Transcript
PRODUCT TESTS / Printers
Printers
Consumer Choice explores internet connected printers and looks at ways you can save money when printing When deciding what printer to buy, the first choice consumers need to make is which type to buy; an inkjet or an all-in-one. Our test results then allow you to consider print quality, versatility and cost per page. From the test results we saw from the lab most people would be satisfied with the print quality from any of the printers tested. All-in-one inkjets are the best allpurpose printers for consumers who want to print both text and color photos, and be able to scan and copy. Most have memory card slots and PictBridge. Some can fax documents. The recent trend is for regular inkjet printers to be basic printers with a few extra features. Wide format printers are for consumers who want to print very large photos, signs or posters.
Price Paying more for a printer doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get better prints. Don’t just consider the purchase price of
292
www.thecai.ie
the printer itself. Per-print costs can make a cheaper model more expensive in the long run than a higher-priced printer with low per-copy costs. You can check the ink costs for both text and photos in our table.
Internet connectivity Internet connectivity is a feature showing up in some all-in-one printers, as an addition to networking. This means you can access the internet directly, without going through a computer. Some printers from HP and Lexmark can also use apps, included or downloaded, to add internet functions like map creation, recipe printing, photo uploading, etc. Some HP models allow you to ‘ePrint’ to the printer from anywhere on the internet, by emailing your document to it or using a mobile app. Some Wi-Fi equipped printers have mobile-device apps available for download that allow Apple iOS, Android, and Blackberry-based mobile devices to print via the local Wi-Fi network.
REPORT by Jenny Harrow At a glance • 8 Choice Buys • Wireless printing • Money saving tips
Printing from your smartphone Some new Canon, HP and Kodak printers combined with the proper software in your smartphone or mobile device allow you to directly print wirelessly from your iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and (for Canon and HP) Android devices. HP goes further and supports the Windows Mobile and Symbian operating systems. Apple devices get the benefit of the new Apple iOS 4.2 which includes the AirPrint feature or you can use a free app. AirPrint allows you to print web pages (through the built-in Safari app), e-mails (through built in Mail app) and photos (through built in Photos app) directly through Wi-Fi by pressing a print shortcut. Android, Windows Mobile and Symbian devices require the installation of a free app. HP, Canon and Kodak have launched new network printers with this feature, but some old printers can get the same benefits with a firmware upgrade.
September 2011
Inkjet 1. Canon PIXMA iP4850 €75 The Choice Buy Canon PIXMA iP4850 is a regular inkjet printer. It doesn’t have a LCD screen or memory card slot. It is also limited in its connectivity options, although you can print using PictBridge. If you’re looking for a cheap printer that just prints then this is a great option. The print quality of this printer is good, and black and white text is quite quick at 9.1 pages per minute. If you are printing photos, you’ll get the best results printing from a computer and this takes around a minute and a half for an A4 photo. This printer can also print on both sides of a page automatically, but print quality is reduced if you use this option. You can also use it to print labels directly on CDs or DVDs.
All-in-one 7. Canon PIXMA MX885 €239 The Choice Buy Canon PIXMA MX885 has plenty of connection options including built-in Wi-Fi and Ethernet. As well as printing it can copy, scan and fax and has an automatic document feeder. It can also be used to print from mobile devices over Wi-Fi. It has a second paper tray and the paper tray is selected through the driver on your computer. You can choose to print on both sides of the page automatically to save on paper, but print quality is inferior with this option. It’s also quite quick, printing at a rate of 9.4 pages per minute.
September 2011
All-in-one 5. HP Officejet 7500A wide format €249
All-in-one 6. HP Officejet Pro 8500A Plus €299
The Choice Buy HP Officejet 7500A is a wide format all-in-one inkjet printer. This means it can print up to A3 and can also scan and copy up to A4 directly, and A3 in a two-pass process, one half at a time. In terms of connection options the printer comes with built-in Wi-Fi and Ethernet for connecting directly to the internet. It also comes with a fax and has an automatic document feeder for scanning; however you can’t print using PictBridge.
The Choice Buy HP Officejet Pro 8500A is an all-in-one inkjet printer. It comes with built-in Wi-Fi, Ethernet and fax. As an eprint model you can download apps to it. It has an automatic document feeder for scanning and copying and the paper tray can hold up to 250 sheets at a time, ideal if you are printing long college essays or papers. It’s also fast at printing text compared to some of the other printers tested and can print on both sides of a page automatically. Photo quality was also good, with photos printed from the computer being slightly better than from a memory card.
All-in-one 8. Epson Stylus PX820FWD Plus €345
All-in-one 9. HP Officejet 6500A Plus €169
The Choice Buy Epson Stylus PX820FWD has a special tray for holding 4x6 inch photo paper, as well as a tray for A4 paper. You can also print labels directly on CDs or DVDs. It has built-in Wi-Fi, Ethernet and a fax, as well as an automatic document feeder for scanning and copying. Print quality is good for photos, especially when printed from a computer. It takes around two minutes to print an A4 photo, which is good when compared with some of the other models we tested. Black and white text prints well for most people’s needs and reasonably quickly too.
The Choice Buy HP Officejet 6500A has no PictBridge but has the usual connection options including built-in Wi-Fi and Ethernet. This printer might be a good option for budget conscious students and the paper tray can hold up to 250 sheets of paper at a time. This would be useful if you need to print a lot of notes or papers at a time. You can also save money on paper by printing on both sides automatically. Printed text looks good from this printer making it ideal for a home office. Photos come out well, but if you plan on printing mostly photos, one of our other Choice Buys might be more suitable.
www.thecai.ie
293
PRODUCT TESTS / Printers
The Canon Easy Photo Print app for Android and Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch allows you to directly print images stored in your mobile device. This, and apps such as HP iPrint Photo are interesting and easy to use, but in general their use is limited to image printing. It would be possible to print a web page for instance but only if you first get a screenshot of the web page by using another app or the OS on the device. Apple’s AirPrint is easy and also much more powerful and interesting because it enables real printing from different apps, so you are not limited to pure image printing. Regarding print quality, not all the applications allow you to adjust the printer settings, so print quality depends on the specific app and on the default settings.
Networking
Money saving tips
Built-in networking has become standard in all but the lowest-priced printers, allowing any computer inside, and sometimes outside, the house to print directly without having to share through another PC. Most of the models in this test include Wi-Fi (wireless) networking capability or Ethernet (wired) connection. Most networked printers have a built-in “web-page” interface that can be accessed by any computer on the network to configure options and view status, such as ink levels. All-in-one models can also perform scanning through the network connection. Usually, the scan can be started at the scanner and the desired PC selected from the printer’s menu to receive the scan.
If manufacturers are coming up with more ways to get us printing more then you may need to think about reducing the cost of printing all this new content. You can save on paper costs by using a green printing program. These are programs that you can download from the internet to ‘grab’ only the parts of web pages you want to print. Another useful and perhaps obvious way to save paper is to print on both sides of the page. An increasing number of printers can do this automatically. You can also print more than one page on a sheet. Most printer drivers will have an option for this. Look for ‘pages per sheet’ or similar wording. One of the most straightforward ways to use less ink is to use draft mode for text and some graphics. Sometimes called ‘fast’ or ‘quick print’ mode, the quality of text printed in draft mode can be somewhat degraded but perfectly readable. It uses at least half the amount of ink, and saves time as well. Colour ink is often more expensive than black ink, so if the colour isn’t important for what you’re printing you could consider printing in greyscale.
TIP / Printing from a memory card
All-in-Ones
Inkjet
If your printer has a memory card reader, you can print your photos directly from the memory card in your digital camera, without needing a computer. You will need to check if your printer accepts the type of cards used by your digital camera. Some of the newer printers also accept a miniSD card which is often used with mobile phones.
294
Printers
SPECIFICATION
Price (€)
Pict Bridge
Memory card
Ethernet
Wi-Fi
Printing (30%) Scanning Text quality Photo quality (15%)
Copying (15%)
1 Canon PIXMA iP4850
75
✓
x
x
x
n/a
n/a
2 Canon PIXMA iX4000
309
✓
x
x
x
n/a
n/a
3 Epson Stlus Photo 1400
390
✓
x
x
x
n/a
n/a
4 Epson Stlus Photo R2880
655
✓
x
x
x
n/a
n/a
5 HP Officejet 7500A wide format e-All-in-One
249
x
✓
✓
✓
6 HP Officejet Pro 8500A Plus format e-All-in-One
299
✓
✓
✓
✓
7 Canon PIXMA MX885
239
✓
✓
✓
✓
8 Epson Stylus PX820FWD
345
✓
✓
✓
✓
9 HP Officejet 6500A Plus format e-All-in-One
169
x
✓
✓
✓
10 Lexmark Genesis S815
465
✓
✓
x
✓
11 Lexmark Pinnacle Pro901
330
✓
✓
x
✓
12 HP Envy 100 e-All-in-One
299
x
✓
✓
✓
13 Canon PIXMA MX420
159
✓
✓
✓
✓
14 Epson SX620FW
230
✓
✓
✓
✓
15 Canon PIXMA MG5150
109
✓
✓
✓
✓
16 Canon PIXMA MX410
119
✓
✓
x
x
17 Kodak ESP C110
90
x
✓
x
x
18 Epson BX625FWD
240
✓
✓
✓
✓
19 Epson PX660
150
✓
✓
x
x
20 Brother DCP-J715W
139
✓
✓
✓
✓
www.thecai.ie
TEST PERFORMANCE
September 2011
TIP / Printing via PictBridge
All-in-one 10. Lexmark Genesis S815 €465
All-in-one 11. Lexmark Pinnacle Pro901 €330
The Choice Buy Lexmark Genesis S815 is an unusual looking printer and stands upright. This means that it takes up less desk space than some of the other printers tested. It comes with built-in WiFi and you can print from mobile devices over Wi-Fi. You can also download apps to the printer. The printer can also print on both sides of a page automatically. While it performs most office tasks satisfactorily, the printing quality of photos makes it a clear Choice Buy. It prints equally well from a computer or memory card.
The Choice Buy Lexmark Pinnacle Pro901 can print from mobile devices over Wi-Fi and also comes with an Ethernet port and a fax. It has an automatic document feeder for scanning and copying and can print on both sides of a page automatically. One of the main advantages of this printer is the very low black text printing cost, when using the inexpensive 105XL black ink cartridge. You are also not compromising on print quality with this printer either, as it scores well for both text and photos.
SCORE
Ink costs text
Ink costs photo
Ease of use (20%)
Versatility (5%)
Networking (2%)
Direct photo printing (3%)
Power (5%) consumption
%
69
63
54
47
69
69
68
68
68
68
68
66
65
65
64
64
64
63
63
61
September 2011
PictBridge allows you to print directly from you digital camera without transferring photos to your computer first. To see if your printer and digital camera are PictBridge compatible look for the ‘PB’ logo on your device. When your camera is connected to the printer the camera LCD screen functions as a monitor for the printer and allows you to choose images for printing and other options. Useful contacts Canon Tel (01) 205 2400 www.canon.ie
Epson Tel +44 871 222 6702 www.epson.ie
HP Ireland Tel 1890 923 902 www.hp.com/ie
Lexmark Tel +44 870 444 0044 www.lexmark.ie
USING THE TABLE SPECIFICATION Price: Typical retailer’s price if you shop around. The price for models available online only is in italics. PictBridge: PictBridge allows printing directly from a digital camera. TEST PERFORMANCE Printing: The overall printing score includes rating for printing spreadsheets, graphics, text and photos, as well as ratings for the length of time each of these take. Text quality: Print quality and timing for one page black and white document which includes multiple typefaces. Photo quality: Print quality and timing of an 8x10 inch photo with primary colours, flesh tones, sky, highlights, shadows and fine details. Scanning and copying: Where these features are not available, the print quality accounts for 65% of the total test result. Ease of use: Rating based on the manual and online help, how easy the printer is to set up and use, and how easy it is to install drivers and other software. Direct photo printing: Image quality results for printers where it is possible to print directly from a camera or memory card. Power consumption: Energy used when idle, in stand-by mode and when switched off. Most printers use energy even when switched off, so to reduce this waste of energy, Consumer Choice suggests that consumers unplug devices when not in use.
www.thecai.ie
295
