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Top 10 Inkjet Printers

We put color inkjet printers through their paces using a new set of test documents, which changed the results for some veterans of the chart.

Eric Butterfield

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HP Deskjet 5150 PCW Rating: 3.0PCW Rating: 3.0PCW Rating: 3.0

Last Rated: April 22, 2004

1. HP Deskjet 5150

Rated 6.8 ppm monochrome; 4.6 ppm color, 4800-by-1200-dpi maximum color resolution, Legal-size paper, maximum, 150 pages input, 50 output, 18 by 15 by 6 inches; 11.4 pounds, Street price when ranked: $100,

Bottom Line: Printed sharp text, well-defined line art, and detailed color photos. Optional duplexer available. Retested this month.

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Canon i455 Desktop Photo Printer PCW Rating: 4.5PCW Rating: 4.5PCW Rating: 4.5

Last Rated: June 22, 2004

2. Canon i455 Desktop Photo Printer

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

Bottom Line: On photo paper, pictures looked excellent; even on plain paper, colors looked more vibrant and details were sharper than many other models' output.

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Canon i350 Color Bubble Jet Printer PCW Rating: 3.0PCW Rating: 3.0PCW Rating: 3.0

Last Rated: April 22, 2004

3. Canon i350 Color Bubble Jet Printer

Rated 16 ppm monochrome; 11 ppm color, 4800-by-1200-dpi maximum color resolution, Banner-size paper, maximum, 100 pages input, 50 output, 15.2 by 7.7 by 6.5 inches; 5.3 pounds, Street price when ranked: $60,

Bottom Line: Impressive prints with deep-black text, sharp line art, and detailed photos. Slow at printing graphics. Retested this month.

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Lexmark Z615 PCW Rating: 2.5PCW Rating: 2.5PCW Rating: 2.5

Last Rated: April 23, 2004

4. Lexmark Z615

Rated 14 ppm monochrome; 8 ppm color (draft), 4800-by-1200-dpi maximum color resolution, Legal-size paper, maximum, 100 pages input, 25 output, 15.9 by 8.5 by 5.3 inches; 5.4 pounds, Street price when ranked: $50,

Bottom Line: Printed sharper text and more-attractive glossy photos than the more expensive Lexmark Z715. However, colors looked slightly washed out on plain paper.

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Canon i475D Desktop Photo Printer PCW Rating: 3.5PCW Rating: 3.5PCW Rating: 3.5

Last Rated: April 23, 2004

5. Canon i475D Desktop Photo Printer

Rated 18 ppm monochrome; 12 ppm color, 4800-by-1200-dpi maximum color resolution, Legal-size paper, maximum, 100 pages input, 50 output, 15.5 by 10.2 by 8.6 inches; 8.8 pounds, Street price when ranked: $100,

Bottom Line: Includes flash memory slots. Printed crisp text and attractive gray-scale images. Retested this month.

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HP Business Inkjet 1100d PCW Rating: 3.5PCW Rating: 3.5PCW Rating: 3.5

Last Rated: April 23, 2004

6. HP Business Inkjet 1100d

Rated 7.5 ppm monochrome; 7 ppm color, 4800-by-1200-dpi maximum color resolution, Legal-size paper, maximum, 150 pages input, 80 output, 19.5 by 18 by 8.5 inches; 20 pounds, Street price when ranked: $200,

Bottom Line: Duplexer included. Printed sharp text, crisp line art, and attractive color photos. Retested this month.

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HP Deskjet 5850 PCW Rating: 3.5PCW Rating: 3.5PCW Rating: 3.5

Last Rated: April 22, 2004

7. HP Deskjet 5850

Rated 7.7 ppm monochrome; 5 ppm color, 4800-by-1200-dpi maximum color resolution, Legal-size paper, maximum, 150 pages input, 50 output, 17.8 by 9.8 by 6.5 inches; 12.7 pounds, Street price when ranked: $250,

Bottom Line: Print speed was on a par with the Deskjet 5150's, but this model offers Wi-Fi and ethernet. Retested this month.

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Epson Stylus C84 PCW Rating: 3.5PCW Rating: 3.5PCW Rating: 3.5

Last Rated: April 23, 2004

8. Epson Stylus C84

Rated 22 ppm monochrome; 12 ppm color, 5760-by-1440-dpi maximum color resolution, Banner-size paper, maximum, 120 pages input, 50 output, 18.1 by 23.3 by 12.1 inches; 9.3 pounds, Street price when ranked: $99,

Bottom Line: Quickly printed sharp text and output attractive color photos, but line art showed banding. Retested this month.

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Epson Stylus C64 PCW Rating: 2.5PCW Rating: 2.5PCW Rating: 2.5

Last Rated: April 23, 2004

9. Epson Stylus C64

Rated 17 ppm monochrome; 9 ppm color, 5760-by-1440-dpi maximum color resolution, Banner-size paper, maximum, 120 pages input, 30 output, 17.2 by 23.2 by 12.1 inches; 8.6 pounds, Street price when ranked: $59,

Bottom Line: An inexpensive but quite slow printer. It lost subtle details in glossy photos, and text had rough edges. Retested this month.

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Lexmark Z715 PCW Rating: 2.0PCW Rating: 2.0PCW Rating: 2.0

Last Rated: April 23, 2004

10. Lexmark Z715

Rated 17 ppm monochrome; 10 ppm color (draft), 4800-by-1200-dpi maximum color resolution, Letter-size paper, maximum, 100 pages input, 25 output, 17.3 by 9.3 by 6 inches; 6.6 pounds, Street price when ranked: $80,

Bottom Line: A low price helped earn the Z715 a spot on the chart, despite glossy photos that looked too dark and unnaturally red. The less-expensive Lexmark Z615 printed sharper text.

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The overall rating we assign to each ink jet printer is based on price (25 percent), print quality (20 percent), features (15 percent), ease of use (15 percent), speed (10 percent), service and support (10 percent), and cost of consumables (5 percent). For all ratings, higher is better. Data based on tests designed and conducted by the PC World Test Center. All rights reserved.

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