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2009 Top CR Rated Regular Inkjet Printers Under $100

November 14th, 2009 dwight No comments

Many Injets are are bare-bone low cost models that offer solid all around performance when printing pictures and text. These printers are great for those that don’t need scanning or faxing capabilities. Most can print photos up to 8.5X11, text and graphics. They also offer flexibility in paper types so you can do regular printing on cheap paper and your picture printing on higher quality photo paper. Below are the best all around regular Inkjets under $100 that offer great performance at a relatively low cost.

Top Rated Inkjet printer under $100: The CR top rated regular Inket printer was the HP Officejet 8000. This was the only regular Inkjet printer out of the bunch that offered Wireless Networking. It does not offer niceties like an LCD screen or SD card/USB direct printing but it does offer ultra low page printing at only 1.9 cents per page, by far the cheapest of the bunch. It offers low cost 4×6 print printing at only 30 cents, again, the lowest of the bunch. At under $100 at Amazon.com it was by far the best bargain of those tested considering it retails for almost $200 at other stores. HP Officejet 8000-Best Price $97.00 at Amazon.com

Top 3 CR Best Buy Regular Injet printers Sorted by Price

HP Photosmart D5460

hp phosmart d5460
HP Photosmart D5460
Shop At Price
$72.49
$99.99

The HP Photosmart D5460 was the least expensive printer of the group. It offers high quality images at a very low price but lacks many desirable features which can be had for not much more money. Cost per page is good at about 3.7 cents a page and prints can be had for 35 cents per picture. Excellent printer if you are looking for the absolutely lowest price and don’t care about extra features like wireless or LCD screen.

Features:

  • up to 33 ppm black - 31 ppm Color
  • Up to 9600 x 2400 dpi resolution
  • Excellent image quality at low up front cost
  • USB Connectivity

$72.49 Best Price at Amazon.com


HP Officejet Pro 8000 Wireless Networking

HP officejet 8000
HP Officejet Pro 8000
Shop At Price
$97.00
$179.99

The HP Officejet 8000 is a high quality workhorse that offers ultra low page printing costs and wireless networking. This was the only printer out of those tested that offered such features. In addition, with page printing as low as 1.9 cents a page, it had the cheapest cost per page of the group. 4×6 picture printing was also the lowest of the group at only 30 cents a print. A business quality printer at home printer price.

Features:

  • up to 33 ppm black and 31 ppm color
  • Up to 9600 x 2400 dpi in full-color
  • Wireless 802.11b/g
  • High capacity tray
  • Capable of high volume printing

97.00 Best Price at Amazon.com


HP Photosmart D7560

HP photosmart d7569
HP Photosmart D7560
Shop At Price
$98.98
$99.99

The HP Photosmart D7560 is a rock solid Inkjet printer with plenty of features for those who print graphics, text and photos. It offers low cast text printing at only 3.9 cents per page. 4X6 prints are also quite economical at 35 cents a print. Another nice feature not typically found on a printer at this price rage is the built in 3.5″ LCD screen that lets you preview your pictures when printing directly from an SD card or USB drive. All around, the best printer of the group at a very attractive price.

Features:

  • up to 33 ppm black and 31 ppm color
  • Up to 9600 x 2400 dpi in full-color
  • Handsome design with built in 3.5″ LCD screen
  • Direct printing capabilities via memory card, PictBridge camera, or USB
  • 125-sheet paper tray and 20-sheet photo tray with auto paper-type sensor

99.99 Best Price at Amazon.com

Consumer Reports Best All in One Printers

October 7th, 2009 dwight No comments

Finding the right all in one printer is all about compromise. You have to find the model that offers the best price, has affordable operating costs in terms of ink, prints quality pages and has plenty of speed. Of all the 50 printers that were tested, the ones below offer the best of all worlds. All are loaded with plenty of features, some even have nice extras like a built in LCD screen as well as built in fax, direct CD printing and wireless.

Don’t Need All in 1 Features? Check out these Regular Inkjets Under $100

Top Rated All in One printer: The CR top rated all in one printer was the HP PhotoSmart C6380. This printer was not only affordable, it also had everything the more expensive printers had, including LCD screen, Wireless Networking and media card support. The C6380 was tied for the lowest cost per 4X6 print at only 35 cents. Page print costs were also low at 3.9 cents per page. This was by far the best value because it was over $100 cheaper than the Epson and just $20 more than the OfficeJet 6500 which has no LCD and no wireless. Overall, this is the best All in One values on the market.  $119.98 Best Price at Amazon.com

Top 3 CR Best Buy All in One printers Sorted by Price

HP OfficeJet 6500 with Built in Networking

HP OfficeJet 6500 with Built in Networking
HP OfficeJet 6500
Shop At Price
$99.99
$99.99
$143.99

The HP OfficeJet 6500 was rated a Consumer Reports best buy because it offers excellent speed (up to 32 pages/minute black, 31 color) , a cost per page of only 3 cents and cost per print of only 35 cents. This printer has built in networking capabilities and built in faxing/scanning for all in one convenience. In addition, the printer was the most energy efficient of the bunch. Another cool thing about this printer is that it offers the capability to scan directly to a memory card making it easy to take scanned documents and pictures on the go. Best of all, this all in one can be had for under 100 bucks and while you don’t get an external LCD screen, this printer has all the functionality of costlier all in ones.

Features:

  • up to 32 pages/minute black, 31 color
  • Up to 4800 x 1200 optimized dpi color
  • All in one conveninece for one stop scanning/faxing/printing/copying
  • Ethernet networking
  • Media card port for direct scan to medica card
  • Flatbed size 8.5 x 11.7 in
  • Optical scanning up to 2400 dpi and enhanced up to 19,200 dpi

$99.99 Best Price at Amazon.com


HP Photosmart C6380 All-in-One Printer

HP Photosmart C6380 All-in-One Printer
HP PhotoSmart C6380
Shop At Price
$119.98
$149.99
$179.99

The HP PhotoSmart C6380 is a Consumer Reports best buy. This printer has all the features of the 6500 in addition to an external LCD screen for quick photo previewing. As with the 6500, this printer also has built in wireless for cordless printing. This printer is also fast, capable of printing up to 33 pages per min in black , 31 in color and will crank out a 4×6 print in as little as 18 seconds. Cost per page is also pretty good at just 4 cents per page and about 35 cents per 4×6 photo print. All in all, this is one of the best values in the group because it has all of the features of the cheaper 6500 in addition to an LCD screen, wireless networking, 2 times the printing resolution and 2 times the optical scanning resolution.

Features:

  • up to 32 pages/minute black, 31 color
  • Up to 9600 x 2400 dpi optimized
  • All in one conveninece for one stop scanning/faxing/printing/copying
  • Wireless networking
  • Media card port for direct scan to medica card
  • Flatbed size 8.5 x 11.7 in
  • Optical scanning up to 4800 dpi and enhanced up to 19,200 dpi

$119.98 Best Price at Amazon.com


Epson Artisan 800

epson artisan 800
Epson Artisan 800
Shop At Price
$239.00
$269.99

The Epson Artisan 800 is the final of the CR best buys. This was the fastest ratest printers of the bunch, printing both color and black/white pages at up to 38 pages per minute. The printer will also crank out a 4X6 print in as little as 10 seconds. One of the coolest things on this printer is that it has a 7.8″ color touch panel for the user interface, while high on the cool factor, it does make this one the most expensive of the 3. One of the downsides of this printer is that it has the highest cost per prit at 50 cents per page and the highest cost per page at 4.2 cents. As with the C6380, this printer also has a built in LCD screen and wireless networking capabilities.

Features:

  • up to 38 pages/minute black, 38 color
  • Up to 5760 x 1440 optimized dpi resolution
  • All in one conveninece for one stop scanning/faxing/printing/copying
  • Wireless networking
  • Touch panel interface and LCD screen
  • Media card port for direct scan to medica card
  • Flatbed size 8.5 x 11.7 in
  • Optical 48 bit scanningup to 4800 dpi and enhanced up to 19,200 dpi

$239.00 Best Price at Amazon.com