Top 5 Inkjet Printers for Home Use
Inevitably, if you own a computer, you’re going to want to print something sooner or later. Eventually you’ll receive a cool e-mail, hit an awesome recipe website or want to print all of your child’s cute candid pictures, but how do you know which printer you should pick?
When you walk through the aisles of your local computer store, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of printers on offer. Each year, printer manufacturers come out with more bells and whistles and hit you with labels like “latest technology,” “must have features,” and “innovative,” so it can be daunting to pick out a new printer.
Wading through pages of advertisements and surfing through hundreds of review websites for information on the latest printers can make your head spin. It is important to recognize why you need a printer and what you demand from your new printer. Figuring these things out before you hit the pavement to buy your new printer will make the entire buying process much easier on you and will keep the sales person from pointing you in the direction of features that you don’t need.
1. HP Officejet J4680 Multifunction Inkjet Printer (Around £100 / $120)
Topping the list is the HP Officejet J4680 Multifunction Inkjet Printer. This printer houses a scanner, copier, fax machine and a quick printer (28 pages per minute black and 22 pages per minute in colour.) The Officejet J4680 has built in wireless networking, so you don’t have to be tied to the computer in order to print. This feature is perfect for homes with multiple computers or laptops, so anyone in the house can print without having to move the printer. You can also print borderless photographs and high quality documents that will last for decades with HP inks. Every aspect of this printer is easy to use and can be accessed by the control panel and/or text display. The Officejet J4680 Multifunction Inkjet Printer is a great option for the home office, telecommuters or students who need the functionality of being able to scan information or fax work to professors. [Buy HP Officejet J4680 ink]
2. Canon MP980 Wireless All-in-One Photo Printer (Around £250 / $299)
Wireless is the latest in home network printing and this Canon MP980 Wireless All-in-One Photo Printer is a surefire hit with any home with multiple computers. This wireless printer uses WiFi technology so you can print anywhere in your home without having to go near the printer. Print the newspaper website that you were surfing while having your morning coffee or hang out on the deck and print your e-mails. With everyone wanting to save time, this printer is perfect for quick print jobs and prints high quality 4×6 photographs in about 20 seconds. The MP980 printer uses Canon’s newest ChromaLife 100+ ink system, which incorporates six individual Canon printer cartridges to ensure professional quality photographs and high quality documents. One of the biggest turn-ons about the Canon MP980 is that it has zero warm up time and has low energy consumption. (Buy Canon Pixma MP980 ink)
3. Epson Stylus Photo RX680 All-in-One Printer (Around £100 / $200)
Coming in at third in this list of top home printers is the Epson’s Stylus Photo RX680 All-in-One Printer. Talk about usability, this printer has it all; print, copy, scan, print to CD and DVD discs, and it even can be used PC-Free. The printer is lightning fast at speeds up to 40 pages per minute in both black and colour and can print 4 x 6 photos as fast as 11 seconds. The Stylus Photo RX680 uses six individual cartridges of Epson ink for professional quality printing right from your desk. If you print a lot of text documents, Epson has you covered with automatic double sided printing. The RX680 has PC-free features, such as, restoring faded photographs and scanning, so you don’t need to have your computer on to print photographs and copies. And to further add to the amazing list of features in the Epson Stylus Photo RX680 all-in-one printer, you can also insert inkjet printable CD and DVD discs into the printer to create custom discs to send to family and friends.
4. HP Photosmart D5460 Colour Photo Printer (Around £70 / $100)
The HP Photosmart D5460 Colour Photo Printer is one of the most affordable quality printers on the market. If you’re in need of a basic printer to print school projects, text documents or high quality photos, this is the printer for you. While it retails in the lower range, it has the same printing punch as its big brothers. When speed is a factor, this printer excels. It prints at 33 pages per minute in black and up to 31 pages per minute in colour. The coolest feature on this HP printer is it’s ability to print on DVD and CD discs. If you turn projects in on CD or want to send a DVD to your family, you can insert a printable CD or DVD disc into this printer and create custom images right on the disc. (Buy HP D5460 ink)
5. Lexmark Z2420 Colour Inkjet Printer (Around £35 / $75)
Affordability is Lexmark’s middle name and true to form the Lexmark Z2420 Colour Inkjet Printer is the perfect wireless printing solution on a budget. It retails for the least on this list and features a quick 25 pages per minute in black and 18 pages per minute in colour. Whether you need to print photos or text, this printer has it all in a package that will afford your desk some breathing room. There are two different colour printer cartridge options depending on your need: there are the standard three colour Lexmark ink cartridges and a new six colour cartridge designed specifically for printing photographs, which will help save you money in the long run if you do a lot of both types of printing. Because this printer doesn’t have a long list of extras that you may not need, Lexmark has been able to keep quality affordable. (Buy Lexmark Z2420 ink)
About the author:
Tom is a huge tech and gadget geek with a broad range of interests including travel, art and design. Much of his time is spent blogging on CreativeCloud but he also enjoys writing for other blogs in the design niche.
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