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Best Inkjet Printer, Inkjet Reviews

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In this review:
  1. Best Cheap Printers
  2. Cheap Inkjet Printers
  3. Wireless Inkjet Printers, Cheapest Inkjet Cartridges
  4. Inkjet Printer Reviews
  5. Best Inkjet Printer, Inkjet Reviews
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Related Guides: Laser Printers, Multifunction Printers and Paper Shredders

Printers Performance (continued)

Inkjet Printers Print Quality.

The print quality of the best inkjet printers is as expected: good text printing, color graphics, and photo output.
According to inkjet reviews, users are mostly satisfied with what they get and their opinions sometimes differ from those of the experts. Experts run a blitz of tests to benchmark performance, and they run the same tests on high-end printers as they do on low-end printers. Not surprisingly, the cheaper inkjet printers tend to look worse in comparison but in reality may be just fine for personal printing needs. Machines like the HP DeskJet F2480, for example, don't boast superb print quality, but are perfectly acceptable if you're only printing a text document or scanning every so often.

Rule of thumb: low-cost inkjet printers are designed to print the occasional photo, text, and color graphics. Printing tons of photos and expecting professional-level quality will be disappointing, not to mention leaving you with seriously depleted ink cartridges. Nonetheless, newer market entrants like the Canon PIXMA iP4820 and PIXMA MP495 that are designed primarily to print photos and other images rank high in consumers' estimation.

Indeed, most of the chatter in inkjet reviews concerns photo prints, and people's assessment of photo-print quality depends on what they're accustomed to. Even with the newest crop of photo inkjets, experts and professional photographers often assert that budget models produce subpar prints. A review of best inket printers on CNET, for example, says colors seem muted with the Canon PIXMA MP495 even when it's set on high-quality mode. Economy-minded amateurs tend to be more satisfied (or perhaps less demanding), and assert that photo prints are flawless; one writes on Amazon that the prints rival what a professional lab produces. Both experts and users largely praise the performance of the Canon iP4820, with one inkjet review on PC World noting that photos may evidence a slight orange tinge when printed on plain paper but using higher quality Canon paper seems to eliminate the off-coloration. (We read numerous printer reviews that report better results with specialty photo paper.)

Even the older-model Canon PIXMA iP2600 earns stars for photo output, although one self-described amateur photographer commenting on Amazon grouses about prints that are too dark, with too much contrast. Although the HP Deskjet 3050 does not support borderless photo prints, consumers attest to good quality color prints in inkjet reviews on the company's website. And if it's just infrequent text and photo printing you're after, you can try a multifunction machine like the HP Deskjet F2480. PC World says the Deskjet offers OK printing at 600x600 dpi for black and 4800x1200 for color but says not to expect truly high-quality photo prints or scans.

For the cheap all-in-ones and dual-purpose photo printers, assessment of document printing is almost an afterthought. These days there's not much excuse for sloppy black- and-white or color graphics output. CNET concludes the Canon PIXMA iP4820 produces presentation-worthy documents with dense text and solid color graphics, an appraisal users echo in their reviews of best inkjet printers on B&H Photo. Text printouts from the Canon PIXMA MP495 look clear and crisp even in draft mode, according to experts at Trusted Reviews, and color graphics seem bright and clean, albeit with a few minor imperfections in areas of solid color. Sharp text and evenly distributed color in graphics is a hallmark of the Canon PIXMA iP2600, says another inkjet review on CNET. So it is with the HP Deskjet 3050; users commenting on Best Buy and the HP website laud the quality of text and color output.

Review continues below

Comments about output quality are sparse in the inkjet reviews that we read for the two basic printers we researched. Consumers had lots to say about the ink situation -- among other complaints, the Lexmark Z2300 and Epson WorkForce 30 drink ink and the cost of replacement cartridges is out of sight -- and occasionally offer what amounts to mixed opinions about output quality for both printers. An inkjet printer review of the Lexmark Z2300 on Amazon describes document printouts as fuzzy, but postings on Walmart deem the results clear and high quality. Some inkjet reviews of the Epson WorkForce 30, also on Amazon, grouse about blurry and waving fonts while others regard the output as excellent.

by Maralyn Edid (Google+ Profile)

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Best Cheap Printers

Canon Pixma iP2600

Read why »
Where to buy

Canon PIXMA iP4820

 Read why »
Where to buy

Good Cheap Inkjet Printers

Canon PIXMA MP495 Wireless Inkjet Photo All-In-One

 Read why »
Where to buy

HP Deskjet 3050 All-in-One Printer

 Read why »
Where to buy
 
 
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Don't Bother Cheap Inkjet Printers

Lexmark Z2300

A flimsy feel and omission of black ink in the packing box make this one-trick Lexmark printer hard to defend in a competitive market that offers photo print, copy, and scan for just a few dollars more. Read more »

Epson WorkForce 30 Color Ink Jet

Fast print speeds and print capabilities on multiple paper types don't compensate for weaknesses identified by users, which include poor output, excessive/unreliable ink usage, and loud and noisy print runs. Read more »

 
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