By : Chris Holt, Macworld.com
Laser printers offer great speed and reliability for demanding business and home users. At their best when put to work in a network setting, laser printers allow multiple users to take advantage of the high speeds and duplexing capabilities of the printer.
But how to weigh those advantages? We've got some tips on shopping for a laser printer if you're in the market for one this holiday season. And we've got a trio of recommendations for models that passed muster in our tests.
Laser printer buying advice
Consider the cost Most quality laser printers run in the range of US$400 to $600 and are on the heavy side (around 50 pounds). They are a bigger investment than standard printers and require more room to operate. Most come with longer warranties than typical inkjet printers, however.
Two sides are better than one Printers that offer duplexing can print on both sides of the page--a useful feature for users who want to maximize speed and efficiency. And printing on both sides of a page ultimately saves you money on paper.
On a related note, laser printers cost less per page to print than their inkjet counterparts; they're also more environmentally friendly.
What to look for When judging a laser printer, there are two key factors you should focus on--speed and text quality. Macworld Lab includes both time trials and jury ratings in our laser printer reviews--make sure to look at both when deciding which model to buy.
A quality laser printer typically prints 10 pages in around 30 to 45 seconds. As for our jury tests of printing quality--which also include ratings on the quality of image and graphics output--a quality laser printer score a rating of "very good" or better in our text-quality test.
Ponder Postscript Postscript capability or emulation is an important ability to consider. Postscript is a print description language that enables laser printers to handle high-quality graphics alongside text. No longer an absolute necessity, Postscript printing is still important as it takes the load off your computer's CPU and allows the use of certain types of fonts.
Our favorite laser printers
The Oki C6150dn produces great-looking prints and includes built-in duplexing. It also offers easy network connectivity and quick printing speeds. It's particularly ideal for printing top-quality brochures and handouts with photo elements.
The Brother HL-4070CDW is a color laser printer perfect for a small-to-midsize workgroup and comes packed with a ton of useful features--wireless networking, duplexing capabilities, and PostScript compatibility (via emulation). It also delivers speedy performance, ease of use, and excellent print quality for a relatively low price for laser printers.
The Xerox Phaser 6180/DN is a color laser printer that's also aimed at the small- to midsize-business crowd. It produces clean, crisp copy and features 10/100BaseTX Ethernet networking capability, automatic duplexing, and Adobe PostScript 3 compatibility. Though it's been on the market for a while, the Phaser 6180/DN remains one of the most user-friendly printers out there.
source : www.pcworld.com
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Kamis, 18 Desember 2008
Monochrome Multifunction Printers Roundup
By : Roman Loyola, Macworld.com
A monochrome multifunction printer (also called all-in-ones) combines a monochrome laser printer, color scanner, copier, and sometimes a fax machine into a single device. As with a color multifunction printer, having all these functions in one unit not only saves room, but it can also be more affordable than buying separate individual devices.
If you already have a color printer, or if your prints consist of text and some simple graphics, a monochrome printer may be all you need. Here are some tips to keep in mind when shopping for a MFP. Note that some of these tips mirror our buying advice for both color MFPs and color laser printers . Later in the article, we'll share a pair of printers that fared best in our tests of monochrome all-in-ones this past year.
Monochrome MFP buying advice
Better price per page: Laser MFPs are good for medium to large businesses that print documents often. The initial cost of a monochrome laser MFP may seem a bit pricier than a color inkjet MFP, but toner tends to be cheaper than ink in the long run. The price per page for a laser printout is cheaper than ink.
Text specialists: Monochrome laser MFPs are ideal if you print text documents, as well as spreadsheets, basic charts, business graphics, or grayscale artwork.
Speed: Print speeds are usually rated by how many pages per minute (ppm) a printer can produce. But not all manufacturers use the same quality setting or the same type of document when determining their speed rating. Also, the speed rating may be only the amount of time it takes to put toner to paper and output it. It may not include the actual data processing of the job.
Double-sided: A built-in duplexer allows you to print on both sides of a page, which helps saves paper. However, duplexing often significantly increases print time.
Paper capacity: Most base model MFPs hold between 100 and 250 sheets of paper. If you plan to print frequently, consider a MFP with a large paper capacity, or optional additional paper feeders.
Color scanner: Even though they can only produce grayscale prints, monochrome MFPs usually come with a good, general-purpose color scanner that performs 24-bit scans. These scanners can handle business documents, charts, and artwork. They're also suitable for non-professional photos. Obviously, if you want to print your color scans, you'll have to find another printer.
If you plan to scan frequently, look for one-button scanning, which lets you scan an item without using the software interface on your Mac. Just place an item on the scanner, press a button on the MFP, and the scan is automatically saved to your Mac.
Making copies: The scanner on an MFP as does double duty as a copier. Look for an automatic document feeder if you want to be able to copy multi-page documents.
Connectivity: A majority of MFPs have USB for connecting to a single Mac. If you have an AirPort Extreme, AirPort Express, or Time Capsule at home or in a small business, you may be able use USB to connect the MFP to the network device and share the printer over a network.
To connect to a medium of large business, look for Ethernet or wireless connectivity. This may not come as standard equipment, and may be an additional cost. Some MFPs also support Bluetooth for printing from portable devices.
Some MFPs have features that let you perform tasks remotely over a network on a shared MFP. For example, you can scan a document and the MFP distributes the scanned file to computers on the network. In our experience, these features often do not work on a Mac, or they have inconvenient workarounds for Mac compatibility.
Our favorite monochrome MFPs
Budget-conscious users will especially appreciate the Brother MFC-7840W. With an inexpensive cost per print (approximately 3 cents per page), the MFC-7840W is capable of printing very good quality text and business graphics at reasonably fast rates. It's a fine choice for offices that work in a black-and-white world.
Sporting a sleek, black exterior with a glossy finish, the Samsung SCX-4500 looks attractive for a device with a monochrome laser printer, color scanner, and copier. When it comes to image quality, the SCX-4500 doesn't disappoint. This is an ideal MFP for a home office.
source : www.pcworld.com
A monochrome multifunction printer (also called all-in-ones) combines a monochrome laser printer, color scanner, copier, and sometimes a fax machine into a single device. As with a color multifunction printer, having all these functions in one unit not only saves room, but it can also be more affordable than buying separate individual devices.
If you already have a color printer, or if your prints consist of text and some simple graphics, a monochrome printer may be all you need. Here are some tips to keep in mind when shopping for a MFP. Note that some of these tips mirror our buying advice for both color MFPs and color laser printers . Later in the article, we'll share a pair of printers that fared best in our tests of monochrome all-in-ones this past year.
Monochrome MFP buying advice
Better price per page: Laser MFPs are good for medium to large businesses that print documents often. The initial cost of a monochrome laser MFP may seem a bit pricier than a color inkjet MFP, but toner tends to be cheaper than ink in the long run. The price per page for a laser printout is cheaper than ink.
Text specialists: Monochrome laser MFPs are ideal if you print text documents, as well as spreadsheets, basic charts, business graphics, or grayscale artwork.
Speed: Print speeds are usually rated by how many pages per minute (ppm) a printer can produce. But not all manufacturers use the same quality setting or the same type of document when determining their speed rating. Also, the speed rating may be only the amount of time it takes to put toner to paper and output it. It may not include the actual data processing of the job.
Double-sided: A built-in duplexer allows you to print on both sides of a page, which helps saves paper. However, duplexing often significantly increases print time.
Paper capacity: Most base model MFPs hold between 100 and 250 sheets of paper. If you plan to print frequently, consider a MFP with a large paper capacity, or optional additional paper feeders.
Color scanner: Even though they can only produce grayscale prints, monochrome MFPs usually come with a good, general-purpose color scanner that performs 24-bit scans. These scanners can handle business documents, charts, and artwork. They're also suitable for non-professional photos. Obviously, if you want to print your color scans, you'll have to find another printer.
If you plan to scan frequently, look for one-button scanning, which lets you scan an item without using the software interface on your Mac. Just place an item on the scanner, press a button on the MFP, and the scan is automatically saved to your Mac.
Making copies: The scanner on an MFP as does double duty as a copier. Look for an automatic document feeder if you want to be able to copy multi-page documents.
Connectivity: A majority of MFPs have USB for connecting to a single Mac. If you have an AirPort Extreme, AirPort Express, or Time Capsule at home or in a small business, you may be able use USB to connect the MFP to the network device and share the printer over a network.
To connect to a medium of large business, look for Ethernet or wireless connectivity. This may not come as standard equipment, and may be an additional cost. Some MFPs also support Bluetooth for printing from portable devices.
Some MFPs have features that let you perform tasks remotely over a network on a shared MFP. For example, you can scan a document and the MFP distributes the scanned file to computers on the network. In our experience, these features often do not work on a Mac, or they have inconvenient workarounds for Mac compatibility.
Our favorite monochrome MFPs
Budget-conscious users will especially appreciate the Brother MFC-7840W. With an inexpensive cost per print (approximately 3 cents per page), the MFC-7840W is capable of printing very good quality text and business graphics at reasonably fast rates. It's a fine choice for offices that work in a black-and-white world.
Sporting a sleek, black exterior with a glossy finish, the Samsung SCX-4500 looks attractive for a device with a monochrome laser printer, color scanner, and copier. When it comes to image quality, the SCX-4500 doesn't disappoint. This is an ideal MFP for a home office.
source : www.pcworld.com
Eddy Winner: Epson Stylus Photo R1900 Inkjet Printer
By : James Galbraith, Macworld.com
For years, if you wanted the best-possible glossy prints, you had to purchase a dye-based printer. The Epson Stylus Photo R1900 inkjet printer changes all that.
Epson's inkjet produces the best glossy photos we've seen from any printer priced under US$1,000. On Epson's Premium Glossy and Premium Luster papers, images really pop; this printer does a great job on matte and fine-art papers, too. The R1900 uses seven pigment inks--photo black, matte black, cyan, magenta, yellow, red, and orange--to produce long-lasting, borderless photographic prints at sizes up to 13 by 19 inches. (An eighth cartridge contains a special spray called a gloss optimizer, which eliminates the bronzing effect that shows up on pigment-based prints on glossy papers.)
The R1900 is speedy, too, so it's an ideal printer for someone looking to get into archival, pigment-based photo printing. And at $549, it's one of the lowest-priced pigment printers available. If you love the look of glossy photos, there's no better printer on the market right now.
source : www.pcworld.com
The Artisan 800 inkjet MFP gives you plenty of features and capabilities, but it needs special paper for the best results.
by Melissa Riofrio, PC World
Epson's Artisan 800 color inkjet multifunction printer has many tempting photo features. It's expensive--and not quite perfect--but it's still worth considering, especially for serious shutterbugs.
The Artisan 800 boasts a large (7.8-inch), tiltable touch-screen control panel, with a 3.5-inch color LCD. I found navigating the menus easy, but the sheer number of options made me wish for a comprehensive overview (Epson doesn't provide one). Two media slots take CompactFlash, Memory Stick, SD Card, and XD Picture Card; the unit has a PictBridge port too.
This model's star feature is its integrated CD/DVD printing mechanism. The caddy lowers itself automatically from its lair in the open front bay. I like this self-contained design even better than what HP offers on models such as the Photosmart C5280 .
The Artisan 800 has speed to spare. In the PC World Test Center's speed tests, it churned out plain-text pages at an impressive rate of 9.8 pages per minute. Its 5.4-ppm graphics speed topped the charts.
Given this model's photography slant , I probably shouldn't have been surprised that the Artisan 800 performed better on photo paper than on plain. But given that its six separate inks offer a wider color palette, I was disappointed in its results, as all the samples we printed on plain paper looked dull, feathery, or grainy. On Epson's own photo paper, colors occasionally erred on the pinkish side but otherwise looked natural. The ink is reasonably priced: Based on the industry-standard ISO test pages for ink yields, each color costs 1.8 to 2.2 cents per page, while black costs 3.3 cents. Scans were good; copies seemed a bit fuzzy.
The Artisan 800's paper handling wants to be versatile but is sometimes annoying. A 30-sheet photo tray piggybacks atop the 120-sheet, letter/legal main tray. The 50-sheet output tray--a series of telescoping panels--pulls out from the photo-tray area. Loading the main tray is an involved process: You must retract the clumsy output extensions, slide and lift the photo tray, fish for the width adjustment underneath said tray, and then put everything back the way it was before. At least the 30-sheet automatic document feeder ADF is simple.
Most of the manuals are good, but I'll never understand why Epson buries the parts diagram in the troubleshooting section of the HTML-based user guide. A few of the Artisan 800's features aren't covered anywhere. And although automatic duplexing requires a $30 optional accessory, you can choose the feature in the printer driver regardless, which is confusing.
The Artisan 800 offers so much that one might forget its less-friendly aspects. Business-minded users looking in this price range might find a better fit in the Canon Pixma MX7600 , or one of Epson's new Workforce multifunctions (which we have yet to test).
Epson's Artisan 800 color inkjet multifunction printer has many tempting photo features. It's expensive--and not quite perfect--but it's still worth considering, especially for serious shutterbugs.
The Artisan 800 boasts a large (7.8-inch), tiltable touch-screen control panel, with a 3.5-inch color LCD. I found navigating the menus easy, but the sheer number of options made me wish for a comprehensive overview (Epson doesn't provide one). Two media slots take CompactFlash, Memory Stick, SD Card, and XD Picture Card; the unit has a PictBridge port too.
This model's star feature is its integrated CD/DVD printing mechanism. The caddy lowers itself automatically from its lair in the open front bay. I like this self-contained design even better than what HP offers on models such as the Photosmart C5280 .
The Artisan 800 has speed to spare. In the PC World Test Center's speed tests, it churned out plain-text pages at an impressive rate of 9.8 pages per minute. Its 5.4-ppm graphics speed topped the charts.
Given this model's photography slant , I probably shouldn't have been surprised that the Artisan 800 performed better on photo paper than on plain. But given that its six separate inks offer a wider color palette, I was disappointed in its results, as all the samples we printed on plain paper looked dull, feathery, or grainy. On Epson's own photo paper, colors occasionally erred on the pinkish side but otherwise looked natural. The ink is reasonably priced: Based on the industry-standard ISO test pages for ink yields, each color costs 1.8 to 2.2 cents per page, while black costs 3.3 cents. Scans were good; copies seemed a bit fuzzy.
The Artisan 800's paper handling wants to be versatile but is sometimes annoying. A 30-sheet photo tray piggybacks atop the 120-sheet, letter/legal main tray. The 50-sheet output tray--a series of telescoping panels--pulls out from the photo-tray area. Loading the main tray is an involved process: You must retract the clumsy output extensions, slide and lift the photo tray, fish for the width adjustment underneath said tray, and then put everything back the way it was before. At least the 30-sheet automatic document feeder ADF is simple.
Most of the manuals are good, but I'll never understand why Epson buries the parts diagram in the troubleshooting section of the HTML-based user guide. A few of the Artisan 800's features aren't covered anywhere. And although automatic duplexing requires a $30 optional accessory, you can choose the feature in the printer driver regardless, which is confusing.
The Artisan 800 offers so much that one might forget its less-friendly aspects. Business-minded users looking in this price range might find a better fit in the Canon Pixma MX7600 , or one of Epson's new Workforce multifunctions (which we have yet to test).
For home or school, the Pixma MP620 inkjet MFP offers impressive features and connectivity for a low price
by Melissa Riofrio, PC World
Canon's Pixma MP620 color inkjet multifunction printer offers connectivity and capacity galore. While its design has a few shortcomings, overall the Pixma MP620 offers a good deal, especially for a busy home or school setting.
A few premium features distinguish the silvery Pixma MP620. The control panel replaces a raft of buttons with a scroll wheel that lets you spin through options shown on the adjacent, tiltable, 2.5-inch color LCD. The remaining buttons are clearly labeled and easy to use. Standard connectivity covers USB, ethernet, and Wi-Fi; you need a $50 extra-cost adapter to enable Bluetooth. It has two media slots that take most kinds of cards, but you'll need to buy a third-party adapter to use the XD Picture Card format. The PictBridge port accepts only Canon-compatible devices.
The 150-sheet output tray automatically unfolds itself from the front panel when you initiate a print job. You get two 150-sheet input trays: one underneath for letter-size plain paper, and a second in the rear for larger or thicker media. Unfortunately, on my test unit, raising the telescoping guides for the rear vertical input involved a lot of tugging and clattering, and I accidentally collapsed them numerous times. Another drawback: The MP620 lacks an automatic document feeder (ADF) and duplexing capabilities; if you need those features, check out the similarly priced Dell 948 All-in-One or Lexmark X6570 .
The MP620 performed fairly well in our tests. It posted average speeds, producing 7.6 pages per minute (ppm) with plain text and 2.2 ppm with graphics. The printer's pigment black ink produced impressively crisp, dark letters.
On color graphics it uses a dye-based second black, plus cyan, magenta, and yellow. We found a bit too much yellow in some of our color graphics samples; flesh tones, in particular, looked orangey on plain paper and a little jaundiced on Canon's own photo paper. Despite that and a slight graininess, images otherwise looked vivid and natural. Scan and copy tests yielded good results as well.
At the time of this writing, Canon had yet to publish yields for the five separate ink cartridges. Other Canon printers with a similar design have had reasonable costs.
Canon's usually solid documentation had one notable problem this time: The printed Setup Guide features a confounding flowchart of installation options that stymie rather than advance the process. Aside from that, Canon's better-than-average rating in our Reliability and Service survey bodes well for your overall experience.
The Pixma MP620 delivers a wide variety of features in a well-designed package. Its connectivity and generous paper handling make it particularly well suited for families or students.
Canon's Pixma MP620 color inkjet multifunction printer offers connectivity and capacity galore. While its design has a few shortcomings, overall the Pixma MP620 offers a good deal, especially for a busy home or school setting.
A few premium features distinguish the silvery Pixma MP620. The control panel replaces a raft of buttons with a scroll wheel that lets you spin through options shown on the adjacent, tiltable, 2.5-inch color LCD. The remaining buttons are clearly labeled and easy to use. Standard connectivity covers USB, ethernet, and Wi-Fi; you need a $50 extra-cost adapter to enable Bluetooth. It has two media slots that take most kinds of cards, but you'll need to buy a third-party adapter to use the XD Picture Card format. The PictBridge port accepts only Canon-compatible devices.
The 150-sheet output tray automatically unfolds itself from the front panel when you initiate a print job. You get two 150-sheet input trays: one underneath for letter-size plain paper, and a second in the rear for larger or thicker media. Unfortunately, on my test unit, raising the telescoping guides for the rear vertical input involved a lot of tugging and clattering, and I accidentally collapsed them numerous times. Another drawback: The MP620 lacks an automatic document feeder (ADF) and duplexing capabilities; if you need those features, check out the similarly priced Dell 948 All-in-One or Lexmark X6570 .
The MP620 performed fairly well in our tests. It posted average speeds, producing 7.6 pages per minute (ppm) with plain text and 2.2 ppm with graphics. The printer's pigment black ink produced impressively crisp, dark letters.
On color graphics it uses a dye-based second black, plus cyan, magenta, and yellow. We found a bit too much yellow in some of our color graphics samples; flesh tones, in particular, looked orangey on plain paper and a little jaundiced on Canon's own photo paper. Despite that and a slight graininess, images otherwise looked vivid and natural. Scan and copy tests yielded good results as well.
At the time of this writing, Canon had yet to publish yields for the five separate ink cartridges. Other Canon printers with a similar design have had reasonable costs.
Canon's usually solid documentation had one notable problem this time: The printed Setup Guide features a confounding flowchart of installation options that stymie rather than advance the process. Aside from that, Canon's better-than-average rating in our Reliability and Service survey bodes well for your overall experience.
The Pixma MP620 delivers a wide variety of features in a well-designed package. Its connectivity and generous paper handling make it particularly well suited for families or students.
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