Table of Contents
Introduction
Printers are machines that have the ability to produce a hardcopy of your vision and thoughts. The printing technology was introduced around 1440 with the invention of the printing press. This invention proved to be revolutionary, as within the next decade, the European age of printing had begun.
A printer is basically an output device that prints paper documents. Printers vary in size, speed, sophistication, and cost. The most expensive printers are generally used for higher resolution colored printing. Printers have different types and each type is specific for its functions.
Different types of printers include Inkjet printers (mainly used for personal needs), laser printers (used for offices), LED printers (almost similar to laser printers), Dye sublimation printers (used for alternative materials), and Thermal printers (used for receipts). Other types of printers include solid ink printers, multifunction printers, dot matrix printers, 3D printers, and so on.
Printers have certain different features that distinguish them from each other. Image quality, size and speed, media handling, ease of use and support are some of the main features that can help to differentiate between printers. If you are purchasing a printer, these five qualities are the basics that you should look for. Another important factor is compatibility, which means to make sure that the device is compatible with your computer and its operating system. Furthermore, replacement ink is another significant factor as it is ironic to see that cheap printers use expensive ink cartridges.
As far as personal printers are concerned, the most important factor in determining the quality of a printer is its resolution or DPI (dots per inch). It is the amount that an inkjet printer can place in one-inch line of the print document. The standard DPI is 600 x 600 DPI, although there are printers with much higher resolutions.
What is an All-in-One Printer?
All-in-one printers are basically those printers that incorporate all the functionality you need to create breathtaking colored photos or to run an entire business with. Today’s multi-function printers, commonly known as all-in-one printers, are capable of almost everything that you need. It is merely a combination of a scanner, fax machine, and a copier.
The right printer will allow you to connect to a secure network and share your documents without the hectic need of switching devices. An all-in-one printer contains various features other than printing, scanning, and faxing; these features include stapling, duplexing, hole punching, black and white and colored printing, extra paper trays, photo organization software, optical character recognition (OCR), and what not.
The main advantage of an all-in-one printer is that you can save money and space as you can enjoy many functions within a single device. Such printers are cost-efficient, power-efficient and provide the user with high quality outputs.
Top 5 All-in-One Printers with Cheap Ink
Canon Color ImageCLASS MF634CDW
The all-in-one, Canon Color imageCLASS MF634Cdw offers rich capabilities in a high quality, reliable printer that is ideal for any office environment. Its print, scan, copy and fax capabilities help you accomplish all the necessary tasks with just one machine. Features such as single-pass, duplex scan feature, various mobile solutions, and an intuitive 5” touchscreen LCD panel makes this printer easy to use, which provides your business all the support and efficiency that it deserves. This model comes with a 3-year limited warranty.
Your professional quality color documents are printed at speeds of up to 19 pages per minute1 in both color and black and white with a quick first print time of 12 seconds or less. Get crisp, high quality, bold color business documents as well as photos using V2 Color Technology, which increases image sharpness and color vibrancy. This saves you time, paper, and related costs, as well as limits interruptions so you can print, scan, copy, and fax with ease.
Features
- Laser-color printing
- Off-machine features include saving to USB flash drive, scanning to e-mail, scanning to SMB, push scan and pull scan
- Mobile printing capability (Apple Air print, Google Cloud print and Mopria print service)
- Standard memory of 1 GB
- Copying speed of 19 ppm
- Copying resolution of 600 x 600 DPI
- Maximum document enlargement of 400% and maximum document reduction of 25%
- Copying features include 2 on 1, 4 on 1, Frame erase copy, ID card copy, Toner save, and watermark
- Duplex Printer/ Scan/ Copy
Pros
- Above average output quality
- Good print speed
- Can be used with Wi-Fi
- USB thumb drive support
- Single-pass auto duplexing ADF
Cons
- High printing cost per page
- Small 100-page output tray
- A bit big and heavy for its capacity
Verdict
The Canon Color ImageCLASS MF634CDW is a very good fit for busy office environments that require serious paper handling, fast performance, and custom presets.
HP Smart Tank Plus 551
HP’s Smart Tank Plus 551 is a multifunction printer, which makes it different from other printers because instead of cartridges, this printer gets its ink from reservoirs that you can fill from bottles. It provides up to 8000 colored pages or 6000 black pages. This printer lets you count on dark, crisp text and vibrant color graphics for all your prints. It provides the prints you want at a fast speed. Easily refill your ink tank system with spill-free and reasonable bottles.
You can quickly access and print documents and images on your smartphone from Drop Box and Google Drive. It allows you to enjoy high quality scanning and sharing to the Drop Box, Google Drive, E-mail or the Cloud. It provides a feature to take a photo as a copy and send it to your printer virtually anywhere. It also provides notifications when printing, scanning or copying from your smartphone. You get reliable and faster connections with dual band Wi-Fi. Smartphones and tablets can easily be connected to the printer without having to access a network. Also provides fast printing with the help of Bluetooth.
Features
- 2 years of ink in bottles included in the box
- Print/Scan/Copy
- Wireless
- ISO Print speed up to 11 ppm for black and 5 ppm for colored
- Faster connections with dual band Wi-Fi
- Easy mobile printing with HP smart app
- Resolution of 1200 x 1200 DPI for black and 4800 x 1200 for colored
- 800 MHz processor speed
Pros
- Very low running costs
- Great printing quality
- Small footprint
- Decent volume rating
Cons
- Non-duplexing print engine
- Lacks automatic document feeder
Verdict
The HP Smart Tank Plus 551 prints very well and has a very low running costs, but has some notable productivity and convenience features that is lacking as compared with its competitors.
Brother MFC-J805DW
This all-in-one inkjet printer with tank technology is the best choice if you need a printer for home or office use. The Brother MFC-J805DW is on the petite side, measuring 17.1 x 13.4 x 7.7 inches. It weighs just less than 20 pounds, so it’s easy to move.
It features the improved INKvestment Tank cartridges along with an internal ink storage which delivers uninterrupted printing for up to one year without the need to purchase ink. Features that are capable for business needs include mobile device printing, scanning to Cloud services capabilities, automatic two-sided printing , easy onscreen navigation using the 1.8-inch color display, and a flexible paper handling options. With the ink included out of the box, the Brother INKvestment Tank all-inclusive solution delivers uninterrupted printing, superb features, great convenience, high volume page yields, and low-cost printing.
It prints text documents at 10 pages per minute (ppm), generating a five-page text document in 30.1 seconds. This is faster than the average of 33.4 seconds, or 9 ppm. It provides the user with a two-year limited warranty with free online, call or live chat support for the life of your printer.
Features
- Automatic duplex 2-sided printing
- Up to 20 sheets automatic document feeder
- 15-sheet adjustable paper tray capacity
- Wireless and USB connectivity.
- Compact design
- 2-year limited warranty
- Mobile printing and scanning feature
Pros
- Entry-level multifunction (print, scan, copy and fax)
- Low ink costs
- Solid overall output quality
- Borderless printing
- Fast document feeder
Cons
- No Ethernet connectivity
- No flash memory support
Verdict
The Brother MFC-J805DW is an entry-level, all in one office printer that prints exceptionally well overall, and with a very low operating cost as compared to many of its competitors.
HP OfficeJet Pro 9015
The HP OfficeJet Pro 9015 printer helps save space, time and resources as it is a wireless printer that brings together many features including printing, canning, copying and faxing into a single device. It provides a 250-sheet paper tray that helps handle large jobs. This printer provides a print resolution of 4800 x 1200 DPI and print speeds (draft) as fast as 32 ppm (black) and ppm 32 (color). Borderless printing is available on documents up to 8.5 x 11 inches, and for printing non-borderless documents the printer accepts media up to 8.5 x 14 inches.
Furthermore, for copying and scanning, the unit has a 1200 DPI CSI scanner, and for multi-page documents the ADF has a 35-sheet capacity. It is equipped with built-in Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity; the 9015 can be added to an existing network easily, and these settings are intuitively accessible thru the 2.65-inch touchscreen display on the front panel.
This printer includes a Wi-Fi Direct feature, allowing users to connect directly from mobile devices for immediate printing needs. For those desiring a direct, simple connection, there is a USB 2.0 port available.
Additionally, the printer is eligible for the HP Instant Ink Program which, allows users to have their printers notify HP when it’s low on ink, in order to have a new set of ink cartridges delivered to your doorstep for just a small monthly fee. This system guarantees that you will always have a cartridge ready to go and keeps you from needing to constantly monitor the ink level.
Features
- Print speed ISO of up to 22 ppm for black and up to 18 ppm for colored
- Print/Scan/Copy/Fax
- 250-sheet input tray
- Automatic 2-sided copy and scan
- Instant ink ready
- High yield ink available
- Resolution of 1200 x 1200 DPI for black and 4800 x 1200 DPI for colored
- Processor with a speed of 1.2 GHz
Pros
- Fast
- Good print quality
- 35-sheet auto duplexing ADF
- Borderless printing
- Competitive running costs
- Attractive and compact build
Cons
- Not equipped with a bypass tray
- Limited paper input source
Verdict
HP’s OfficeJet Pro 9015 All-in-One Printer churns out quality output at a low cost per page, making it a good value for small offices with light-to-medium copy and print volume requirements.
Epson Eco Tank ET-2720
The Epson EcoTank ET-2720 is the smallest and cheapest of all Epson’s bulk-ink all-in-one printers. It may not be the fastest or the fanciest AIO out there, but it churns out quality prints at a low cost per page.
The Epson ET-2720 is a cuboid-shaped printer which measures 179 x 375 x 347 mm and weighing 4.5 kg; this is comparatively big for an office printer, but isn’t a space hog. It provides an exclusive eco-fit bottle design, which is uniquely keyed for easy filling of each color.
This printer uses ink bottles instead of cartridges, which promise a much lower cost per page – equaling big savings in the long run. There is a control panel on the front, which can either hang to the front of the printer or can be tilted all the way up to be parallel with the printer’s topside. The panel also features a 1.44 inch display. Home, Back, OK, Cancel, and Arrow key buttons allows you to navigate all of the printer’s settings.
Underneath the printer’s panel is an extendable out-tray. The copier/scanner glass is underneath a flap on the top as you’d expect, and paper can be loaded in at the back (up to 100 sheets of A4). The ink tank sits to the right of the control panel and features four separate chambers for black, yellow, magenta, and cyan ink.
Features
- Hands-free voice activated printing
- Space-saving design
- 2-year limited warranty
- Epson iPrint app (iOS, Android)
- Exclusive Eco-fit bottle design
- Easy setup and navigation
- Integrated front-facing ink tanks
- Borderless photo printing
- Cartridge-free printing
- Low cost replacement ink bottles
Pros
- Very low operating costs
- Superb print quality
- Compact and Light
- Supports Wi-Fi Direct
Cons
- Lacks ADF or auto duplexing feature
- No Ethernet connectivity and memory card support
Verdict
The Epson ET-2720 offers great value for money. It pulls off the hat-trick for low running costs, relatively low RRP and a high print quality.
What to look for in an All-in-One Printer?
There are numerous factors that one should look for while buying or evaluating an all-in-one printer. The most important of them are listed below:
Printer Quality
Print quality is measured in dots per inch; black-and-white printers should have a minimum resolution of 600 x 600 dots per inch. Black-and-white resolutions of 2400 x 1200 DPI produce high quality print productions. Color print quality of 1200 x 1200 DPI is a good minimum standard, and a resolution of 4800 x 2400 DPI produces excellent quality color printouts.
Ink Replacement Costs
Consider the replacement cost of ink when buying an all-in-one printer; compare the yield that can be expected from the ink or toner cartridge. By dividing the cost of the cartridge by the expected yield, you can calculate a cost-per-page estimate.
Scanner Resolution
A scanner that captures at a minimum resolution of 1200 x 600 DPI is necessary for high quality reproductions, while a scanner resolution of 4800 x 4800 DPI produces amazing images.
Duty Cycle
Printers that are to be used in an office setting should have a high duty cycle in the 20,000 to 25,000-page range. A home printer with a monthly duty cycle of 5,000 pages is probably sufficient for most users.
Automatic Document Feeder
Manually placing each page of a fax document on a scanner platform one-at-a-time is not a very productive way to send a fax, and a document feeder feature eliminates that problem, which allows you to place a stack of papers that needs to be faxed on the feeder tray.
Wi-Fi or Network Connectivity
A Wi-Fi-compatible all-in-one printer can be configured to operate securely in a home or business network that has wireless capabilities.
Recommendation
Keeping in mind all the mandatory features of an all-in-one printer, the HP OfficeJet Pro 9015 is our top pick. With a print speed of 22 ppm for black and 18 ppm for colored, it can prove to be very fast in delivering the required service.
It has a scanner resolution that can ensure high quality images. Another perk that we love is its duty cycle of 25,000 pages per month. With an average cost, this printer can prove to be an optimal choice for both home based and office use.
Final Words
You can now easily determine which printer is the most suitable for your requirements with the help of information mentioned above. We hope that this article makes your journey from determining the need to selection of the best product, and then the purchase of the product much easier.
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