The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

Ten... all-in-one inkjet printers

Paper view

Agentless Backup is Not a Myth

Product Round-up There are two types of inkjet all-in-one printer: one intended for photo enthusiasts and the other for people running offices. It's the latter lot I'm attending to here, with a selection of printers designed for those who value plain paper output as much as - if not more than - snaps.

The price ranges large, with the cheapest models coming in at under £70 and the most expensive topping £200 - or up to £400 if you look at the manufacturers' pricing, so always shop around online.

Most have fax facilities, still surprisingly useful in this e-mail age, and many have automatic document feeders (ADFs) for multipage scans and copies, and duplex print to save paper costs.

But, as ever, price is not the only arbiter...

Brother DCP-J925DW

RH Numbers

This is one of Brother’s new range of smoothly-styled office all-in-ones, but with a couple of extra twists up its paper path. As well as the fold-out, 15-sheet ADF and the signature wide-aspect touchscreen controller, the printer handles duplex print and comes with a CD carrier for direct print onto optical discs. It has wireless connection as standard and includes twin paper trays, though the photo tray has to be engaged manually. The main problem with the machine, as with previous models, is the quality of plain paper print, which looks fuzzy. Black print is worst for this, but colour can be a blurred, too.

Brother DCP-J925DW
Reg Rating 65%
Price £174
More Info Brother

Canon Pixma MX420

RH Numbers

Canon’s well-designed, home office all-in-ones integrate all their functions into an enlarged, treasure chest-style box. This machine sits in the middle of the range, but still has a fold-out, 30-sheet ADF and a full-width control panel, including a 62mm LCD. The printer can print from memory card and USB, fax from flatbed or ADF, and supports wireless connection as standard. It has just a single paper tray, which flips up at the rear. Plain paper print quality is very good and photo prints are excellent, but running costs of 3.6p (black) and 8.4p (colour) put it towards the top end of its price range.

Canon Pixma MX420 inkjet printer
Reg Rating 75%
Price £129
More Info Canon

Customer Success Testimonial: Recovery is Everything

Next page: Dell P713w

Epson

I've been using an Epson Stylus Photo R360 with a CIS for the last 4 years. The heads show no sign of drying out but there IS a longstanding problem with Epsons in that they calculate when the ink absorbing pads will be saturated with ink and simply stop printing. The official way to fix this is to use an official repairer for about £100. When this happened to me about two years ago I used a hack and have printed happily and smudge-free for another two years.

If you have the Equivalent printer in the USA, Epson will give you a FREE software fix, no repair bills there. Lets screw Europe.

My advice would be to NOT buy an Epson. I don't mind printers which breakdown but I detest planned obsolescence.

6
0
Anonymous Coward

Agree in general, though just because some company stops "maintaining" the driver doesn't mean you have to buy a new printer. Once it works, then it works for the printer capabilities and they can't make it not work

3
0
Anonymous Coward

I keep hoping someone will report Epson have fixed the problem of clogging print heads. I got burned twice about four years ago and will not touch them again until someone reports this has been sorted. HP on the other hand has been totally reliable (though their printer monitoring software is bleeding annoying).

3
0

More from The Register

Samsung Galaxy Note 8: Proof the pen is mightier?
Sammy’s iPad Mini killer has a stylus to stab other rivals too
Microsoft lures buy-curious vixens, corduroys with a cheap fondle
Surface slab sales latest: Will no one rid Ballmer of these turbulent tabs?
First look: iOS 7 for iPad
No, Apple hasn't released it yet, but that doesn't stop intrepid devs
 breaking news
Curtain drops on Apple Store ahead of WWDC: What lies behind?
Steve Jobs watching from on high. No pressure, lads
 breaking news
Cold, dead hands of Steve Jobs slip from iPhones: The Cult of Ive is upon us
Billionaire biz baron's death clears way for uber-shiny iOS 7
Airbus imagines suitcases that find themselves
Point your mobe at your smalls to track their every move
Surprise! Intel smartphone trounces ARM in power trials
Tests show equal performance while sipping significantly less juice
Samsung plans LTE Advanced version of Galaxy S4
1Gbps download capability could stiffen drooping S4 sales forecasts
Apple said to be 'exploring' 5.7-inch iPhone
Who's the copycat this time, Mr. Cook?
Google Chromebooks now in over 6,600 stores
Major, worldwide retail push begins this summer