Printers / Scanners Sitemap - Page 3 2013-05-25
Remove the Protective Cap
Take off the protective plastic cap by turning the plastic handle counterclockwise.
If Pieces Remain, Turn the Printer Off
If you’re not able to get the paper out, close the cover and turn the printer off. When you turn it back on it will automatically eject (you’ll have to start your print job again).
Edit the Document in Word
The document will open in Word. You’ll probably have some editing to do, but think of all the typing you saved!
Send Text to Word
Once it finishes scanning, click on Tools and select Send Text to Word. A window will open giving you the choice of keeping photos in the Word version.
Deal with Paper Jams
Paper jams can happen for a number of reasons. The most common reasons are that the paper tray is overloaded or the edge of the paper is curled or folded. Paper typically jams between the sheet feeder and the output tray, or inside the machine. Here are step-by-step directions to clearing up both kinds of paper jams.
Open and Remove Torn Pieces
If it tears and leaves a piece inside, push up the document cover and take out the remaining piece. Be careful not to touch any of the components inside the machine, since they could be hot.
Cool OCR Software You Already Have
If you are scanning documents, you may wish that you could convert them to Word documents rather than PDFs or image files so they'd be easier to search and edit. But if you’re like me, you’d rather not have to buy new (and expensive) software. Microsoft Office Document Imaging software can convert the text in a scanned image to a Word document, and it's built into Office. Here’s how to find and use it.
Choose Paper Source
The program’s default is to pull paper from the automated document feeder. If that’s not where you want it to come from, click on Scanner and uncheck that box.
Choose the Preset
Choose the correct preset for the document you’re scanning.
Print Directly on Fabric
You can print directly onto fabric using your inkjet printer. Here's how.
Start the Scanner
Load the document you want to scan into your scanner and turn the machine on. Under File, choose Scan New Document.
Change Print Quality to Draft Mode
Changing print quality to Draft Mode can speed up printing and save ink.
Samsung SCX-4623FW Wireless Laser Printer--Review of the Samsung SCX-4623FW Wireless Laser Printer
The Samsung SCX-4623FW is a wireless monochrome laser printer aimed at small businesses, home offices, and consumers who have a compelling need for a black-and-white printer. It's got WiFi built in and offers a scanner, copier, and fax as well as an automatic document feeder. Manual duplexing, at least to me, is a drawback in a $250 laser printer (though I've seen it as cheap as $157); but the print quality is uniformly excellent.
HP Photosmart D110 All-in-One Printer--Review of the HP Photosmart D110 All-in-One Printer
Though the HP Photosmart D110 series sounds like a dedicated photo printer, it's not quite that; rather, it's a fax-less all-in-one that's not as portable as HP seems to think. It has a decent sized LCD screen, it prints photos nicely, and is wireless and has customizable apps to allow printing from online sources. Still, though inexpensive, it's in a crowded HP marketplace of similarly priced printers with similar functions, and it's hard to see how it distinguishes itself from the pack.
Brother MFC-5890cn All-in-One Printer
This Brother all-in-one printer connects easily to a network and prints and scans quickly. A better LCD and automatic duplexing would raise it a few notches higher.
Choosing the Right Printer
Buying a new printer can be hard work; the first thing to do is choose which printer is the right one for you. But that's not so easy to do, since there are so many printer choices. Inkjet? Laser or LED? All-in-one printer? Some or all of the above? The answer depends on how you intend to use it, and the first step is figuring out what you need.
Lexmark Pinnacle Pro901 All-in-One Printer--Review of the Lexmark Pinnacle Pro901 Printer
Like others in Lexmark's new line of printers, the Pinnacle Pro901 is a good three-in-one printer that offers a large touchscreen that can be customized online with applications tailored to meet your exact printing, copying, or scanning needs. I did run into a few issues getting some of them to work properly, however. The printer is not particularly fast but quality is very good, in particular photos, which looked even better than from some dedicated photo printers.
Pandigital Digital Photo Greeting Card--Review of the Pandigital Digital Photo Greeting Card
The Pandigital Digital Photo Greeting Card looks like one of those large greeting cards with music--but instead, it has a small (1.44 inch) LCD screen and holds 50 digital photos in a slideshow. The card comes in all major holiday versions--birthdays, Valentine's Day, and so on--and is easy to set up. The screen is small, about an inch square. But for the cost (about $10 each), they're not much more expensive than regular cards (and far less annoying than music cards).
Epson Artisan 835 All-in-One Color Printer--Review of the Epson Artisan 835 All-in-One Color Printer
The Epson Artisan 835 color printer is the next level above the Artisan 810. Like the 810, it prints quickly with good results; photos in particular come out excellent. It features built-in wireless, an automatic duplexer, and has a great, large (7.8-inch), tiltable touchscreen that makes it very easy to use. With six ink cartridges to replace, its cost of ownership will likely be high. Still, the results are excellent.
Xerox Phaser 6140 Color Laser Printer--Review of the Xerox Phaser 6140 Color Laser Printer
The Xerox Phaser 6140 is a color laser printer aimed at small and home offices. While it's bigger and more expensive than consumer-oriented color laser printers, it does have a robust duty cycle and does its work quickly; even better, it prints out great-looking color graphics.
HP Scanjet Professional 3000 Document Scanner--Review of the HP Scanjet 3000 Document Scanner
The HP Scanjet Professional 3000 Document Scanner is a high-speed and surprisingly heavy-duty sheet-fed scanner. It comes with a full suite of scanning software which makes it right for a lot of different uses. I wasn't impressed too much with the business-card software, which did an okay job with lots of cards but still left me plenty of editing to do. But I was impressed that the scanner seemed nearly unjammable.
Canon Pixma MX882 All-in-One Printer--Review of the Canon Pixma MX882 All-in-One Printer
The Canon Pixma MX882 is a worthy upgrade to the Pixma line. While it offers many of the same features as the MX860, it's much faster and almost the same price. The printer has built-in wireless and an automatic duplexer, and an extended keypad that helps keep the printer's face from being overly busy (though it's still pretty full). Speeds were excellent and quality was everything I expected from a Canon printer.
HP Officejet Pro 8500A A910 All-in-One Color Printer--Review of the HP Officejet Pro 8500A A910 All-in-One Color Printer
The HP Officejet Pro 8500A is a wireless all-in-one printer that features a touchscreen, a duplexer, and customizable apps that can be downloaded from HP. A unique e-mail address means you can print to it from anywhere.
Review of the Epson Artisan 810 All-in-One Color Printer
The Epson Artisan 810 color printer is at the high end of all-in-one line; but for the price, it delivers a great value. It prints very quickly and photos in particular come out with startling quality and richness. It's got all the handy bells and whistles you could hope for, from built-in wireless (very easily configured) to automatic duplexing. And the printer's enormous (7.8-inch) and tiltable touchscreen makes it a snap to use. For a little extra money, this printer is truly a best buy.
Epson WorkForce 600 All-in-One Printer
The Epson WorkForce 600 All-in-One Printer is a great resource for
Epson Stylus NX515 All-in-One Printer--Review of the Epson Stylus NX515 Printer
The Epson Stylus NX515 is a very fast all-in-one printer. It comes with WiFi networking built in and can do pretty much everything that much bigger and more expensive all-in-one printers can do--but it does them without taking much space, or too much cash. Photos have excellent color depth and print quickly. For the price--just over $100--the Epson Stylus NX515 all-in-one printer is a best bet.
HP Officejet 4500 All-in-One Color Printer--Review of the HP Officejet 4500 All-in-One Printer
The HP OfficeJet 4500 Wireless is not exactly a speed demon, but for the price (I saw it as low as $129.99), it's a very good deal. For that price, built-in wireless, an automatic document feeder, fax, and (manual) duplex come as welcome surprises. Print quality for text documents was not the best I've seen, but color photos looked lush and wonderful.
HP LaserJet Pro 1606dn Laser Printer--Review of the HP Pro LaserJet 1606dn Laser Printer
Reasonably priced for a high-quality monochrome laser printer, the HP LaserJet Pro 1606dn laser printer was exceedingly fast and print quality superb. The printer is part of HP's
CanoScan 9000F--Review of the CanoScan 9000F Scanner
It's big, and the buttons are a bit cryptic, but the CanoScan 9000F does a fine job scanning documents, photos, and magazine images. Optical character recognition was spotty at lower resolutions, but seemed to improve at higher resolution; however, the end product of OCR scans comes out in Notepad, which isn't the most useful program ever. The scanner comes with an excellent set of software including Adobe Photoshop elements, which helps defray some of the $250 cost. Color scans looked great.
Samsung ML-2525W Monochrome Laser Printer--Review of the Samsung ML-2525W Monochrome Laser Printer
Though it's aimed at the small- and home-based-business market, anyone looking for a high quality and low price laser printer will find a lot to like about the Samsung ML-2525W monochrome laser printer. It's fast (once it's warmed up, anyway), wireless, and quiet. And it's available for under $150.
Epson Perfection V330 Photo Scanner--Review of the Epson Perfection V330 Photo Scanner
The Epson Perfection V330 Photo Scanner works well for scanning documents as well as photos and negatives. Its built-in photo-management software allows you to do some decent photo restoration (fixing colors, adjusting for dark backgrounds, and so on) while photo-stitching software gives the opportunity to splice several photos together. If only the power and USB cords plugged into the back rather than the front, it would be excellent.
Plustek OpticFilm 7400 Film / Slide Scanner--Review of the Plustek OpticFilm 7400 Scanner
The Plustek OpticFilm 7400 is a dedicated scanner for negatives and slides. With the aid of the included SilverFast software, the scanner does a phenomenal job of easily scanning negatives and slides and making them look great--without a lot of editing intervention. It makes multiple passes when it scans, so it's not meant to be fast; and it will work only with standard 35mm negatives and slides. It's not a very versatile scanner, but is right for those with lots of old film to convert.
Epson WorkForce 635 All-in-One Color Printer--Review of the Epson WorkForce 35 Color Printer
The Epson WorkForce 635 all-in-one inkjet printer certainly offers a lot to small-business owners (as well as home users who use a printer a lot and who need a fax). It's fast, has plenty of built-in business features such as an automatic document feeder and duplex printing, and has a fax, scanner, and copier as well. Wireless (Wi-Fi n) networking is helpful and fast, and there are multiple memory-card slots handily located on the front of the machine.
HP Photosmart eStation--Review of the HP Photosmart eStation
It's a multifunction printer. It's got a detachable seven-inch wireless tablet. And it's got the great printing quality associated with HP. What is it? The HP Photosmart eStation. It gets the printing part great; whether the detachable tablet is for you is still to be decided. After all, when you're printing, typically you're near your computer anyway, right? But still, if you feel an overwhelming urge to surf Yahoo! while you print, this is your baby.
Review of the Brother MFC-J6710DW All-in-One Inkjet Printer
The Brother MFC-J6710DW all-in-one inkjet printer is built for heavy use in small offices, and its main advantage is that it can work with paper sizes as large as 11x17. Those who need that kind of functionality will find this a great buy. Small offices will also find Brother's optional high-yield ink cartridges a helpful option. The printer has built-in duplexing capability and wireless or wired networking and comes with a three-year limited warranty.
Review of the Epson Artisan 800 All-in-One Printer
The Epson Artisan 800 printer is a fantastic all-in-one printer that works across a network (or via USB). Images, documents, photos, all looked great thanks to the Claria ink cartridges. Too bad this particular Epson inkjet printer doesn't come with a duplexer.
Brother MFC-790CW All-in-One Printer
The Brother MFC-790 all-in-one wireless printer is an affordable multifunction printer that will work best for home and small-office users.
HP Officejet J4680 All-in-one Color Inkjet Printer
The HP Officejet J4680 is a compact all-in-one printer that is networkable across a wired or wireless network. It prints quickly and photos look great. It's a bit thirsty for ink, so you'll want the high-yield cartridges.
Epson B-310N Color Inkjet Printer--Review of the Epson B-310N Color Inkjet Printer
Small workgroups and small businesses will be pleased with the speed at which the Epson B-310N puts out pages; they'll also have few complaints about the quality of prints. It's on the high-side, in terms of price, for an inkjet printer--particularly with the price of color laser printers falling--but this printer also does a great job on photos and graphics, which not every laser printer does. Be prepared to sacrifice some desktop space, and to spend extra for the optional duplex unit.
HP Scanjet Professional 1000 Mobile Scanner--Review of the HP Scanjet 1000 Mobile Scanner
The HP Scanjet Professional 100 Mobile Scanner is portable, fast, and comes with a full suite of scanning software. It's easy to use, though the sheer amount of software included is a bit daunting--it takes some playing around to figure out what each does. The business-card software was very weak. But the scanner's size, USB power, and heavy-duty case make up for this (unless you need a mobile scanner primarily for business cards--in that case, look for other software).
Kodak ESP Office 6150 All-in-One Color Printer--Review of the Kodak Office ESP 6150 All-in-One Printer
For roughly $250, the Kodak ESP Office 6150 leaves something to be desired--namely, speed. It's downright pokey at normal quality, and while things speed up in draft mode, the end results are less than exciting. Photos look decent but not fantastic, which is disappointing considering that even cheaper Kodak printers do a pretty fantastic job. And while the literature for the 6150 claims you can print from a smartphone, I couldn't figure out (or find any help on) printing from a Blackberry.
Epson WorkForce 520 All-in-One Color Printer--Review of the Epson WorkForce 520 Color Printer
Like the Epson Workforce 610, the Workforce 520 color all-in-one printer offers a lot of printer for not much money. It prints very fast and leaves text and graphics looking good; if anything, photos fare even better, but take a long time to print. An automatic document feeder and built-in wireless make it a good bet for home and small businesses, while the single paper input and manual duplexing may give you second thoughts.
HP LaserJet Pro M1212nf Laser Printer--Review of the HP Pro LaserJet M1212nf Laser Printer
For a bare-bones laser printer--no wireless, no automatic duplexing--the HP LaserJet Pro M1212nf is fairly cheap, at around $199. It's as fast as could be expected, and print quality is decent, though pages tended to curl more than I like. The printer is part of HP's
Kodak ESP 9250 All-in-One Color Printer--Review of the Kodak ESP 9250 All-in-One Printer
At the high end of the ESP line is the Kodak ESP 9250, an all-in-one that offers a fax, scanner, copier, and easily configured wireless. Like other ESP printers, it's not very fast, with first pages taking almost 30 seconds to print. Photos look great but text printing is not all that dazzling, nor is the clumsy analog control panel.
Brother HL-2270DW Laser Printer--Review of the Brother HL-2270DW Laser Printer
The Brother HL-2270 laser printer offers a lot of the conveniences of heavier-duty Brother laser printers such as the HL-5370DW, such as wireless networking and built-in duplexing--and it's about a hundred dollars cheaper as well. Where the 5370DW has a few extra perks such as a 50-sheet bypass tray (where the 2270DW has only a single-sheet bypass tray), the cheaper printer easily competes with its more expensive cousin and is highly recommended.
Epson Stylus NX625 All-in-One Printer--Review of the Epson Stylus NX625 Printer
The Epson Stylus NX625 is basically the same printer as the Epson Stylus NX515, with built-in duplexing and updated WiFi. It's awfully cheap as well--I've seen it online for just over $100, which is what the NX515 used to cost. As always, you can count on photos having excellent color depth and being dry when they come out. The NX625's built-in photo restoration is great for those looking to do a quick touch-up without using graphics software.
Brother HL-4570CDW Wireless Color Laser Printer--Review of the Brother HL-4570CDW Wireless Color Laser Printer
The Brother HL-4570CDW is a color laser printer aimed at businesses and workgroups. It boasts business-friendly features such as fast printing, built-in wireless, and automatic duplex printing. It also offers some consumer-friendly features such as a USB port on the front of the machine, and an app that will let you print directly from an Android smartphone.
Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 Portable Document Scanner--Review of the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 Document Scanner
The Fujitsu ScanSnap S1100 is a portable document scanner that runs off of a single USB cable. It's quite fast and accurate in addition to being small, and it will automatically deskew scans so you don't need to worry about feeding paper in exactly at the correct angle. Included software allows the ScanSnap Manager to do optical character recognition on documents as well as business cards from around the world.
Epson WorkForce 840 All-in-One Color Printer--Review of the Epson WorkForce 840 Color Printer
The Epson WorkForce 840 all-in-one inkjet printer for small-business owners and busy home users. It's fast, offers two paper trays, an automatic document feeder and duplex printing, and a fax, scanner, and copier. Wi-Fi b/g/n networking is built in, and there are multiple memory-card slots handily located on the front of the machine.
Brother MFC-255CW All-in-One Color Printer--Review of the Brother MFC-255CW All-in-One Color Printer
Brother's MFC-255CW is a very good color inkjet printer that is a great value at under $100. Like some other Brother all-in-ones I've tried, it has slow print speeds across a wireless network, but it scores high points for print quality--especially photos, which come out looking fantastic.
HP LaserJet Pro CP1525nw Color Laser Printer--Review of the HP Pro LaserJet CP1525nw Color Laser Printer
The HP LaserJet Pro CP1525nw Color Laser Printer is meant for offices with heavy printing needs. It's not particularly fast, at least for first pages, but print quality is uniformly excellent. It offers a single paper tray and a single priority feed slot. Like other HP LaserJets, page curl is an issue, and the tiny LCD screen and control panel offer only the basics. With a duty cycle of up to 30,000 pages per month, this relatively small color laser printer is meant to last.
Lexmark S605 Interact All-in-One Printer--Review of the Lexmark S605 Interact Printer
The Lexmark S605 Interact is a decent three-in-one printer that offers some great benefits, in particular a large and intelligently designed touchscreen, and a host of customizable applications that make it simple to tailor the printer, scanner, and copier functions to your exact needs. Those options, rather than the speed or quality of the printer (which are completely acceptable), are what make this new printer an exciting and compelling best buy.
Review of the CanoScan LiDE 210 Scanner
The Canon CanoScan LiDE 210 is one of the smallest flatbed scanners I've ever reviewed. Don't be fooled by its size, though; the LiDE 210 offers a lot of functionality and convenience in a small footprint--and with a small price as well. It feels a bit delicate and so I was hesitant to put too much pressure on it when trying to scan a hardcover book (and the cover only raises an inch or so, so it's not optimal for scanning large items); but it's a best bet for document scanning.
HP Deskjet F4280 Printer Review
This HP Deskjet printer is an entry-level all-in-one printer that does a remarkably good job.
Kodak ESP 5 All-in-One Printer
The Kodak ESP 5 all-in-one printer is a low-cost multifunction printer that has excellent print quality but is not the most convenient all-in-one out there for this price.
Brother MFC-6890cdw All-in-One Color Printer
The Brother MFC-6490cdw is a color inkjet all-in-one wireless printer that is big and beefy but adds a lot of value to an office. Some slow over-the-network print speeds may take a few points away from it, but overall it's a best bet.
Epson Stylus NX400 All-in-One Printer
The Epson Stylus NX400 all-in-one offers a low price and decent printing features.
Canon Pixma MP490 All-in-One Printer Review
For under a hundred bucks, the Canon Pixma MP490 all in one printer is a decent buy. Like many other printers in this price range, it lacks some advanced features such as an automatic document feeder, an automatic duplexer, and wireless support. Of course you'll pay more for those features--so before you buy, decide just how important those advanced features are going to be.
Canon Pixma MP480 All-in-One Printer Review
The Canon Pixma MP480 All-in-One Printer is inexpensive, small, and good looking, but it's missing some of the options that would make it a must-buy.
Lexmark X204n Printer Review
The Lexmark X204n is a monochrome laser printer that sells for well under $300. It's also networkable, fast, and has a fairly small footprint for a laser printer.
Canon Pixma MP560 All-in-One Color Printer--Review of the Canon Pixma MP560 All-in-One Printer
Canon sets the bar pretty high for its printers, and in a few ways this one--the Canon Pixma MP560 all-in-one printer--fell short. For a low-end printer it includes wireless, which is a real benefit; but I didn't get great results printing text. Ink bled into the paper, making prints less than crisp. Photos on the other hand looked just fine. But if your printing needs are more towards sharp, clear documents, you're not going to be pleased with the MP 560.
HP Officejet Pro 8500 All-in-One Color Printer--Review of the HP Officejet Pro 8500 All-in-One Color Printer
Slow set-up time aside, the HP Officejet Pro 8500 is an all-in-one with a host of features such as wireless, one-button scanning options, fax, and copier that will make any home or small office more efficient at a price that's more than reasonable.
Canon Pixma MX330 All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer
An outstanding, low-end all-in-one printer from Canon--what else needs to be said? For about $100, you get all the features you could want, plus the quality and dependability of Canon.
Canon Pixma iX7000 Large Format Color Printer--Review of the Canon Pixma iX7000 Large Format Color Printer
It's not just large (and it is); the Canon Pixma iX7000 is a large-format printer, meaning it can easily handle paper up to 13 x 19 inches. With its jutting cassette, it will require a table of its own. I wish it included wireless connectivity, given that its size may force you to keep it in a corner; but in terms of quality, photo output is excellent, while colored graphics look better if you use good paper.
Brother HL-5370DW Laser Printer--Review of the Brother HL-5370DW Laser Printer
Easy set up and built-in conveniences such as duplexing and networking are the only things that distinguish the Brother HL-5370DW laser printer from the pack.
HP Color LaserJet CM2320nf All-in-One Laser Printer
The HP Color LaserJet CM2320nf All-in-One Laser Printer provides excellent color prints though it can be slow in printing jobs from large files.
Canon Pixma MP530 All-in-One Printer Review
The Canon Pixma MP530 is a multifunction printer that is a dependable workhorse for home offices.
Canon Pixma iP3600 Color Photo Printer
The Canon Pixma iP3600 color photo printer is inexpensive and high quality; but for a few dollars more you can get the next in Canon's line.
Use Remote Scan to Scan Across a Network
Software from Remote Scan allows printers to share a single scanner across a wired or wireless network.
Samsung CLX-6200 All-in-One Color Laser Printer--Review of the Samsung CLX-6200 Color Laser Printer
The Samsung CLX-6200FX color laser printer offers everything a small office needs to be productive.
Canon Pixma MX860 All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer
You'll pay twice as much for this Canon Pixma all-in-one as for the Pixma MX330 I recently reviewed. What do you get for the extra dough? A lot. Wireless / wired network printing. A built-in duplexer. Up to 9600 x 2400 dpi color printing. Truly outstanding colors. Is it worth it? While the cost of replacing five tanks can be huge, the quality is so good that I'd pay the extra money, since I tend to print a lot.
Epson Workforce 30 Inkjet Printer
The Epson Workforce 30 is limited in functionality--you won't get a fax or scanner or copier in this almost-full-size unit--but it what it does, it does very well. In particular, photos look fantastic, in large measure thanks to the DuraBrite ink that Epson uses, but you won't sacrifice basic black-and-white quality either. For well under a hundred bucks, this is a pretty good deal.
Samsung CLP-315 Color Laser Printer--Review of the Samsung CLP-315 Color Laser Printer
The Samsung CLP-315 Color Laser Printer is not that fast, but it's quiet, good looking, and quite cheap. I found it a good deal for the money.
Sony DPP-FP97 Digital Photo Printer
Gorgeous prints and lots of on-board editing options on this Sony photo printer are its strongest points.
Brother MFC-6490CW All-in-One Printer
The Brother MFC-6490CW All-in-One Printer is is made for a small office and offers plenty of handy office features, including wireless.
Epson Perfection V500 Photo Scanner--Review of the Epson Perfection V500 Photo Scanner
The Epson Perfection V500 Photo Scanner can scan both photos and negatives. Since Adobe Photoshop Elements and other optical-character recognition software comes in the package, it offers a lot of benefits for any photo-scanning use.
HP Photosmart C6380 All-in-One Printer
The HP Photosmart C6380 does a great job with photos and is adequate for all other print jobs.
Samsung ML-1630W Monochrome Laser Printer
The Samsung ML-1630w Monochrome Laser Printer is a networkable printer that is fast, quiet, and quite good looking. But it didn't seem like a lot of printer for the money.
Samsung SCX-4500 Monochrome Laser Printer
The Samsung SCX-4500 Monochrome Laser Printer is a cool-looking printer that is fast and extremely quiet. But it's missing a few conveniences.
Canon iP4600 Photo Printer--Review of the Canon iP4600 Photo Printer
The Canon iP4600 Photo Inkjet Printer is on the big side for a photo printer but it does great work.
Canon Pixma MX7600 All-in-One
The Canon Pixma MX7600 all-in-one printer includes a new clear-ink technology that helps create better color and monochrome prints. It's a large printer but it does its job well.
Brother MFC-7840W Review
The Brother MFC-7840W all-in-one printer is a monochrome laser printer that features a fax, scanner, copier, and wired/wireless networking.
HP Photosmart A626 Review
The HP Photosmart A626 printer is lightweight and portable, though its colors aren't perfect.
Epson WorkForce 610 All-in-One Color Printer--Review of the Epson WorkForce 610 Color Printer
The Epson Workforce 610 color printer offers a lot of printer for not much over $100. It has fast print speeds, with text and graphics looking good and photos with sharp colors. Built-in wireless helps make it appropriate for home and small businesses. The tiltable touchscreen is cluttered and there were some issues getting wireless to work. Bottom line: You can't go far wrong here, but with so many printers in Epson's various lines, you can probably find a better deal (Artisan 810, anybody?).
Epson WorkForce 310 All-in-One Printer
The Epson WorkForce 310 offers great quality photos and near-laser-quality text printing.
Xerox Phaser 3100MFP All-in-One Printer
A review of the Xerox Phaser 3100MFP laser printer shows that it needs more work to compete in this price range.
Xerox Phaser 3250 Laser Printer
The Xerox Phaser 3250 Laser Printer only does one thing--print in monochrome--but it does it exceptionally well.
Canon Pixma MP610 All-in-One Review
The Canon Pixma MP610 all-in-one printer does a fine job at photo scanning and printing, though it left a little to be desired.
Samsung ML-2851 Laser Printer
This Samsung printer is a monochrome laser printer that can be connected to over a wired network. The ML-2851 is made for small businesses and is a good entry-level monochrome laser printer.
Dell 968 All-in-One Printer--Review of the Dell 968 All-in-One Printer
The Dell 968W All-in-One printer is a convenient and hard-working multifunction printer that's easy on the wallet.
Canon Selphy CP780 Digital Photo Printer
Excellent print quality at a low price makes the Canon Selphy CP780 a best buy.
Canon Selphy CP790 Digital Photo Printer--Review of the Canon Selphy CP790 Digital Photo Printer
The Canon Selphy CP790 digital photo printer offers excellent print quality in a really fun form factor--a big green bucket.
Epson Stylus Photo RX680
The Epson Stylus Photo RX680 isn't the multifunction you need to keep your office running, but it does a great job with photo printing and other tasks.
DocuPen RC800 Portable Scanner Review
A review of the DocuPen Portable Scanner, a handheld scanner that works quickly and easily.
KeyScan Integrated Document Scanner
The KeyScan Integrated Document Scanner is a convenient scanner built into a keyboard.
Polaroid PoGo Portable Photo Printer--Review of the Polaroid PoGo Portable Photo Printer
The Polaroid PoGo portable photo printer is a very portable photo printer that doesn't use ink. The prints are small but it's a lot of fun to use, it's fast, and it fits in your back pocket.
Canon Selphy CP760 Compact Photo Printer
The Canon Selphy CP760 Compact Photo Printer uses dye-sublimation ink to print postcard-sized prints.
Epson Perfection 30 Scanner
The Epson Perfection 30 scanner is a very fast, environmentally friendly scanner. Its zero warm-up time is a nice benefit as well. A minimalist unit yet stocked with all the features that scanners need (scan to e-mail and PDF, for example), it's a good buy--and it's well under a hundred bucks.
Brother MFC-9320CW All-in-One Color LED Printer--Review of the Brother MFC-9320CW All-in-One Printer
Brother's MFC-9320CW is an affordable color LED printer (under $500) that offers a good deal of value for home or small-business users. (An LED printer uses an array of LEDs rather than a single laser as a light source, so it has fewer moving parts but may also have slightly lower resolution than a laser printer.) Though it lacks a useful LCD screen, is slightly slower than other laser printers, and has a cluttered onboard interface, it still performs admirably.
NeatDesk Scanner
The NeatDesk Document Scanner is a great help in clearing out cluttered drawers and filing cabinets, allowing scans to be exported to useful programs such as Outlook and Turbo Tax. Business cards gave the scanner some problems, however.
Fujitsu ScanSnap S300 Document Scanner--Review of the Fujitsu ScanSnap S300 Document Scanner
The Fujitsu ScanSnap S300 is an excellent duplex scanner that won't take up any room on your desk.
Epson Perfection V600 Photo Scanner--Review of the Epson Perfection V600 Photo Scanner
The Epson Perfection V600 Photo Scanner offers all the tools and capabilities that photo buffs of every level could want in a photo scanner, including a built-in transparency unit and the ability to scan slides, negatives, and medium-format film. I appreciate that it came with Adobe Photoshop Elements, which helps defray the somewhat high cost of the machine. Paper instructions would make it a bit easier to set up, but this is a fine scanner for photos, film, and documents.
Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 Document Scanner
The Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 is a lightning-fast document scanner with only a few issues with OCR.
Planon Printstik PS905 Portable Printer--Review of the Planon Printstik PS905 Portable Printer
The Printstik PS905 is indeed very portable, and can print via Bluetooth, which may make it convenient for those on the go who absolutely can't wait to print something out. But it's not cheap, and the low quality of the prints is probably not worth the convenience to anybody but the most hard-core road warrior.
Plustek SmartOffice PS282 Scanner--Review of the Plustek SmartOffice PS282 Scanner
The Plustek SmartOffice PS282 is a handy and compact scanner that zips quickly through jobs and folds up so it doesn't take up a lot of space. It doesn't come cheap, so at over $300 it competes with Fujitsu's ScanSnap line which comes with the full version of Adobe Acrobat, a great program to have, though the Plustek does come with its own suite of OCR and image-editing software. Bottom line? The ScanSnap S1500 is more expensive but I think it's the better buy.
Fujitsu ScanSnap S510 Scanner
This review of the Fujitsu ScanSnap S510 Scanner found it to be a hardworking little scanner that did a great job.
Brother HL-3070CW Color Digital Printer--Review of the Brother HL-3070CW Color Digital Printer
Brother's HL-3070CW is a very good deal--for about $250 it can compete easily with color laser printers. (An LED printer uses LEDs rather than a single laser as a light source.) I found it fast, relatively easy to set up (though wireless could've been a tad simpler), and the output (color and black) excellent. Replacement toner isn't cheap (around $70 per cartridge), but the black cartridges are estimated for 2,200 pages and the color ones for about 1,400 pages, so they should last a long time.
Lexmark X466 Laser Printer--Review of the Lexmark X466 Laser Printer
It doesn't come cheap, but with a huge, customizable touchscreen that helps simplify repetitive printing, scanning, and copying tasks, the Lexmark X466 networkable monochrome laser printer may well help to define the future of office printing.
Kodak ESP 7250 All-in-One Color Printer--Review of the Kodak ESP 7250 All-in-One Printer
The Kodak ESP 7250 comes at a reasonable price, has built-in wireless and optional Bluetooth, and creates very good prints. It is not the fastest of printers, however, and, like the cheaper 5250, can take a while to warm up; and an automatic document feeder would be welcome. But the wireless was easy to set up and I like the separate tray for photos.
Kodak ESP 3250 All-in-One Color Printer--Review of the Kodak ESP 3250 All-in-One Color Printer
The Kodak ESP 3250 color printer is a good value--at just over $100, it won't break the bank, and neither will Kodak's low-cost ink refills. The ESP 3250 puts out great looking photos and decent-enough prints from documents, and while it's not super fast, it's not pokey, either. If you need a lot of extras--an automatic document feeder, a big LCD, or multiple paper feeds--look somewhere else. But for a three-in-one that performs well, this is a very good choice.
Kodak ESP 5250 All-in-One Color Printer--Review of the Kodak ESP 5250 All-in-One Color Printer
For the price (over $150), the Kodak ESP 5250 didn't perform as well as I hoped. In that price range it competes with some excellent Epson all-in-ones (including the WorkForce 610 and the cheaper NX 515 and even some entry-level Brother printers like the 255 CW. Photo quality is very good, print quality decent, but it's slow, takes a while to warm up, and had a number of photo-paper-related paper jams. Wireless was a nice option to have, but otherwise I liked the cheaper Kodak 3250 more.
Epson PictureMate Charm Digital Photo Printer--Review of the Epson PictureMate Charm Digital Photo Printer
Portable and easy to use, the PictureMate Charm photo printer also puts out some fantastic photo prints. There are some basic on-board photo-editing functions, though a somewhat clunky interface makes them a bit hard to find and understand. Like other portable photo printers, a battery and Bluetooth interface are both optional, which is a shame. I like the internal print cartridge a bit more than the Selphy's dye-sublimation pack, though I preferred the Selphy 790's handy bucket-style case.
Canon Selphy ES40Digital Photo Printer--Review of the Canon Selphy ES40Digital Photo Printer
The Canon Selphy ES40 portable photo printer is small and compact, fun and easy to use, and it prints some amazing photos. It doesn't offer a whole lot of options, and you can only print 4x6 photos--but if that's what you're looking for, you can't beat this Selphy.
Epson PictureMate Show Digital Photo Printer--Review of the Epson PictureMate Show Digital Photo Printer
The Epson PictureMate Show prints photos that are dazzlingly sharp; and it doubles, less effectively, as a digital photo frame. Despite the handle it's not particularly portable, and if you want to take advantage of the large (7-inch) tilt screen as a photo viewer, you'll have to overcome both the printer's boxy ugliness and the strangely low-res screen (800x480 dpi). But if you want to print lab-quality pictures, you'll not be disappointed by the PictureMate Show.
Types of Scanners--What Are the Differences Between Scanners?
There are a few different kinds of scanners and, as with printers, the one that’s right for you depends on how you intend to use it. The most common types are flatbed scanners, sheetfed scanners, photo scanners, and portable scanners.
Pandigital Photolink Photo Scanner--Review of the Pandigital Photolink Photo Scanner
The Pandigital Photolink One-Touch Photo Scanner is small, affordable, and did a decent job in scanning photos. It may not be the choice of professional photographers, and it doesn't scan negatives or slides, but for the home user looking to get that box of photos organized, this is a good deal.
Brother MFC-495CW All-in-One Color Printer--Review of the Brother MFC-495CW Color Printer
The Brother MFC-495CW is a decent color all-in-one printer that I've seen online for around $100, making it a great value. It's not particularly fast, especially across a wireless network, and the small LCD is only marginally helpful; but print quality--especially photos--was top notch.
Canon Pixma MP990 Wireless Photo All-in-One Printer--Review of the Canon Pixma MP990 Wireless Photo Printer
The Canon Pixma MP990 offers a lot of great features such as auto duplexing in a rather large three-in-one printer (there's no fax). On the plus side it's very fast and photos in particular look fantastic. On the minus side, there's no ADF and the ink tends to saturate paper, leaving prints soggy. It doesn't come cheap (at least $200) and you'll need to spend extra on heavy-duty paper (and replacing those six ink tanks). But if you don't mind spending on better paper, it's an excellent printer.
IntelliScanner Mini Bar Code Scanner--Review of the IntelliScanner Mini Bar Code Scanner
The IntelliScanner Mini bar code scanner is small and very handy to have if you need to organize and catalog a music, DVD, or comic collection, keep track of groceries or wine, or anything else that has a bar code. Even objects without bar codes can be scanned, since you can add your own tracking labels. It might be more than you need if your collections aren't particularly big, but I think there are enough possible applications to make this a very useful gadget for almost anyone.
PictBridge
PictBridge allows you to connect your digital camera directly to your printer.
HP LaserJet P2055d Laser Printer--Review of the HP LaserJet P2055d Laser Printer
The HP LaserJet P2055d doesn't do more than print in black and white; but it does that exceedingly fast and with excellent output. While it doesn't come as cheaply as some other laser and LED printers, speed and quality counts for a lot--particularly for home and small businesses. Still, if your needs go beyond monochrome printing, there are other good choices in this price range.
Best Wireless Printers
Wireless printers offer great convenience for small or home offices, or simply where desktop space is tight. Wireless printing is becoming more and more of a standard rather than an option. Here is a list of some of the best wireless printers I've tried.
All-in-One Printers--A Guide to Multifunction Printers
All-in-one printers, also known as multifunction printers (MFPs), are handy if you have a small office or frequently need to fax, copy, and scan. All in one printers are almost the same price as single-function printers.
Where Can Used Inkjet Cartridges Be Recycled?
When your inkjet cartridges run out, don't throw them away. The US Post Office offers free mailers to send them to a recycler.
HP Photosmart A646 Photo Printer--Review of the HP Photosmart A646 Photo Printer
The HP Photosmart A646 photo printer is a handy, compact printer that is easy to set up to print from Bluetooth. Its large touchscreen makes viewing and printing pictures easy, and it takes advantage of that large touchscreen by offering editing and effects for photos. Colors were very good and printed photos looked great. Best of all, it's quite inexpensive from some online retailers.
Inkjet Printers
Inkjet printers are the most common type of printer available today. They’re very affordable and are excellent printers for almost any task, from printing shopping lists to making copies of photographs.
PaperPort 12 Professional Document Management Software--Review of PaperPort 12 Professional Document Management Software
PaperPort 12 Professional is a top-end suite of software that allows you to easily create PDFs (and make regular PDFs into fillable forms) that can be searched and password-protected. It also makes organizing scanned documents across a network a much simpler task, and even connects directly to Sharepoint. It's a bit complicated to use and more expensive than, say, a full-blown version of Adobe Acrobat, but the range of options it offers might be worth the extra money to business users.
Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300 Document Scanner--Review of the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300 Document Scanner
The Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300 is a portable document scanner that won't take up any desktop real estate. It can be powered via USB so it's handy to take on the road. I found it to be fast and very accurate; business cards from around the world posed no problem to this little scanner. Definitely a good buy.
Comparison of Online Photo-Scanning Services
If you've got a huge amount of photos you'd like to scan, it's often faster and easier to trust someone else to do it--otherwise, scanning photos one at a time can be a very time-consuming process. But it's not easy to compare these services, since they all have lots of different deals and requirements. This comparison chart of online photo-scanning services should help you compare pricing between some of the biggest players.
Samsung CLP-770ND Color Laser Printer--Review of the Samsung CLP-770ND Color Laser Printer
The Samsung CLP-770ND is a color laser printer aimed at SMBs that has great print speeds. Overall print quality was excellent, though colors were more muted than I'd like to see in a printer this expensive; and for the price, some options such as wireless would've been nice.
ScanMyPhotos.com Online Photo Scanning Service--Review of the ScanMyPhotos.com Online Photo Scanning Service
The ScanMyPhotos.com service is a fast, efficient, and--depending on how many photos you have to scan--reasonably priced photo-scanning service. However, if you want to retain the rich colors of your original photos, you may not be content with the 300 dpi scans that ScanMyPhotos.com offers. In that case you'll either have to do it yourself, or use a service that can offer 600 dpi scanning.
Use a Scanner to Get Organized--How to Get Organized with the Help of a Scanner
Turning paper documents into digital files is a great first step in organizing your home office, or your home life. But it's not a silver bullet. Getting organized requires good planning in addition to good equipment.
USB Connectors
Printers and scanners usually connect to computers with a USB connector.
Printer Networking
Networking a printer allows multiple computers to access a single printer, a great convenience for home or small offices.
Best Back-to-School Deal on Printers / Scanners
Now that it's back to school time, you may be looking for a good deal on a printer or scanner. It's not always easy to compare everything out there, so I've done some of the heavy lifting for you. Here's a list of some of the best printers and document and photo scanners I've tried.
Understanding Printer Resolution
Inkjets have nozzles that spray tiny drops of ink, while laser printers melt dots of toner against the paper. The more dots you can squeeze into a square inch, the sharper the resulting image will be. Printer resolution refers to how many dots per inch a printer can put onto a piece of paper.
Scanner Resolution and Color Depth
Resolution refers to the amount of information, calculated in dots per inch, that the scanner can read.
What is TWAIN?
TWAIN is a software protocol that goes between your computer and your camera, scanner, or whatever imaging device you're using. It helps ensure that your computer can understand and display the data being sent by the imaging device.
Comparison of Online Photo-Scanning Services--Review of Online Photo Scanning Services
If you've got a huge amount of photos you'd like to scan, it's often faster and easier to trust someone else to do it--otherwise, scanning photos one at a time can be a very time-consuming process. But it's not easy to compare these services, since they all have lots of different deals and requirements. This comparison chart of online photo-scanning services should help you compare pricing between some of the biggest players.
A Guide to the Best Printers and Scanners
Not sure where to start with your search for a printer, scanner, or photo scanner? Here are some top picks for the Best Printers, Scanners, and Photo Scanners I've tried. You'll find a great variety at good prices. But the choices change often, so come back and check often!
Best Buys: Top Printers for Small and Home Offices
Printers for small and home offices need to be a bit more heavy-duty than other printers. They also need a lot of extras, such as automatic document feeders, extra paper trays, duplex printing, and the ability to be networked on wired or wireless networks. Here are some printers I've tried that can get the job done.
Scanner Gift Guide--A Guide to Buying Scanners for the Holidays
Document scanners and photo scanners are some of the most practical and useful gifts you can buy anybody (including yourself) as a holiday or birthday gift. Document scanners allow you to take a giant step toward the paperless office or home; simply scan all those documents that are cluttering your desk drawer and keep them on your computer. Likewise, photo scanners allow you to empty boxes of photographs and permanently archive them. Here are some document scanner and photo scanner best buys.
Dye Sublimation Printing
Dye sublimation printers have dyes embedded in a transparent film that get transferred to special kinds of photo paper. Because of the way that the dyes permeate the photo paper, these printers produce very good results that are also very long lasting.
Laser / LED Printers--A Guide to Laser and LED Printers
Laser and LED printers are great for printing high-quality documents in black-and-white or in color. They create sharp-looking text and excellent color graphics. They're more expensive to buy than inkjet printers (although prices continue to drop) but are cheaper to own in the long run, as toner cartridges last a long time. LED printers simply use an array of LEDs rather than a single laser as a light source; output is almost indistinguishable from a laser printer.
Printing Green
Green printing is a great way to help recycle and save resources; it's also a good way to keep some extra money in your pocket.
Wireless Networking--Basics of Wireless Networking a Printer
Wireless networking your printer or scanner may sound difficult, but newer machines are making it easier to do. Here's some advice from networking experts on how to set up your wireless printer.
Best Budget Printers
If you've got limited cash to burn but need an excellent printer, you've still got a lot of great options. Here you'll find some of the best printers I've tested that are under (or almost under) $100.
Best Laser / LED Printers
Laser / LED printers are getting cheaper and, while they still may be pricier than inkjets, their total cost of ownership is lower thanks to their long-lasting toner cartridges. You can find some great deals on laser / LED printers. (LED printers work much the same as laser printers but use LED lights rather than a laser as their primary light source.) Here's a look at the laser and LED printers I've tried.
Print Speed
Print speed depends on what kind of document you're printing and how your printer's preferences are set.
Is an Extended Warranty Worth the Money?
When you buy a new printer or scanner, the salesperson will try to convince you to buy an extended warranty. It's not worth the money. Here's why extended warranties aren't worth what they cost.
Making Photo Books: Apple--Review of Apple Photo Books
One way to get your photos organized is to take the best ones and make a book. That's easy now, since companies like Apple and Kodak offer cheap and easy-to-use services. These photo books are easy to customize and make great gifts as well. I thought that Apple's books were a bit nicer looking but they require you to have a Mac; Kodak offers more choices on size and prices are reasonable. Here's how some of the big players stack up.
Shopping for a Great Deal on a Printer or Scanner--Printer and Scanner Shopping Advice
You can find great deals on printers and scanners online and in brick-and-mortar shops. I'll help you find the best deals on the printers and scanners that I've tested and reviewed--just follow the
Printer Buyer's Guide--A Guide to Buying Printers
Looking for a new printer? There are a lot of excellent options, and it can be hard to sort through all the options. Here you'll find some ideas for the best printers I've tested and reviewed so far.
Write a Review: Printers
Use this form to tell us about a printer you've tried. What are the pros and cons? Would you recommend it to a friend? You do not have to be a member to write a review, and you can use any name that you like. E-mail address is not required, and it is used only to notify you when your review has been published. Did you take any pictures? If so, you can attach a photo to your review too. Thanks for sharing your printer review!
Clean Inside Your Pixma Printer
There are a few reasons why the Pixma's print jobs don’t look their best. If you’re seeing stripes, it could be due to clogged printheads, which are easy to
Load the Folded Paper Into the Feeder
Load the paper into the auto-sheet feeder.
Press the Copy Button
Press the Copy button.
Go to Maintenance Menu
Press Menu repeatedly until the display shows 4. Maintenance.
Select Bottom Cleaning
Press the arrow keys until Bottom Cleaning is selected. Press OK to feed the paper into the machine. If it comes out dirty, repeat the process once more.
How To Clean Your Printheads
When printheads get clogged, image quality suffers. But cleaning printheads is a quick and simple process. Here's a step-by-step tutorial on cleaning printheads. Note: These instructions will work for users of Windows but not of other operating systems.
Doxie Portable Scanner--Review of the Doxie Portable Scanner
Doxie is a portable scanner that's great for scanning documents; it works pretty well scanning photographs as well. It was easy to set up and it's quite easy to use (one touch of a button is really the only choice offered). There's little to guide paper as it's being loaded, so there's a risk of a scan being slightly askew, but the quick pace of this portable scanner more than makes up for any minor issues.
Review of the Brother MFC-J625DW All-in-One Inkjet Printer
Moderately priced and with a fairly small footprint, the Brother MFC-J825DW all-in-one color inkjet printer comes equipped with lots of extras, including built-in WiFi and wired networking, automatic duplex printing, a color touchscreen, a separate photo-paper tray as well as an automatic document feeder, and an attachment for printing on printable CDs and DVDs.
Samsung SCX-4729FW Monochrome Laser Printer
The Samsung SCX-4729FW is a fairly heavy-duty monochrome laser printer. It offers office-friendly features such as automatic duplexing, scanner, fax, copier, built-in Wi-Fi networking, and an automatic document feeder. Print times are competitive with other monochrome laser printers.
Review of the Brother MFC-J825DW All-in-One Inkjet Printer
Moderately priced and with a fairly small footprint, the Brother MFC-J825DW all-in-one color inkjet printer comes equipped with lots of extras, including built-in WiFi and wired networking, automatic duplex printing, a color touchscreen, a separate photo-paper tray as well as an automatic document feeder, and an attachment for printing on printable CDs and DVDs.
Brother DSMobile 700D Portable Scanner
The Brother DSMobile 700D is a portable duplex color scanner. It runs off a USB cable (included). At about a foot long by three inches wide (and just over one pound), it's truly portable. It has a duty cycle of 200 scans a day, and takes one sheet at a time, though it can scan both sides at once. The DSMobile 700D can scan up to 8.5
Canon imageFORMULA P-215 Scan-tini Personal Document Scanner
The Canon imageFORMULA P-215 Scan-tini Personal Document Scanner is a mouthful to say, and while it's small enough to hold in one hand, it's not light on scanning power. Only 11 inches long and just over two pounds (and powered by included USB cables), it's portable enough to go anywhere. It offers a fold-out automatic document feeder that can hold as many as 20 pages and can also scan business cards and other smaller pieces of paper (both sides at once).
Doxie Go Portable Scanner
The Doxie Go is a portable photo scanner and document scanner that's small enough to fit in any briefcase or backpack. Since it's battery operated (and can power via the included USB cable), it's perfect for students or road warriors alike. It scans directly to an internal memory chip or to an attached USB drive or SD drive.
Xerox Mobile Scanner
The Xerox Mobile Scanner is a convenient tool for anyone who wants to scan away from a desktop or laptop computer, since it's completely self contained and the included Eye-Fi card can either hold images or PDFs, or transmit them directly to a computer or even a smart phone. That, and its hearty battery, makes it a great on-the-road tool.
Review of the Kodak ESP 9250 All-in-One Printer
The Kodak ESP 9250 all-in-one printer is an update of Kodak's ESP printer line. With a better control panel, easy to set up wireless, smart-phone printing, and other advantages, it's worth a look.
Kodak ESP C310 Multifunction Color Printer--Review of the Kodak ESP C310 Multifunction Color Printer
The Kodak ESP C310 comes it at under $100 and offers printing, scanning, and copying in a very compact machine. Graphics and fonts looked surprisingly sharp and clear for such a low-end printer; photos also looked very good, though not as sharp as with similarly priced printers. Photos tended to come out of the printer slightly bowed, though they flattened out after a few minutes. The on-board controls and tiny LCD are minimal but adequate for occasional printing.
Kodak ESP Office 2170 All-in-One Color Printer--Review of the Kodak Office ESP 2170 All-in-One Printer
Kid cousin to the Kodak ESP Office 6150 (and significantly cheaper), it's got a lot in common with that more expensive printer--it's just as slow. Photos did indeed look very good, even at letter size, with print speeds about or above average (1:45 for letter size, about 1:08 for 4x6). It does offer some nice advantages, such as Kodak Perfect Page, the company's high-end scanning package, and wireless printing (including from a Blackberry).
HP Officejet Pro 8000 Enterprise Color Printer--Review of the HP Officejet Pro 8000 Enterprise Color Printer
The HP Officejet Pro Enterprise 8000 offers duplex printing, networked connectivity, and a 250-sheet input tray. HP says its cost per page is less than that of laser printers; and for under $200 it's at the low end for enterprise printers.
HP LaserJet Pro CM1415fnw Color Multifunction Laser Printer--Review of the HP Pro LaserJet CM1415fnw Color Multifunction Laser Printer
The HP LaserJet Pro CM1415fnw Color Multifunction Laser Printer is a slow and steady color multifunction laser printer whose results are impressive, if not speedy. It gets up to 12 pages per minute (black) at its top speed, but normal speeds will get you somewhere around seven. Its handy and large touchscreen and wireless / wired networking are pros for offices, but its lack of an automatic duplexer make it less than perfect for office environments.
Review of the Samsung ML-3712DW Monochrome Laser Printer
The Samsung ML-3712DW is a monochrome laser printer that has few fancy features--but the ones it has, such as one-touch eco-print and built-in WiFi--are excellent. Even better is that it's an affordable laser printer.
Review of the Samsung CLP-775ND Color Laser Printer
Small and home-based businesses with some extra cash to spend up front on a high-end color laser printer won't be disappointed by the Samsung CLP-775ND color laser printer, which promises--and delivers--very fast print speeds. Despite some set-up issues that caused some initial paper jams, this printer delivers speed and quality enough to make any business look big, and business features such as secure printing add additional value.
Review of the Canon Pixma MG6220 All-in-One Wireless Color Inkjet Printer
The Canon Pixma MG6220 is a three-in-one printer (no fax capability) with built-in wireless networking and a built-in duplexer. Canon keeps this printer sleek with its use of a touch system that means only the relevant buttons light up on the touch interface, which also makes the printer very easy to use. Speeds are competitive with other multifunction printers in this price range.
Review of the Kodak Hero 9.1 All-in-One Inkjet Printer
The Kodak Hero 9.1 all-in-one color inkjet printer is a wireless all-in-one that offers some options such as a large color touchscreen, built-in wireless networking, an automatic document feeder, and automatic duplex printing. It also makes it easy to print from anywhere (including smart phones) and to scan directly to the cloud.
HP TopShot LaserJet Pro M275 Laser Printer
The HP TopShot LaserJet Pro M275 is an all-in-one (minus the fax) laser printer that offers a special platform that allows the scanning of 3-D objects; scans can be sent directly to online accounts such as GoogleDocs or Box.net, making it a convenience for those need to upload photos for online auctions or other online sites.
HP LaserJet Pro 400 Color Laser Printer
The HP LaserJet Pro 400 Color Laser Jet Printer offers speeds of up to 21 pages per minute. Wired networking is built in and wireless networking is available on some models as is duplex printing (on the M451dw and M451dn models only; the M451nw model has manual duplexing). HP's ePrint service works with this printer, allowing users to print by sending the printer an email. The printer offers a heavy-duty monthly printing cycle of up to 40,000 pages.
Canon Pixma MX892 Wireless All-in-One Printer
Wireless and networking, a built-in duplexer, easy cloud printing, and a 35-sheet automatic document feeder are some of the features offered by the Canon Pixma MX892 all-in-one printer. The printer is a bit big but has a space-saving shape, and I like the dual-function panel that is handy and sleek, though not a touchscreen.
Epson WorkForce 60 Color Inkjet Printer--Review of the Epson WorkForce 60 Color Inkjet Printer
The Epson WorkForce 60 is a bare-bones color inkjet printer. It has very good print speeds at normal quality (and laser-like text at high quality printing), with handsome prints and very good photo quality. Wireless 802.11n is built in, as is a duplexer. Otherwise, you won't find any bells or whistles on this Epson Workforce.
Brother MFC-7860DW Laser All-in-One Printer--Review of the Brother MFC-7860DW Laser All-in-One Printer
The Brother MFC-7860DW is a multifunction laser printer that offers automatic duplexing, wireless or wired networking, and a 250-sheet paper tray. I found it quiet, fast, and reliable--and prints look outstanding.
Review of the Brother MFC-9970CDW All-in-One Color Laser Printer
The MFC-9970CDW is built for offices and small workgroups. It's a color laser printer with built-in fax, copier, and scanner, and it features an automatic document feeder, USB port up front, a five-inch color touchscreen (for some but not all functions), automatic duplex printing, and wireless or wired networking. Standard or high-yield toner cartridges work with this unit.
Review of the Canon Pixma MG5320 All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer
The Canon Pixma MG5320 is a very reasonably priced all-in-one (minus the fax) inkjet printer. While printing times are not particularly speedy, neither is it frustratingly slow; and somehow, color photos print out quick fast, with very good quality. I found color graphics to be acceptable but certainly not thrilling or crystal clear. But, given the price (around US$150), it performs above its class.
Epson Artisan 837 All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer
The Epson Artisan 837 is a color inkjet all-in-one printer that offers copying, scanning, and faxing capabilities. Duplex printing and wireless are built in, and there is an automatic document feeder and a separate tray for photo paper. It excelled in all the tests I threw at it, and is highly recommended.
Review of the Epson Stylus NX430 Small-in-One Printer
The Epson Stylus NX430 Small-in-One Wireless Inkjet Printer is indeed small--it weighs about nine pounds and measures 15.4
Epson Workforce 845 Color All-in-One Printer
The Epson WorkForce 845 All-in-One Wireless Inkjet Printer comes loaded with lots of extras that make it useful for a small office as well as for home users. It's rather large and, except at draft speeds, fairly slow. End results look very good, even if they do take a long time to come out.
Epson Workforce Pro WP-4540 Inkjet All-in-One Printer
The Epson WorkForce Pro WP-4540 offers a lot of features for busy offices, in particular an extra paper tray that beefs the printer's paper capacity to 580 sheets--that's more than a ream of paper. Built-in wireless and duplex printing add to the printer's value, as does a fax.
Brother MFC-9325CW Digital Color All-in-One Printer
Brother's MFC-9325CW digital color printer is a digital color printer (it's similar to a laser printer but uses LEDs instead of a laser) that includes wireless and wired networking, and a USB direct interface. It's the updated version of the Brother MFC-9320CW LED printer.
Xerox Phaser 6010 Color LED Printer--Review of the Xerox Phaser 6010 Color LED Printer
The Xerox Phaser 6010 is a color LED printer for small workgroups and offices. It's smaller than some other Xerox Phasers I've reviewed, and the small footprint makes it a decent choice for offices that don't have a lot of extra room. There's no wireless but there is built-in Ethernet networking. Duplexing is manual but available. At around $299 it's a bit more than Phaser laser printers, but the small size is a big improvement.
HP LaserJet 1536dnf Laser Printer--Review of the HP LaserJet 1536dnf Laser Printer
If there's a down side tot he HP LaserJet 1536dnf multifunction printer, it's that it's not part of HP's
Review of the HP LaserJet M1217nfw Monochrome Laser Printer
This mid-priced monochrome laser printer includes copying, scanning, and faxing capability as well as one of my favorite features--it uses HP's new
Review of the HP LaserJet 100 M175nw Color Laser Printer
This mid-priced all-in-one color laser printer uses HP's new
Review of the HP Envy 110 e-All-in-One Inkjet Printer
Sleek, small, and quiet, the HP Envy 110 all-in-one color inkjet printer is also wireless and has a built-in duplexer. While I found the color touchscreen a bit tricky to use sometimes, and while (at regular speeds) it's not particularly fast, those who are looking for a small all-in-one with a lot of good features may find this printer a good match.
Review of the HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus All-in-One Printer
The HP Officejet Pro 8600 is a color inkjet all-in-one printer that offers print, fax, scan, copy, and Web access (to HP's Web apps). It's as fast as many laser printers and has a low total cost of ownership; and the quality doesn't suffer from the speed.
Lexmark OfficeEdge Pro4000 Color All-in-One Inkjet Printer
The Lexmark OfficeEdge Pro4000 all-in-one color inkjet printer is a very fast printer that provides excellent prints, graphics, and photos. Fast scanning and a host of shortcuts make it a good option for small offices that need high-quality results.
HP Photosmart 7510 All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer
The HP Photosmart 7510 All-in-One Color Inkjet Printer offers some fun and useful extras via its large touchscreen (such as access to a number of Web apps that allow printing of coupons, games, tickets, and so on, without needing to resort to the computer).
Panasonic KX-MB1500 Multifunction Monochrome Laser Printer
The Panasonic KX-MB1500 is a monochrome laser printer that offers scan and copy functions (a slightly more expensive version is available that offers a fax as well). The printer is very compact and made for small and home offices. It doesn't offer many extras but it is very inexpensive.
Epson LabelWorks LW-400 Label Maker
The Epson LabelWorks LW-400 is a portable, handheld label maker that offers 14 font types and 10 font styles. Many styles of labels are accommodated, from 6 mm to 18 mm, and including reflective, glow in the dark, iron-on, and barcode labels.
HP Officejet H470 Mobile Inkjet Printer
The HP Officejet H470 could be really convenient if you need a nearly full-size printer that can run off a battery and connect wirelessly or via Bluetooth. But since I'm having trouble identifying when precisely you'd need that combination, and since the printer is slow, expensive, and seems error prone, I'd spend the same amount of money that doesn't offer battery power and a nifty vinyl case but gives faster, better prints.
Brother PT-1230 PC Label Maker
The P-touch PT-1230 PC is a handy and compact label printer that works with a PC. It has a limited range of functions, but for a label printer, it did everything I needed it to do--print labels in a variety of sizes and fonts. I appreciate that it didn't require administrative privileges to get it working, and I'm sure many home users will feel the same way. For basic labeling purposes, the PT-1230 is a great choice.
Brother PT-1280 Label Maker--Review of the Brother PT-1280 Label Maker
The new Brother PT-1280 P-touch Electronic Labeling System is no little toy; it's a seriously useful piece of office (or home) automation. It's not big (you could probably get four of them into a shoe box) but it has a large, easy-to-use keyboard and a 15-character LCD display. The printer can create vertical or horizontal labels on four sizes of tape, using dozens of symbols and in nine different type styles (bold, shadow, italic, and so on).
Brother PT-2430 PC Label Maker
The P-touch PT-2430 adds a few small but important conveniences to the lower-end versions of the P-touch line, such as an included AC cord and automatic trimming of the labels. These may not sound so important, but if you plan on making a lot of labels, they'll save a ton of time. And if you do use it a lot, I think it's worth the extra $30 or so (street price is around $79) to get this unit rather than the 1230.
Refilling Inkjet Cartridges
Ink goes quickly, and inkjet cartridges are often very expensive to buy--sometimes you could have bought a new printer with what it cost you to buy a few refills. That's prompted a lot of people to try to get their cartridges refilled via Costco, Walgreens, or other shops (online or offline). Results, however, are mixed.
3D Printing with Shapeways--Review of Shapeways 3D Printing
Looking for a cool gift for Father's Day, a birthday, or just something cool for yourself? Why not create a customized gift? Shapeways allows you to print your own cool-looking cuff links. I printed a pair with my initials on them and they came out looking great--now I can't wait to wear them!
Brother PT-2730 Electronic Labeling System--Review of the Brother PT-2730 Electronic Labeling System
The Brother PT-2730 Electronic Labeling System is a portable label maker that can work independently or be connected to a PC for advanced functionality (such as working directly from Microsoft Word, Excel, or Outlook). The machine can work on batteries or with the (included) AC power cord. Users can choose from eight fonts, 17 frames, and a wide array of type styles and symbols. It comes with an automatic tape cutter built in, and a library of more than 50 pre-formatted labels.
How 3-D Printing in Silver Really Works--How to Print 3-D Objects in Pure Silver
Shapeways, a company that lets consumers create and print their own 3-D creations, can print using a variety of substance, from plastic to glass. But when they offered pure silver, it was time to learn more about how that could possibly work.
HP Officejet 100 Mobile Printer--Review of the HP Officejet 100 Mobile Color Printer
Road warriors will find a dependable friend in the HP Officejet 100 Mobile Printer, which offers long-lived battery power and easy to set up Bluetooth printing. It's not the smallest mobile printer I've seen, but it does print in color and gives remarkably good results considering its size.
Wide-Format Printing
Wide-format printers can handle paper that's wider than typical consumer or commercial printers. They're typically used by companies that have a specific need for this kind of printing, since they tend to be very expensive.
Why Printer Ink Is Expensive
Printer ink isn't cheap, and if you compare prices by volume, you may find it's more expensive than almost any other liquid (including human blood). But that comparison may be misleading, since printer ink has to be almost magical in its ability to be a stable liquid for a long time, then be raised to 300 degrees Celsius and shot out of a microscopically small nozzle at 30 miles an hour and still hit the page as a perfect round dot. So you may want to spend extra to buy new inkjet cartridges.
Samsung CLX-6200 All-in-One Color Laser Printer
The Samsung CLX-6200FX all-in-one color laser printer offers everything a small office needs to be productive.
Cockle
Tech Support for Printers and Scanners
You've got a printer or a document or photo scanner and want to make it work its best. Here's some advice on how to set things up so they work the first time, some troubleshooting tips, and ideas on how to get creative when you use your new (or old) machine.
Best Printers and Scanners - 2009 Holiday Gift Guide to the Best Printers and Scanners
With the holiday season coming soon, here are some Best Printer and Scanner Buys for the gadgeteer in the family. Why not treat someone to a cool, useful, and inexpensive gift? Printers and scanners make great gifts!
Printer / Scanner Best Bets for 2011
With lots of printers tested in 2011, there were a handful that were just better than the rest. Here you'll find a list of the top printers and scanners I tested. And a note--some of these actually were tested before 2011, but were so good that they just keep making it to the list!
Reviews of Inkjet Printers, Laser Printers, Photo Printers, 3-D Printers, and Scanners
Reviews of printers, scanners, laser and LED printers, inkjet printers, all-in-one printers, and all-in-one or multifunction printers.
CCFL
Cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) are very small and very bright fluorescent lights used in scanners to provide light for scanning, without becoming hot. They're typically filled with low-pressure mercury vapor.
Buying Advice for Printers and Scanners
Buying advice that looks at gauging what kind of printer or scanner you need, what features you might (or might not) need, some questions to ask before you buy, and where to find a great deal.
How to Use ICC Printer Profiles for the Best Photo Prints?
What are the appropriate settings to use when you want photo prints to look their best? ICC (International Color Consortium) profiles provide devices such as printers, scanners, and monitors with a consistent color profile. You can download them from various manufacturers if you're serious about making prints look their best. If you're not sure whether you need to use color profiles, then that's a good bet that you don't really need to use them at all, which you should appreciate, since they can be very complex to understand.
How 3-D Printing Works
Printing in 3-D, also known as additive manufacturing, is becoming commonplace and ever less expensive--even home users and hobbyists are using it. But the technology used to print an object in three dimensions is very complex. Here's a look at how it works.
3-D Printing: What You Can Print Now, and in the Future
Today, you can print a wide range of consumer goodies, from jewelry to iPad stands, using services such as Shapeways. At the higher end, 3-D printers can churn out everything from scans of your teeth to aircraft parts. In a few years, experts forecast that this technology will become a part of our daily lives and lead to huge shifts in the way we do business.
Print Your Own Mother's Day Cards--Customize and Print Mother's Day Cards
Sure, you could spend some time wandering around the store, hoping to find just the right card for Mom when Mother's Day rolls around. Or you could make things a lot simpler by printing your own card, and customizing it yourself. Here's a list of customizable and printable Mother's Day cards.
Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300 Portable Document Scanner--Review of the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300 Document Scanner
The Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300 is a portable document scanner that won't take up any desktop real estate. It can be powered via USB so it's handy to take on the road. I found it to be fast and very accurate; business cards from around the world posed no problem to this little scanner. Definitely a good buy.
Archive
HP J5750 Inkjet Printer - Tell Us the Pros and Cons of Your Printer
Use this form to tell us about a printer you've tried. What are the pros and cons? Would you recommend it to a friend? You do not have to be a member to write a review, and you can use any name that you like. E-mail address is not required, and it is used only to notify you when your review has been published. Did you take any pictures? If so, you can attach a photo to your review too. Thanks for sharing your printer review!
Epson CX8400 - Tell Us the Pros and Cons of Your Printer
User review of the Epson CX8400 printer
Xerox ColorCube 8570 - Tell Us the Pros and Cons of Your Printer
Use this form to tell us about a printer you've tried. What are the pros and cons? Would you recommend it to a friend? You do not have to be a member to write a review, and you can use any name that you like. E-mail address is not required, and it is used only to notify you when your review has been published. Did you take any pictures? If so, you can attach a photo to your review too. Thanks for sharing your printer review!