Ten... A3 inkjet printers

Epson Stylus Office B1100


Another primarily SOHO machine, capable of A3+ print, this printer has a couple of interesting takes on wide-format print. For a start, it’s five ink cartridges include two identical blacks, which feed the print head simultaneously – a higher capacity single cartridge would make more ecological sense. No card slots on this machine and just USB at the back, but plain paper print speed, at a measured maximum of 12.2ppm, is higher than the competition. Photo prints are slower though, from 2mins 13s for a 15 x 10cm to 4:48 for A3. Black text quality is a bit rough round the edges, but photos are good. Running costs are comparatively low with ISO black costing 2.5p and colour costing 5.8p.

Epson Stylus Photo R2000


One of few A3 printers designed specifically for photo print, it has a full complement of eight inks. As well as the normal CMYK, it adds red, orange, photo black and a gloss optimiser. This makes the printer particularly good at skin tones and its photo output is the best in the group. It also has a front panel PictBridge socket and a CD-DVD carrier, so you can print direct to disc. Speeds are fair at 59s for 15 x 10cm and 3mins 56s for A3. Running costs are surprisingly low, even with the extra inks, at 1.8p for ISO black and 4.9p for ISO colour. The printer itself is pricey, though.