For home use, what are the best printers that work WELL in your opinion?
Printer recommendation for general use and light photo printing | DPReview Forums
Canon PIXMA TR150 Printer Review: Portable Printing for the Perpetually Unimpressed? : carverscave
Epson EcoTank ET-2803 Printer Review: Confessions of a Reformed Cartridge Junkie : carverscave
Should You Buy Cheap Printer Paper?
For everyday printing, store-brand 20-pound weight paper will usually serve nicely. However, you'll often get better looking output if you step up to a higher-quality paper. For lasers, as well as for inkjet text and graphic printing, that means a heavier weight, and possibly a brighter white level. For photos on inkjets, it means getting matte presentation paper or photo paper. Getting photo or matte paper that's the same brand as your printer will usually be the best choice; printer manufacturers design ink and paper to work together and often offer a variety of presentation and photo papers.
Recycled paper also offers acceptable quality, and you can find 100% post-consumer-content recycled paper for many uses, including cover stock and bright white paper suitable for business use. There are other kinds of eco-friendly paper as well, such as all-purpose paper made from sugar cane and photo paper made from cotton. Do your small part to save a tree and research eco-friendly media options. Any modern printer will handle them well.
What's the Best Printer for Occasional Use?
As always, it mostly depends on what you need to print; if photos, probably a low-cost inkjet, but if only text documents, possibly a one-cartridge mono laser. But sometimes, you can tell by the printer's duty cycle.
If you print only a few pages a day, you don't have to worry about how much a printer is designed to print, as defined by its recommended (not maximum) monthly duty-cycle-rating. To define those terms? Maximum duty cycle is the absolute most a printer should be allowed to print per month without affecting the maximum number of pages it can print in its lifetime. The recommended duty cycle is usually how much it can handle on a regular basis and still last as many years as it was designed for. It may also be based on the paper capacity and how frequently you can conveniently refill the trays.
If you print enough for the duty cycle to matter, don't buy a printer that doesn't include that information in its specifications. (Many cheap printers meant for occasional use don't provide duty-cycle ratings at all.) Figure out how much you print by how often you buy paper and in what amounts. If you usually print on both sides of the paper, count each sheet as two pages in your calculations. Then pick a printer designed to print at least that much.
Should You Buy Third-Party Printer Ink?
For inkjet tank printers and bulk toner laser printers, ink or toner from the printer manufacturer doesn't cost enough to be an issue. For cartridge-based printers, third-party ink often costs significantly less. But be aware that it can also come with a whole tank full of issues.
First, there’s no guarantee that you’re going to get the same quality ink from a third party that you would when buying the manufacturer-branded product. Also, using ink that isn’t approved by the manufacturer can violate your warranty. And don’t think you can get away with secretly using that renegade ink: If your printer has an internet connection, it may well report your violation to the manufacturer. Sometimes, with firmware updates, we've seen the use of third-party ink "deauthorize" the use of the aftermarket cartridge.
Many printer manufacturers now offer ink subscriptions, so new ink shows up at your door when you need it. If that's available for your model, it can often be the best way to go.
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If you're wondering which home printers are worth your money, stick around. After I run through each product, I'll give you my personal take. No fluff, just my honest opinion. This are 4 best home printer brands available on the market based on my experience.
Let's get into it.
Hewlett Packard (HP) Home Printers
If HP printers felt inexpensive in the past, owners soon came crashing down to ground when they realized the ink cartridges ran low far too quickly. No longer an issue, sustainability oriented models like the HP Smart Tank 6001 and HP Smart Tank 7602 all-in-one printers offer an insight into the brand’s commitment to eco-friendly paper handling. The sales literature on both of these scanning, copying, and printing machines promises two years of ink.
Technically, the company was split in two some time ago. Their enterprise level concerns are still known as Hewlett Packard, whereas their computer and printing services are now branded HP, inc. The best printer brands for home use can be found in their inkjet catalogue, but there’s also a number of affordable LaserJet models as well. We tested the LaserJet MFP M234sdw, a device often found on sale for less than $200. It has 30 ppm b&w printing, duplex functionality, and built-in wireless Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/n. Along with Bluetooth convenience, speed and range keeps everyone in a sizable household reliably connected.
Why HP stands out – Diverse options range from small inkjet printers to capable small home office laser jet devices. Color laser jets are also an important part of the HP catalogue, keeping speed, quality, and productivity to the fore. Typical bundled talents include duplex printing, photo printing, reliable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, mature drivers, and mobile app workflows.
The OfficeJet series reviews as a more small office oriented machine, with their faster print speeds and work team configured print management systems, but home offices can also benefit from these speeds and workflow improvements, perhaps leaving an hour long window of opportunity open for junior to print out his school project. Affordable in the extreme, HP certainly packs a lot into a small footprint, and now their attention has fallen on ink conservation, earning their popular brand name sustainability clout.
Epson Home Printers
Reviewers rated the previous brand as extremely easy to configure and use. Since paper and ink can be premium consumables, any degree of intuitive use is very welcome. Epson printers emulate this usability factor, using touchscreens to simplify onscreen instructions so that we were up and running, churning out office brochures before a rapidly approaching lunch break brought everyone to a standstill—lunch is a big deal in our offices, especially when it’s pizza Friday.
The model we chose to represent the Epson brand was an Epson Expression Photo XP-8700 Wireless All-in-One. It’s their top photo printer, and we had images, fresh off a recent photoshoot, that we wanted to convert to physical copies. We use a mirrorless Sony Alpha 7CR, a model that takes full-frame 61MP photographs, and wanted a photo printer that would do the images credit. Capable of printing 5760×1440 dpi images on a six color photo print system, the XP-8700 pulled every detail out of our photos.
Why Epson stands out – proving the company takes their Green credentials seriously, we checked out the EcoTank series. The ‘Kiss Expensive Cartridges Goodbye’ tagline implied a real desire to end those annoying flashing messages that pop up when a driver hungrily asks for ink that’s no longer in the tank. Indeed, the Epson EcoTank ET-2850 all-in-one we pulled in for our review had four bottles of ink waiting to be unboxed.
The online instructions for the ET-2850 promised mess-free refilling, plus certain happy knock-on effects as well. Most notably, we saved out of pocket expenditure by refilling instead of buying new cartridges. We’re not too proud to admit it, saving some money is almost as important to our reviewers as saving the environment. The printer also copies and scans, using micro-piezo print technology to create crisp text and graphics. Quality aside, home printing convenience is provided courtesy of high-speed USB, 802.11a/b/n, and Wi-Fi Direct.
Review concluded, Epson’s printers nailed every home printing job we could throw at them. From the cost-efficient EcoTank series to the photo-perfect Expression models, the best printer brands for home use could very well be part of the Epson collection.
Canon Home Printers
Because of their high-end cameras, we tend to think of Canon printers as photography workhorses. The Pixma Pro 200 only serves to reinforce this argument, delivering vibrant hues and ultrasharp detail. Even when the selected paper media is less than ideal, the ChromaLife100+ ink reproduces a wide color gamut, as monitored on an easy-read 3.0 inch LCD display. Determined to break out of this box, though, Canon printer designers have engineered a whole other lineup of high-end home printing devices.
An office printer dwells in a dusty corner of our office. It’s the Canon Color ImageClass MF753Cdw, an all-in-one machine that offers super-fast 35 ppm B&W and color scanning, copying, and printing. For home duties, we’d recommend something equally capable, like the wireless Canon ImageCLASS MF462dw. The office model, the MF753Cdw, has the edge, printing faster, and in color, whereas the home model, the MF462dw, prints in B&W. These are both laser printers, both 802.11a/b/n wireless, although the office model also incorporates Wi-Fi Direct.
Why Canon stands out – The office printers and laser home office devices are one thing, but we were more impressed by the less expensive Pixma and MegaTank Pixma range. For example, the Pixma printers are inexpensive but fully wireless and fast enough to keep a home student or small business productive. The MegaTank variants added 2 years of ink in four bottles—even that semi-precious cyan ink, contained in a big plastic bottle.
We benchmarked the MegaTank Pixma G3290. Apart from the notable in-box bottles of ink, saving money and environment, the printer is equipped with all-in-one functions, print, scan and copy. It’s also cleverly incorporated with in-front display windows. Refill the ink and watch the levels climb and fall, visually and easily, all the better to avoid unpleasant low-ink surprises. Completing the package, a beautiful 2.7 inch touchscreen display manages features and hosts common print actions.
The 4800×1200 dpi quality, wireless 802.11b/g/n/a/ac, and 49dB quiet operation on the Pixma G3290 creates the foundation for a powerhouse series of text and image prolific devices. They’re also competitively priced, and they’re built to meet the latest industry sustainability standards as well.
Brother Home Printers
Initially, we found the Brother sales strategy a little bewildering. Their main products lines do lean towards printer technology, but then there’s also a bias towards embroidery and sewing machines, label makers and crafting machines. It was only after looking closer at their INKvestment tank color inkjets that we felt their competitive spirit rise to challenge the other ink slinging machine brands on this tightly matched list.
The Brother MFC-J5855DW INKvestment inkjet printers kicks off our review. Brother is most definitely in the running for best printer brand for home use, and we’d credit this machine with much of that consumer buzz. Its price sits in a nice sweet spot, affordable but suggestive of quality. The all-in-one device, besides the usual stream of in-built features like duplex printing and dual-band wireless, uses chip-to-head Maxidrive Technology to accelerate output while maintaining crisp text edges and non-bleed graphics. Then there’s the eco features, supplying one whole year of ink so that users aren’t constantly finding their tank needles hitting empty, like a fuel-guzzling automobile.
Why Brother stands out – Inkjet print technology gets a lot of exposure, but Brother doesn’t seem to favor one technology over any other. Their Brother MFC-J1170DW Wireless Inkjet features a 2.7 inch touchscreen control and fast color printing, yet it’s available for a sub $200 investment. Moving over to their Laser range, there’s a color laserjet on offer at around $300, one that prints reasonably fast 27ppm color stock. Brother Mobile Connect, installed either on Android or iOS increases appeal.
That appeal extends to youngsters. If a student doesn’t want to leave their rooms, they hook up their smartphones and print their homework directly through the home wireless connection, rippling out pages upon pages of paper stock, each filled with sharply rendered text and graphics. Wi-Fi Direct and NFC (Near Field Comms) are installed by default on many models, allowing users to skip past overloaded routers.
Brother printers have carved out a space in the home printing market by balancing cost and performance. From the versatile MFC-J5855DW to the speedy MFC-L2710DW, they’ve built a machine to satisfy practically every home printing scenario.
I hope this post helped you pick a home printer that's right for you. If you have any questions, drop a comment below.