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The Inkjet Smorgasbord: A Variety of Printers Compared

You can't simply choose a printer by its type. Some general-purpose printers match the photo quality of dedicated photo printers, and some specialty models do everyday tasks surprisingly well.

Dan Littman

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i455 Desktop Photo Printer PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: June 22, 2004

Canon i455 Desktop Photo Printer

Rated 18 ppm monochrome; 12 ppm color, 4800-by-1200-dpi maximum color resolution, Legal-size paper, maximum, 100 sheets input, 50 output, 15.5 by 10,0 by 7.8 inches; 8.2 pounds, Street price when ranked: $80

Bottom Line: Thanks to impressive all-purpose printing and exceptional photos, the Canon i455 is a bargain--as long as you don?t need media-card slots.

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Desktop Photo i860 Inkjet Printer PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: June 25, 2004

Canon Desktop Photo i860 Inkjet Printer

Rated 23 ppm monochrome; 16 ppm color, 4800-by-1200-dpi maximum color resolution, Banner-size paper, maximum, 150 sheets input, 100 output, 16.5 by 12.2 by 7.3 inches; 12.8 pounds, Street price when ranked: $150

Bottom Line: The i860 printed very attractive text and outstanding photos, and its ink costs were below average--but it lacks media-card slots.

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Business Inkjet 2300 PCW Rating: 67.0PCW Rating: 67.0PCW Rating: 67.0

Last Rated: June 22, 2004

HP Business Inkjet 2300

Rated 26 ppm monochrome; 22 ppm color, 4800-by-1200-dpi maximum color resolution, Legal-size paper, maximum, 400 sheets input, 100 output, 22.0 by 16.0 by 11.0 inches; 30 pounds, Street price when ranked: $499

Bottom Line: Though HP's speedy Business Inkjet 2300 is built for high-volume use and had low ink costs, its print quality didn't impress us.

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DeskJet 9650 PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: June 25, 2004

HP DeskJet 9650

Rated 20 ppm monochrome; 15 ppm color, 4800-by-1200-dpi maximum color resolution, 13-by-50-inch paper, maximum, 150 sheets input, 75 output, 25.0 by 15.0 by 7.0 inches; 24 pounds, Street price when ranked: $399

Bottom Line: The Deskjet 9650 delivered consistently good print quality on a variety of documents, but it was slow, and ink costs per page were quite high.

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Z816 PHOTO INKJETPR 15/22PPM 48X12 USB PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: June 25, 2004

Lexmark Z816 PHOTO INKJETPR 15/22PPM 48X12 USB

Rated 22 ppm monochrome; 15 ppm color, 4800-by-1200-dpi maximum color resolution, Banner-size paper, maximum, 100 sheets input, 25 output, 17.3 by 16.9 by 12.1 inches; 7.5 pounds, Street price when ranked: $100

Bottom Line: The Z816 was fast at printing text, but it lagged behind other printers in output quality, and the ink costs associated wih its standard cartridges were high.

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i80 Bubble Jet Printer PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: June 25, 2004

Canon i80 Bubble Jet Printer

Rated 14 ppm monochrome; 10 ppm color, 4800-by-1200-dpi maximum color resolution, Banner-size paper, maximum, 30 sheets input, no output tray, 12.4 by 6.9 by 2 inches; 4 pounds, Street price when ranked: $249

Bottom Line: The swift i80 is small and can run on a battery--but it was somewhat expensive to operate.

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DeskJet 450WBT Inkjet Printer PCW Rating: 89.7PCW Rating: 89.7PCW Rating: 89.7

Last Rated: June 22, 2004

HP DeskJet 450WBT Inkjet Printer

Rated 9 ppm monochrome; 3 ppm color, 4800-by-1200-dpi maximum color resolution, Legal-size paper, maximum, 45 sheets input, no output tray, 13.3 by 6.5 by 3.2 inches; 4.2 pounds, Street price when ranked: $349

Bottom Line: HP's portable 450wbt makes printing on the go extremely convenient. Though the 450wbt costs considerably more than most desktop inkjet printers, its graphics print quality matched that of the best desktop models.

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i960 Inkjet Photo Printer (Canon-8538A001) PCW Rating: 84.4PCW Rating: 84.4PCW Rating: 84.4

Last Rated: June 22, 2004

Canon i960 Inkjet Photo Printer (Canon-8538A001)

Speeds not rated, 4800-by-1200-dpi maximum color resolution, Letter-size paper, maximum, 150 sheets input, 100 output, 16.5 by 12.1 by 7.2 inches; 12.8 pounds, Street price when ranked: $195

Bottom Line: The reasonably priced i960 printed attractive photos quickly and can print directly from compatible digital cameras, but it lacks media-card slots and an LCD.

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i9900 Photo Inkjet Printer PCW Rating: 66.0PCW Rating: 66.0PCW Rating: 66.0

Last Rated: June 25, 2004

Canon i9900 Photo Inkjet Printer

Rated 16 ppm monochrome; 12 ppm color, 4800-by-2400-dpi maximum color resolution, 13-by-19-inch paper, maximum, 100 sheets input, 100 output, 22.5 by 13.1 by 7.2 inches; 17.6 pounds, Street price when ranked: $480

Bottom Line: Canon's i9900 is speedy, makes big prints, and produced terrific glossy photos, though its ink costs were above average.

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Stylus Photo R200 PCW Rating: 80.1PCW Rating: 80.1PCW Rating: 80.1

Last Rated:

Epson Stylus Photo R200

Rated 15 ppm monochrome; color not rated, 5760-by-1440-dpi maximum color resolution, Banner-size paper, maximum, 120 sheets input, 30 output, 18.5 by 10.5 by 7.8 inches; 11.4 pounds, Street price when ranked: $99

Bottom Line: The attractively priced R200 photo printer was thrifty with ink, and its photos looked wonderful--but its plain-paper output wasn't impressive.

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Stylus Photo R800 Inkjet Printer PCW Rating: 64.0PCW Rating: 64.0PCW Rating: 64.0

Last Rated: June 25, 2004

Epson Stylus Photo R800 Inkjet Printer

Rated 17 ppm monochrome; color not rated, 5760-by-1440-dpi maximum color resolution, Banner-size paper, maximum, 100 sheets input, output tray not rated, 19.5 by 12.1 by 7.8 inches; 17.6 pounds, Street price when ranked: $399

Bottom Line: If you print a lot of snapshots, you'll like the R800's roll-feeder. In addition to printing photos with intense, rich colors, the R800 can print labels on CDs.

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Photosmart 7760 Color Inkjet Printer (HP (Hewlett-Packard)-Q3015A) PCW Rating: PCW Rating: PCW Rating:

Last Rated: June 22, 2004

HP Photosmart 7760 Color Inkjet Printer (HP (Hewlett-Packard)-Q3015A)

Rated 13 ppm monochrome; 12 ppm color, 4800-by-1200-dpi maximum color resolution, Legal-size paper, maximum, 120 sheets input, 50 output, 17.8 by 6.9 by 14.8 inches; 13.6 pounds, Street price when ranked: $200

Bottom Line: The Photosmart 7760 prints superb photos and is fast at printing text--but you may find yourself switching ink cartridges regularly.

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Compact Photo Printer CP-330 PCW Rating: 67.6PCW Rating: 67.6PCW Rating: 67.6

Last Rated: June 25, 2004

Canon Compact Photo Printer CP-330

Rated 1.4 ppm color, 300-by-300-dpi maximum resolution, 4-by-8-inch paper, maximum, 18 sheets input, 18 output, 6.7 by 4.8 by 2.2 inches; 1.9 pounds, Street price when ranked: $269

Bottom Line: Canon's snapshot printer almost fits in your back pocket and can run on a battery, but it lacks memory card slots.

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PictureMate PCW Rating: 82.0PCW Rating: 82.0PCW Rating: 82.0

Last Rated: June 25, 2004

Epson PictureMate

Speed not rated, 5760-by-1440-dpi maximum resolution, 4-by-6-inch paper, maximum, 20 sheets input, output tray not rated, 10.0 by 6.0 by 6.4 inches; 5.5 pounds, Street price when ranked: $199

Bottom Line: The PictureMate delivered great print quality and was fun to operate, but it prints on only one size of paper and can't run on batteries.

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DPPEX50 Digital Photo Printer PCW Rating: 83.0PCW Rating: 83.0PCW Rating: 83.0

Last Rated: June 25, 2004

Sony DPPEX50 Digital Photo Printer

Rated 1.3 ppm color, 403-by-403-dpi maximum resolution, 4-by-6-inch paper, maximum, 20 sheets input, no output tray, 2.5 by 11.5 by 8.0 inches; 7.5 pounds, Street price when ranked: $180

Bottom Line: The Sony DPP-EX50 is best suited for people who want to view their pictures on a TV, or to transmit DPOF print jobs directly from a digital camera.

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