Printers

There's a lot to like about the Canon PIXMA MG6220. It combines print, scanning, and standalone copier features in a single unit, and can print wirelessly to iOS mobile devices using Apple's AirPrint. It does a good job of printing text-based documents, and a better than average job of printing color photos, although the quality isn't good...

If you need a printer that packs multiple functions under the hood, and you're willing to sacrifice some features and quality in exchange for a low price, then the Brother MFC-J430w may be worth a look.

With a $499.99 list price, you may be surprised to hear us call the Epson Stylus Photo R2000 an affordable printer, but for what it offers in print quality and features, that price is a bargain.

As you might expect from its name, the Canon PIXMA iP4500 Photo Printer performs better as a photo printer than a document printer, but it’s strong enough at printing text and graphics to serve double-duty. The Canon PIXMA iP4500 can print directly from PictBridge-compatible digital cameras, but it doesn’t have any memory card slots.

The Epson PictureMate Zoom Compact Photo Printer packs a lot of features in a small package. It produces stunning snapshots, with vivid, true-to-life color; has its own DVD reader/CD burner; and can print photos with or without a computer.

The network-ready Lexmark C530dn color laser printer is a good choice for small office and home office use. It offers good to excellent output quality and fast output speeds, and has built-in duplexing capabilities, to help you save money on paper.

The Lexmark Z1300 inkjet printer is a bargain-basement, no-frills printer, with little to recommend it. It’s not bad at printing color photos, but the cost of replacement ink cartridges more than outweighs the Lexmark Z1300’s low upfront cost.

The Brother HL-4040CN color laser printer is robust enough to meet the needs of small and medium businesses, and affordable enough for home and home office users.