon Pixma MX7600 Canon Pixma MP640 Lexmark Pinnacle Pro901 HP Photosmart Premium Fax C309a HP Photosmart Plus B209a Canon Pixma MP990 Lexmark Interpret S405 Lexmark Platinum Pro905 Epson Workforce 520 Lexmark Prevail Pro705 Kodak ESP 7250 Canon Pixma MX870 Lexmark Intuition S505 Lexmark Interact S605 HP Photosmart C4680 Kodak ESP Office 6150 Canon Pixma MX350 Canon Pixma MP270 Brother MFC-495CW Dell V313 HP OfficeJet Pro 8500 Canon Pixma MX860 Epson Artisan 810 Lexmark Impact S305 Canon Pixma MX340 Kodak EasyShare ESP 9 Epson Stylus NX515

&X 0.8 0.40 &X 7.0 4.8 W &X &Z &Z &X &X &Z &X &X &C &X &X &X &X &X &X &X &X &X &X &Z &Z &Z &X &X &X &Z &C
0.9 1.0 0.8 1.3 1.6 1.0 0.9 0.9 3.4 0.8 0.8 1.7 0.8 0.8 2.4 0.8 1.8 1.9 1.7 0.8 1.9 1.4 0.8 1.8 0.8 3.2

n d

18 Lexmark Prestige Pro805 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 29 30 31 32 33 34

300 68
68 68 67 67 67 66 66 66 66

0.8 0.35

n 28 d

240 65
65 65 65 64 64 64

&X 1.7 0.30 &X 9.4 2.1 &C &C &X &X &V &C
6.8 7.1 6.8 7.5 5.1 13.0

&Z &X &X &X &X &X &X &X &X &X &X &X &X &X &X &Z &X &X &X &X &X

7.9 7.7 6.4 6.5 7.9 9.4 6.8 6.4 12.0 6.8 3.8 7.5 7.0 6.7 6.7 3.8 7.7 7.5 3.0 7.0

4.2 5.4 1.1 3.9 5 5.7 4.9 1.1 4.5 4.7 4.4 4.8 4.5 4.4 6.4 4.7 6.5 6.2 3.4 8.3 4.6 4.5 4.5 6.3 3.5 3.2

E E, W E, W E, W W E, W W E, W E, W E, W E, W E, W W W E, W E, W E, W E E, W E, W W W E, W E, W

6.8 0.9 E, W

n d

35 HP Officejet 6500 Wireless 36 Kodak ESP5250 37 Brother MFC-295CN

120 64 120 100 63

64

&X 0.8 0.30 &C 5.0 2.7 W &Z 3.0 0.50 &X 2.9 3.6 E

&X 1.3 0.35 &Z 7.0 3 E, W

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con sum er r ep o rt s d e c e mb e r 2 0 1 0

LCD viewer size (diagonal, in.) 2.5 3.5 3.7 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.2 2.8 4.3 1.9 2.4 3.5 NA 4.3 NA 1.8 2.2 4.3 2.4 1.8 4.3 1.3 NA 2.2 NA 2.0 NA NA 1.8 3.4 NA NA 2.7 2.3 NA 2.2 NA

Photo quality Time (min., 4x6 photo)

Text quality

Networking

Built-in fax

Rank

ratings
In performance order, within types. (Types designated A, B, etc.)

d Recommended

5 Excellent 4 Very good 3 Good 2 Fair 1 Poor

Features

A6 Lexmark

Brand & model

Price Overall score

Test results

A35 HP

C1 HP

C2 HP

D1 Brother

overview
Brand & model Recommendation Rank Price Overall score Test results Text cost per page Text speed (ppm) Photo quality Time (min., 4x6 photo) Cost (4x6 photo) Text quality Features LCD viewer size (diagonal, in.) NA 2.4 2.2 1.4 2.8 2 NA 1.4 NA NA 1.5 NA 2.8 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Networking Built-in fax
Assess all costs. An inexpensive printer could be pricey in the long run if print costs are high, so factor that in when choosing. All-in-ones copying function is fine for casual use. Their scanners should be adequate for printing originals. Most were very good for scanning. The following models stand out in our printer tests for the reasons noted below.

100 P | F | G | VG | E

A ALL-IN-ONE INKJETS continued

38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55
Canon Pixma MX330 Epson Workforce 610 Brother MFC-990CW Kodak ESP3250 Kodak ESP 7 Brother MFC-6890CDW HP Officejet 4500 Wireless Epson Stylus NX420 Brother MFC-255CW Epson Workforce 310 Epson Stylus NX215 HP Officejet J4680 Kodak EasyShare ESP 5 Brother DCP-165C Lexmark X4650 Lexmark X6675 Lexmark X2670 Lexmark X6650 $60 63 130 62 200 62 80 62 140 61 300 61 80 60 100 60 70 60 100 60 90 59 90 57 100 55 80 55 100 52 150 51 50 48 130 48 200 330 200

&X &C &Z &X &X &Z &X &X &Z &C &X &X &Z &Z &X &X &X &X

1.9 3.1 1.7 0.9 0.9 1.7 2.5 6.8 3 3.4 8.8 2.6 1 3 2.6 2.4 4.7 2.4

$0.50 0.50 0.45 0.30 0.30 0.35 0.35 0.55 0.55 0.50 0.55 0.40 0.30 0.45 0.75 1.10 1.35 1.25

B ALL-IN-ONE, BLACK-AND-WHITE LASERS Best if you need to copy and scan but not in color.
1 HP Laserjet Pro M1212nf MFP 2 Dell 2335dn 3 Brother MFC-7340
75 67 61

NA NA NA NA NA NA

NA &Z 13.6 5 NA &Z 18.8 1.7 NA &Z 13.0 1.5

&X &Z &X &C &V &X &Z &X &C &X &X &Z &V &X &C &C &X &V

6.7 13.0 2.9 4.8 4.5 4.2 6.4 6.0 2.9 12.5 4.3 5.7 4.1 2.8 8.1 7.1 7.0 7.1

5.1 3.3 3.5 2.6 3.1 2.7 5.3 6.6 6.1 4.8 5.7 4.8 3.1 5.2 7.1 6.0 12.6 6.0

E, W E, W E, W E, W W W W E W

All-in-ones mostly for text:

A18 Lexmark $300 A35 HP $120
A18 prints text for only about a penny per page, prints photos economically, and has a large touch-screen LCD. A35 is reasonably fast and prints text and photos quite economically. Its also one of just a handful of all-in-ones that printed excellent-quality text.

All-in-ones for photos and text:

A2 HP $170 A5 Dell $130 A6 Lexmark $120 A28 HP $240
A2 has a large touch-screen LCD, which is helpful for cropping photos without a computer. A5 prints excellent photos. A5 and A6 print photos quickly and have a built-in fax. A28 is pricey, but its a good all-around performer, printing snapshots inexpensively and text cheaply and quickly. It includes a built-in fax but doesnt have an LCD.

W W W E E

select ratings Best choices from our tests of 20 models.

C REGULAR INKJETS Best if you need to print only photos or text.

regular inkjet:
c1 HP $100 c2 HP $80
Both can be shared on a network, but C1 prints text faster and more cheaply.

n d n d n d n d

HP Officejet Pro 8000 Wireless

100 80

68 68

2 HP Officejet 6000 Wireless 1

Brother HL-5370DW

&X 1.7 0.30 &Z 9.4 1.9 E, W NA &X 1.4 0.40 &X 7.3 3.1 E, W NA
NA NA

D REGULAR LASERS Best for printing text.

200 74 150 70 NA NA

2 Brother HL-2170W

NA &Z 16.7 1.3 E, W NA NA &Z 13.6 1.5 E, W NA

regular black-and-white laser:

D1 Brother $200 D2 Brother $150
D1 prints excellent text quickly and inexpensively. D2 is small and less expensive and produces excellent-quality text. Both offer Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity.

Guide to the ratings

overall score is based on speed, quality of prints, versatility, and ease of use; for all-in-ones, scan and copy functions also count. (All-in-ones were all judged good or better for copy and scan quality.) Photo quality reflects a color photos appearance. Photo time measures, to the nearest tenth of a minute, how long it takes to print a 4x6 inch color photo at the best-quality setting. Photo cost is for ink and glossy photo paper. Text quality assesses clarity and crispness of black text. Text speed measures pages per minute for a five-page document at default settings. Text cost is for one black-text page (ink or toner plus plain paper). For networking, E indicates that the model can use wired Ethernet; W indicates wireless (Wi-Fi) capability.

de ce mb e r 2010 w w w.C o n su m e r R e p o rt s. o rg

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