If It Prints, I'll Let You Know

There was a time when we thought that the inkjet printer is the king – at least as far as personal printing goes. This is definitely true at the time when all we had to make do with were dot matrix printers and the only other great printer that is affordable is the inkjet.

Still, though, the print quality of laser printers goes unrivaled. Being the mad printers that we are – printing several hundred pages of theses and dissertations between us in our little household – the speed at which the laser printer can deliver documents as well as the professional print quality is right up there in our list.

Until recently, however, laser printing was confined to the reports and paperwork in the department office — that is until color laser printers started getting smaller and cheaper.

The Dell 1230c Color Laser printer is an example. At a little more than two hundred dollars, its price tag is definitely not as hefty as your normal office-bound laser printer. And its compact size will allow it to fit snugly into a cramped work area – whether that area is a corner of your dorm room or a tiny speck of space lodged between the sofa and the TV rack. As a matter of fact, the 1230c is reportedly even more compact than some inkjet printers.

Do not expect it to perform just as well as your office’s color laser, though. Print quality and print speed are not at par as most lasers, but will definitely be better than your common inkjet – unless you do a lot of photos, that is.

Set up is also very easy, you practically simply have to plug it in and go. The machine ships with drivers for most Windows versions as well as Mac.

One of the machines that may wind up under many Christmas trees are printers. They are, indeed, a relatively affordable and practical gift idea that will definitely receive more than just a cursory “thank you for remembering!” reaction from its recipient.

But even when buying such a practical and much sought-after gift, one ought to still be discerning and not simply grab the cheapest, or most expensive, or shiniest printer displayed in the nearest store or featured on the first online hub you see. For that, we turned to PCWorld and found a nice round-up of what their experts think are the cream of the crop as far as multifunction printers go.

First up is the Canon Pixma MX7600. Among its plus factors is print speed and print quality, along with other add-on features that justify its rather hefty price tag. It, however, lacks Wi-Fi connectivity. If Wi-Fi is important either to you or to the person destined to find it under the tree, then you may want to consider the HP Photosmart Plus All-In-One printer. Along with Wi-Fi, this printer’s user will get to enjoy excellent speed and print quality. The latter feature is, after all, usually the primary consideration for any printer purchase.

Another HP printer, the Photosmart C8180, is also recommended. This printer will be great for someone who intends to do quite a bit of photo printing, as it is equipped with critical digital photo processing features. It also includes a LightScribe drive for etching and burning.

If you also intend to buy a “gift” for your up-and-coming small office, then you may want to take a look at the HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-In-One printer. It has all the features that you may want out of a small office printer, plus the added advantage of operating with really cheap ink.

Savings do not necessarily mean buying the cheapest thing that you see on the shelf. This is especially true for printers, where there is a need to think not just of how much you are buying the printer for, but how much the machine is going to cost you in the long haul.

PCMag has come up with a list of printers that may not be as cheap as you would have hoped them to be right off the bat, but will end up saving you those $$$ in the long term.

There are only 4 printers on the list; should this be an indication for printer manufacturers to think more along these lines? We were, after all, faced with trying times only recently. More often than not, people will be looking for and choosing the option that will stretch the value of their hard-earned dollars.

Two of the printers on the list ended up on the PCMag Editor’s Choice list, which, in itself, is an indication that these machines are highly capable. At the top of the list is the HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless AIO, which runs at 1.6 cents per black and white page and 7.2 cents per page. The other Editor’s Choice recipient on the list, the Epson Workforce 310, operates at a relatively costly 12.3 cents per color page, but this is offset by an extremely cheap 2.5 cents per page for black and white printing. Users who rarely use color anyway will most probably find the Epson Workforce 310 a practical choice.

The other two printers on the list are the Kodak ESP 9 AIO, which runs at 2.3 cents per black and white page and 6.9 cents per color page, and the HP Officejet 6500 which operates at 2.7 cents per black and white page and 9.1 cents per color page.

When we say or hear “wide format printer,” images of humongous machines with tarpaulin material hanging out of it come to mind. Well, that is what some wide format printers do for a living, but it is not necessarily the only thing that they are good for.

Let’s face it, there is an increasing number of people trying to carve their own niche and make it as an entrepreneur. After all, why stand the risk of being fired anytime while contributing to someone else’s profit coffers when you can very well operate a little something in a corner of your living room and still be comfortable? For the fledgling entrepreneur whose business invariably has to do a little wide format printing – something that is definitely larger than your run-of-the-mill legal sized doc but way, way smaller than a tarp – then the Epson WorkForce 1100 may be a great addition to your home office or cramped rented office space.

Launched last August along with the Epson WorkForce 610, the primary recipient of the machine is declared in a nutshell on Epson.com’s overview of the product — Engineered for Business. And that, indeed, is what it is; except that its cost is not one that only the big shot businesses can afford.

At a little less than $200 – even cheaper if you are able to avail of a rebate – an upstart business can enjoy laser-like prints at larger sizes. Printable paper size ranges 3.5 x 5 inches to 13 x 19 inches; and that is only for single documents. Owners can also choose to print banners reaching up to 13 x 44 inches. Now who would have thought you can get that convenience for a couple hundred bucks?

If you are the environmentally-conscious type, you would be pleased to know that the WorkForce 1100 has the ability to do manual duplexing and is Energy Star qualified. It uses up almost three-quarters less power than laser printers, and is designed to be recycled.

For the University student on a budget or the home looking to provide school-aged children with their own printer, the Kodak ESP 3250 may be a model worth considering. This no-frills, no-nonsense multi-function printer is far from perfect, but bottom line is, it is able to deliver acceptable results at a cost that is definitely consumer-friendly.

The Kodak ESP 3250 is a multi-function color inkjet printer with print, scan and copy functionalities, all for a little less than $130. Being part of the Kodak family, who has been big on the declaration that it among all others offers cheaper ink, the machine will be able to provide users with low-cost printing overall. Its low up-front cost and cheap ink will definitely be a come on for those who would like to tighten their purse strings but need to take on this added expense.

Aside from this obvious positive trait, the printer also lives up to its Kodak name by being able to deliver excellent-quality photo prints that last for as long as you need it to last – even more. It also comes in a sleek design that you will not be ashamed of, and is compact enough to fit snugly into an already cramped office or into a dorm room with limited table space.

However, you cannot expect it to spew printers in a snap; this model is by far one of the slowpokes in its class. Even copying will have to entail a bit of a wait; but then again, if you are not a busy office workroom that does nothing but print and copy all day then speed should not be an issue.

The printer is also unable to duplicate its photo printing feat with its plain paper printing; it may be able to deliver excellent photos, but plain paper prints may not quite be as great. This is, though, something that is usually common among the cheaper inkjet printers, and if it is just for a 6th grade assignment, we are pretty sure the quality of the printing will do.

In general, though, the Kodak ESP 3250 certainly is able to deliver for the price that it comes in. It does not have Wi-Fi, fax, a large LCD screen and all that jazz, but it can definitely print, and sometimes, that is all that matters.