Best Printers Overall

Best general-purpose inkjet printers

The best general-purpose inkjet printers can produce letters, directions, maps and grocery lists in a reasonable amount of time and without consuming massive amounts of ink, yet are also able to create great looking birthday invitations, scrapbooking graphics and personal photos.

Though technically part of Canon's photo printer lineup, the Canon Pixma iP4600 (*Est. $100) stands out whatever the printing task it is put to. Like its highly acclaimed predecessor model, the iP4500 (a previous pick in the ConsumerSearch Best Reviewed section), the new Canon iP4600 scores high marks with reviewers. PC Pro's David Bayon feels that the iP4600 outclasses the earlier model, retaining the iP4500's quality and wealth of features, but improving upon its aesthetics.

With no LCD screen to perform editing functions, this is a printer that is intended to print primarily through an attached computer. The iP4600 is rich in features, including two paper trays with a 300-sheet input capacity, a duplexer (which enables automatic printing on both sides of a page), and a PictBridge port for direct printing from cameras. The dual paper tray system allows one tray to hold letter-sized paper and the other to hold photo paper, so users can easily print both text and photos without switching papers. Alternatively, the trays can be loaded with different sizes of photo paper. The iP4600 also prints on envelopes and other papers ranging from the size of a postcard up to full legal size (8.5 inches by 14 inches).

The Canon iP4600 uses five inks, both dye- and pigment-based, but in spite of using fewer colors than many other photo printers, output is where Canon's iP4600 series really shines in its price range. In his review for PC Magazine, M. David Stone writes, "The prints on my tests all easily qualified as true photo quality -- better than you would expect from a typical drugstore, although not quite a match for a professional photo lab or the output from top-tier, much-more-expensive photo printers."

We did notice a few consistent complaints in reviews. A common theme is that the Canon Pixma iP4600 is slow. Photo printing times seem acceptable to most, but text printing, especially when printing on both sides of the paper, frustrates some users. We also found many user complaints about the cost of the replacement ink cartridges -- replacing all five inks at once will cost you $60.

Hewlett-Packard offers some competition to Canon's impressive line of general-use printers. The HP Deskjet 6940 (*Est. $80) offers wired networking (something not included with the Canon Pixma iP4600). Graphics quality for both Pixma and Deskjet models even receives the same criticism in reviews, namely that thinner lines sometimes disappear. Photo quality comparisons, however, favor the Canon models, with the Deskjet printers demonstrating "banding" in some modes. CNet.com's Felisa Yang concludes that the HP printers would be fine for students or others who don't need the best photo quality.

None of the above printers include an LCD preview screen, which is helpful for previewing photos before you actually print them. The HP Photosmart D7560 (*Est. $120) costs more that the Canon Pixma iP4600, but reviews say it also creates great photo prints. Text pages are also good. Experts say print speeds are faster, as well. Like the Canon, the Photosmart D7560 also has two paper trays, but one is a smaller tray meant just for snapshot-sized paper.

The 3.5-inch screen is touch-sensitive. You can print directly from cameras from its PictBridge connection, or you use the memory-card slots for computer-free printing. The HP uses Viera inks -- five separate cartridges. The four color photo-ink tanks each cost about $10 to replace, while the standard black cartridge costs about $12, so about $52 to replace the whole set. So far, reviews for this model at Amazon.com are great. About two dozen people have rated it. The HP Photosmart D7560 can also print onto special CDs and DVDs, but reviewers say it would be a mistake to buy this printer just for this feature since the software is very limited and the results in reviews weren't great. Another possible drawback might be its U-turn paper path, which can make it tricky to print cardstock, envelopes or other stiff media.

The HP Officejet Pro K5400 (*Est. $105) is one of the few remaining single-purpose printers geared toward businesses -- most of the K5400's competitors are multipurpose printers that provide greater functionality but also print more slowly and with variable quality. Although the K5400 has been on the market for a relatively long period of time, it is still widely available and has not been replaced or upgraded since our last report.

The HP K5400's output quality and speed are praised by reviewers. M. David Stone, of PC Magazine, says that it "can stand toe to toe with color lasers in the sub-$500 range," offering competitive speeds, output quality and cost per page. On the downside, Stone and CNet.com's Felisa Yang point out minor imperfections in photo printing and that the printer is bulky.

Business application printing is where the HP Officejet Pro K5400 really pulls away from other inkjet printers. PC Magazine's review claims "record speed" in their test. Photos print slightly more slowly, but reviewers point out that the K5400 is designed, first and foremost, for business applications. Reviews find both text and photo quality to be very good -- not the best but more than suitable for business use. One complaint is that both text and photo prints smudge, and that the photos are also not water-resistant.

In addition to the base HP Officejet Pro K5400, which has a 250-sheet input tray, two step-up versions of this printer are available. The HP Officejet Pro K5400dtn (*Est. $150) adds an Ethernet network connector and an additional 350-sheet input tray to the base printer. The lack of network connectivity on the base K5400 is seen as a significant drawback by reviewers, including Brian Chen of Macworld, who calls the omission "irksome."