Inkjet Printers Reviews

The best printer reviews directly compare multiple models, test print quality with the same variety of papers consumers will use and test all of each printer's modes. Printer reviews ideally include reproductions and enlargements of prints that demonstrate photo, graphics and text quality, but not many reviewers go the extra mile to do this. PC Magazine no longer shows prints, but still has the most comprehensive, up-to-date and consistent coverage of inkjet printers. PrinterInfo.com has excellent individual reviews, but an unusual rating system and site undermines the frame of reference generally intended by such systems. In addition, the site doesn’t yet offer a large enough database of reviews to provide the best buying guidance and suffers from site navigation and usability problems. CNet.com covers lots of inkjet printers, but the quality of the reviews is variable. Consumer Reports reviews and scores printers, but offers little discussion and no coverage of higher-end options. Owner 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.

With photo inkjet printers replacing general purpose inkjet printers in the marketplace, and photo quality from those printers equaling or exceeding lab print quality, the photography magazines have become excellent sources for reviews of photo printers. Shutterbug, PopPhoto.com, Imaging-Resource.com and What Digital Camera all feature good reviews of inkjet photo printers. Photo-i features truly outstanding individual reviews, with an interactive, weeks-long testing process and extensive photographic samples, but this UK-based site includes only a small sampling of US-available printers. The overall drawback to photography magazine reviews is that they tend to focus on higher-end consumer models ($300 to $850) and professional models.

This report covers full-size inkjet printers and 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 only prints 4 x 6-inch or 5 x 7-inch photos, they are covered in our separate report on photo printers .

In recent years, ultra-cheap inkjet printers have rarely been reviewed. With so few on the market now, they are getting some attention. That’s a mixed blessing for Lexmark, the low-price market leader. The ratings for the Lexmark Z1300 (*est. $45) by PC Magazine and CNet.com are about as low as either reviewer ever goes. Both repeatedly acknowledge the terrific price as a context, but PC Magazine's M. David Stone cites “poor text and photo quality,” and CNet's Felisa Yang concedes, “If you do value print quality… you'll need to spend more.”

For a few dollars less, there's the Lexmark Z1420 (*est. $40) . Its major selling point is the capability of printing from any computer in a home via a wireless 802.11g or 802.11b network. Britain's TrustedReviews.com says it’s “a very slow printer, particularly printing colour, and doesn't give the best print quality you can get, even at this low entry price.” CNet's reviewer Felisa Yang adds, “The Lexmark Z1420 looks like a bargain until you see the prints it outputs.” Computer Shopper (U.K.) agrees about speed and print quality, but thinks the product is reasonable for its market niche. Computer Shopper (U.S.) dissents; the magazine’s reviewer Denny Atkin thinks print-quality is “generally excellent,” and the unit is a bargain.  ... Continued

Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
All The Reviews Reviewed chart.

General-purpose inkjet printers are disappearing from the marketplace in favor of photo printers. With the exception of Hewlett-Packard’s Deskjet 6940 series, the few current general-purpose inkjets do not receive many favorable reviews. Reviewers are beginning to favor photo printers with excellent text-printing capabilities for general-purpose use. Two photo printers from Canon, the Pixma iP4500 and Pixma iP3500, emerge in reviews as the most versatile, all-purpose printers available, while the Canon Pixma iP2600 is a solid budget alternative. The HP Officejet K5400tn shines for business use.

If photo quality matters more than text printing, reviewers say you can’t do better than the HP Photosmart Pro B9180, though photographers who focus on monochrome prints will likely prefer the Epson Stylus Photo R2400. The Epson Stylus Photo 1400 is a mid-priced photo printer that compares favorably against even some more expensive photo-centric options, while the HP Photosmart D7460 is a solid budget printer.