Printers

Printers Buying Guide

Inkjet and laser printers have become more affordable and increasingly full featured. Color inkjets, which can cost as little as $30, now turn out photos nearly indistinguishable from lab-processed photos. Once reserved for businesses, monochrome laser printers can now be had for less than $50.
  • Shopping tips
Printer selector (beta)
Sort our Ratings based on features, brands and other factors.

Shopping tips

The cost of paper, photo paper, and especially print cartridges can make operating a printer a bit expensive. So before you buy, consider these tips to help you save money over the life of the printer.

Avoid blank pages

Before printing Web pages, preview them to avoid generating lots of blank pages. Some printer manufacturers, such as HP, offer software that helps you cut paper use. A free program called GreenPrint (www.printgreener.com) analyzes pages you want to print and skips those with little or no content.

Print fewer pages

You can use more of a page by decreasing a document’s margins, using a smaller font size, or avoiding double line spacing. Also, some printers, including the Canon Pixma MP610 inkjet all-in-one that we recommend, have a built-in duplexer to print on both sides of the page.

Conserve ink or toner

Many printers have more than one quality setting. Figure out which is best for you. If you’re not printing photos, which should be printed at the best quality setting, consider using a lower, or "draft," mode, which should use less ink. Note that we don’t recommend cheap off-brand inks for performance reasons.

Power it down

Many of today’s printers conserve power, especially during periods of inactivity. The power scores in the Ratings indicate which models do so most effectively.

Seek efficiency

When choosing a printer we haven’t rated, look for an Energy Star label. The Environmental Protection Agency recently toughened qualifications for the label. To be awarded one, a printer must consume very little power when not printing. For details, go to www.energystar.gov.

Recycle cartridges

Programs to recycle used ink and toner cartridges reduce waste and can save money. Some are easy to take advantage of. At Brother’s Web site, for example, you can print a prepaid shipping label to send your used cartridge back to the company. HP also offers free cartridge recycling. Office Depot, OfficeMax, and Staples let you drop off used cartridges at local stores and offer a $3 credit for Dell, HP, and Lexmark cartridges.

 
View all printer buying advice