Printer Review

Standard printers vs. all-in-one printers

Many reviewers have shifted their coverage of printers to all-in-one models that can scan, copy and fax in addition to print, a shift that's also reflected in the market. Users are interested in models that do more than just print documents and photos. Still, all-in-ones are expensive if you don't need the extra functionality, and they can take up considerably more space on your desk. ConsumerSearch covers multifunction printers in a separate report.

The best printer reviews directly compare multiple products, evaluate print quality with the same variety of paper consumers will use and test all of the printer's modes. PCMag.com, ConsumerReports.org, PrinterInfo.com and Macworld generally do the best job of reviewing new printers. PCMag.com has the most printer reviews, including higher-end photo inkjet printers as well as budget family printers, and editors also conduct an annual reliability survey that rates and ranks printer brands. ConsumerReports.org focuses on lower-priced printers. User reviews at Amazon.com and Newegg.com paint a picture of how happy users are with their printers after they've used them for days, weeks and sometimes months.

If you're interested in a dedicated photo inkjet printer -- which can now equal lab print quality for smaller prints -- photography magazines are excellent sources for reviews. Shutterbug and Imaging-Resource.com publish extensive, test-based reviews of inkjet photo printers. U.K.-based Photo-i features outstanding individual printer reviews, with an interactive, weeks-long testing process and extensive photographic samples, and it often reviews printers that are available in the U.S. The overall drawback to photography magazine reviews is that they tend to focus on higher-end consumer printers ($500 and up) and professional models. Because of the popularity of multifunction printers, inkjet printers are becoming more specialized, particularly when it comes to photos. There are a number of photo inkjets in the $300 to $500 price range that produce excellent pro-quality photos. If you're looking in the $100 to $300 range, you may be better off with an all-in-one printer, which can copy, scan and sometimes fax in addition to printing documents and photos.

This report covers full-size inkjet printers and inkjet photo printers. All printers covered in this report are Windows and Macintosh compatible and have a one-year limited warranty unless otherwise specified. If you are interested in a dedicated snapshot printer, which prints only 4-by-6-inch or 5-by-7-inch photos, they are covered in our separate report on photo printers.

A final consideration is that advances in printer technology, so dramatic in past years, have slowed. Jon Canfield of Shutterbug notes that inkjet printers have, in a sense, "matured." This means that printer models are staying on the market longer -- that's a plus for consumers since it's easier to find many months of user views on printers, providing a window into longer-term reliability.