Printers, regular.(inkjet printers)(Buyers guide)

Regular inkjets are fine for printing text and photos. Some models are short on features such as LCD viewers, memory card readers, and PictBridge connectivity, so make sure the model you choose has the all features you want.

If you print only black text, a black-and-white laser printer is hard to beat for top-quality text at high speed and very low cost.

Guide to the Ratings

Overall score is based mainly on speed and text/photo quality. Text quality indicates how crisply and clearly a printer produced black text in a variety of faces, sizes, and styles. Models with higher scores produce more uniform type, with sharper edges and smoother curves. Text speed (ppm) is our calculation of the printer's typical output in pages per minute (ppm) for a five-page document. Speeds generally range from 2ppm to 9 ppm for inkjets and faster for lasers. Text cost (cents) is the estimated cost of black ink and paper to produce a single text page. Photo quality is our assessment of the appearance of each photo. Models with higher scores produce more natural looking photos, with smoother changes in shading and fewer problems with banding. 8x10 photo time (minutes) is our measurement of how long it took each printer to output an 8x10 color print, at the printer's best setting. 8x10 photo cost is the estimated cost of the color ink and glossy photo paper needed to produce an 8x10 photo. Graphics quality is our assessment of the appearance of color graphics produced by the printer. Models with higher scores produce graphics with colors that are brighter, more uniform, and less prone to band or bleed into one another. Price is approximate retail.

Quick Picks:

Best inkjets:

2 HP Deskjet D4260, $80