All-purpose printers that will bring your ideas to life
Despite a reliance on mobile devices and cloud computing, most homes and offices still need a good printer. Printers come in two standard varieties—ink-jet or laser—delivering both black-and-white and color prints.
Ink-jet printers use cartridges or reservoirs of ink and a moving print-head, while laser printers use heated elements and toner. Generally, ink-jet printers can excel at color, and are often less expensive. Laser printers, on the other hand, can yield faster, sharper prints. These days, almost all printers also strive to replace other standard office devices, and can scan, fax, and photocopy, as well as print from mobile devices or the cloud.
With their relatively small footprints, they’re excellent in home-offices or other environments where space might be at a premium.
Epson’s EcoTank line uses an ink reservoir system instead of cartridges, which, Epson says, can last about two years and delivers approximately 7,500 black-and-white, or 6,000 color pages. The printer comes with a starting supply of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black ink. It features a 150-sheet paper tray, voice-activated printing, and wired and wireless connectivity—you can print from not only your computer, but also mobile devices. The ET-3760 also does two-sided and borderless printing, scanning, and copying. With only four colors of ink, it won’t deliver high-quality photo prints like some other printers, but for a home or office, it’s a sharp, fast, economical, and environmentally-friendly tool.
Good laser printers still outrun ink-jet printers, and Canon’s entry delivers a whopping 22 pages per minute. It can scan, copy, and fax, and features a five-inch color touchscreen interface for easy access to controls. Wireless connectivity allows for printing from computers and mobile devices, and the printer itself can act as a wireless hotspot so you don’t need to set up a router. The printer uses standard or high-yield Canon toner cartridges, for up to 1,500 or 3,100 black-and-white, or 1,200 or 2,300 color pages, respectively.
This low-cost, color printer can push out up to eight black-and-white pages per minute, or six using color, and has a 60-sheet capacity tray as well as a 35-page automatic document feeder. It also copies, scans, and faxes, and supports wireless printing from computers, mobile devices, or the cloud. The OfficeJet uses HP’s 63-series ink cartridges, and accepts both their standard (approximately 190 black-and-white/165 color pages) or high-yield (approximately 480 black-and-white/330 color) formats. The printer is controlled by a 2.2-inch mono touchscreen.
While it only prints in black-and-white, Brother’s MFCL2710DW delivers them at a blistering 32 pages per minute from its 250-page-capacity tray. This budget-priced laser printer includes all the standard features like scanning, copying, and faxing, and a 50-sheet automatic document feeder helps improve efficiency. Wireless printing works from a computer or mobile device. High-yield toner cartridges can deliver approximately 3,000 pages before needing replacement.
