best printer for home office and cheaper per page

Many can be attached to a network, meaning they can be used by anyone connected to the same Wi-Fi access point or Ethernet network, making them convenient for sharing between a small group of people and opening up the ability to print from phones and tablets. The 3200 is a solid option, too, but it's hard to find these days.Not only can they save money, by only buying one device that serves three functions, but they save space too, and only take up one wall outlet. We haven't tested it, but it's very similar to the $200 G3200, which provided Good text and photos and Very Good graphics in our labs. If you're willing to sacrifice on print quality, you may also consider the Canon MegaTank Pixma G3202, a Walmart-only model that retails for $180. Unlike earlier tank-based models, the G4210 gets a Very Good rating for text, graphics, and photo quality. 'The G4210 is the first reservoir-based printer that really shines as a printer, not just as a money saver,' says Rich Sulin, who leads CR’s printer testing program. Our estimates show the typical yearly cost to keep this printer running is just $6, a fraction of the figure for conventional inkjets. Year 2-$312, Year 3-$318, Year 4-$324, Year 5-$330ĭon’t let the high price scare you off: If you hang on to this model for a few years, it becomes one of the cheapest printers in our ratings-especially if it’s destined for heavy use, churning out recipes, book reports, tickets, schedules, graphics-heavy school projects, and the like.Īs with other reservoir- or tank-style printers on the market, the Pixma G4210 does away with pricey replacement cartridges in favor of tanks that can be replenished from low-cost bottles of ink. Every one has features such as a scanner, touch-screen navigation, WiFi connectivity, and auto-duplexing (which permits you to print on both sides of paper).Įstimated cost of ownership and ink replacement:

And laser printers tend to outperform inkjets on predicted brand reliability and owner satisfaction, ratings that are based on annual surveys of Consumer Reports members.įor more information on the replacement ink costs of specific models, along with other test and survey results, members can consult our printer ratings, which feature more than 200 models.īelow, CR members can read about several cost-efficient printers that score well in our ratings. These printers tend to have higher prices, but in the long run you'll probably spend less money on toner than you would on ink. Consumer Reports also tests laser printers, which use toner instead of ink and print through a different process. Like most of the printers people buy for home use, both of those are inkjet models. The $300 Canon Pixma G4210 hits your wallet hard on day one, but it has an ink reservoir instead of cartridges, and may run only $6 per year in ink costs, making the two-year cost of ownership only $312 and five-year cost $330. But CR's estimated total cost of ownership for the printer when you add the price of ink is an eye-popping $695 after two years and $1,609 after five years. It may seem like a bargain in the store with a price of about $80. The total financial outlay can balloon quickly. To arrive at those numbers, we use the price of replacement cartridges, ink, or toner data on how much consumers print from our member surveys and measurements of ink consumption from our labs. But when it's time for a new machine, it makes sense to buy an efficient model, one that sips ink instead of guzzling it.ĭoing that means looking beyond the printer's sticker price.Ĭonsumer Reports combines the upfront price of a printer with the cost of supplying it with ink or toner to calculate the overall cost of ownership for two to five years. You can take steps to use less ink regardless of what printer you own. Consumer Reports' surveys show that many people are frustrated by how frequently their printer-ink cartridges run out and how expensive they are to replace.

Best printer for home office and cheaper per page