Dhadkan of India

After my Mp3 players review, this is second in series and is on Printers.

Selecting a printer is always a tough decision(at least I found it) . I think Printer selection depends on various things. First you need to identify your requirement and then select the type of printer for your use. You have a wide range of Inkjet and laser printers from many reputed manufacturers. Most popular manufacturers are HP, Cannon, Kodak, Epson etc. So what I am doing is I am putting reviews of some of the best Printers. The review is not India specific this time and that's why I have put the rates in USD. Please check the respective sites to know more about the models.

Kodak EasyShare 5300

- Kodak EasyShare 5300 is an all-in-one printer, copier and scanner. This is reported to be designed to reduce the cost of printing and to keep the running costs low. Printing time could be as low as 25-28 seconds. 3 inch display allows you to see the menu as well as display of preview of the photos. It has a memory card reader that supports Micro XD cards, SD and other Memory sticks.

One can transfer print content using the USB port also. If you buy the optional adaptor, you can transfer images from any Bluetooth device. This printer makes it easy to print 4X6 inch photos on a A4 sheet. The one disadvantage is the size and the weight. It weighs as much as 10 Kg and measures 478mm X 224 mm X 373 mm. This printer has two cartridges. One has black ink and the other has 5 colors, out of which one is a chemical to coat the image for long term protection. Color cartridge is expected to let you print around 100 pages while black only may give you clean printing of 350 pages. Overall, it is a good printer with low consumable costs.

HP Color LaserJet 2600n

Think of printers, think of HP. HP produces a large variety of printers in all kinds of technologies. Bi it be Inkjet or Laserjet, HP will have model that suits your requirement. HP Color LaserJet 2600n is one of their best printers. This is priced with a very competitive price tag and has built in Ethernet networkability.

This HP printer weighs around 18 Kgs and measures 407 mm X 371 mm X 453mm. The printing speeds are good at 8 pages per minute (ppm) if you are printing black text. If you are printing text and images in color the speed may be 6.5 ppm. The maintenance may be expensive, but if you are looking for good quality printing and good service, this laser printer is worth buying.

HP Photosmart D7160

HP Photosmart D7160 is another good six-color inkjet printer. This is an economical and versatile printer. It weighs around 7.7 Kg and measures 462mmX 386mmX173mm. The display is a bit smaller at 2.5 inches.D7160 supports USB port and card readers. This printer also can support an adaptor to print wirelessly from Bluetooth devices or even your iPod. The advantage of this printer is its cartridges for different inks.

The six color system has six cartridges for yellow, magenta, light magenta, cyan, light cyan and Black. You can replace the individual color cartridge. One excellent feature is its capacity to print stills from videos, by playing the video, pause and print. By using Photosmart software, you can transfer, save, edit and print. It can print around 10-12 sec to print a page and a 4x6-inch photo may take a longer time at a rate of 0.90 ppm. This is a good overall printer for text and photos, but good if you want to print only photos.

Epson Stylus Photo R800

Another good printer is Epson Stylus Photo R800 a color inkjet printer with a resolution of 5,760x1, 440dpi which is excellent for printing photos. This can print on CDs and DVDs. This printer can be connected through USB or Firewire. Photoenhance mode allows you to fine tune the image before printing. One can select options like Text and Image, Photo, and Best Photo apart from the facility to add a watermark, reduce or enlarge the image or print multiple pages on a single sheet etc. The speed may be slow, depending on the size of the image. It may take around 2.5 minutes to print a high resolution image on A4 sheet. One disadvantage is that the color cartridge has to be replaced, even if only one color runs out. Epson is a very reputed company and the spares do not cost a bomb. In some cases, there are manufacturers, who make cartridges compatible with Epson printers at a cost less than 50% of that of the original cartridges. The manufacturer and the dealers advise against the usage of cartridges other than the genuine ones. It is your decision to use these alternative cartridges or not.

Lexmark C530dn

Lexmark is another big brand name in the Printer market. Lexmark C530dn color laser printer is value for money. This may cost around US $ 600, but is still worth it. You may opt for this printer, if you are looking for a color laser printer with faster printing and good quality. Double side printing is possible. The power consumption is very low as compared to other equivalent printers. This 36 Kg printer is not portable. It measures 439mm X 485mm X 513mm.

This printer comes with a 375MHz processor and 128MB of RAM. The memory can be expanded to 640MB if required. USB port and Ethernet jack allow you to connect USD devises and the Ethernet jack allows you to connect to your local area network and can avoid local printers. If you add a Wifi adaptor, you can print through wireless mode. The printer comes with two toner cartridges- one with toner and the other with photoconductor. The printing speeds are good at 17 ppm if you print black text and 16 ppm for color text and 13 ppm for color graphic printing. This is a good printer for your office use and you can save on consumables too.

The above are just a few good printers. One needs to check the availability of spares, service center and their efficiency to provide low downtime. Hence buy a good printer from a good company that has proven service in your area.