Canon PIXMA MP460 All-In-One Printer (22 PPM, 4800x1200 DPI, Color, PC/Mac)

Inkjets Print Photos Well, And Decent Looking Text, Too

Inkjet printers like this one are commonly used in a home or student setting as well as in a small office. Printing photos is their strongest suit, although they can also print decent to good-looking plain text. For the best results, you usually need to use specially coated papers.

Inkjet printers spray ink through microscopic nozzles arrayed on a print head. Because the printhead has to move back and forth across the page, inkjets can be slow--especially when printing those nice photos.

Ink type affects print quality. Dye-based inks (color dissolved in liquid) tend to create better-looking colors, but they’re less light- and water-resistant. Pigment-based inks (solid color particles suspended in liquid) create images that are more durable but not quite as colorful. Some inkjet printers use both: a pigment-based black for crisp text quality, for instance, but dye-based colors for better-looking graphics.

Ink cartridges come in two basic designs. The colors (cyan, magenta, and yellow) can come in a unified “tricolor” cartridge or in separate cartridges. There’s always a separate black. The tricolor cartridges are more compact, but they’re also wasteful because you have to replace the entire cartridge whenever you run out of any one color. Some printers offer additional colors, such as light cyan or light magenta, to widen the color palette.

Uses Four Primary Colors of Ink to Produce Color Palette

This type of inkjet printer uses the basic four colors: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. (Some extremely low-end printers might even mix colors to produce black). This array is sufficient for creating a wide color palette, but differences in ink type and marking technology will affect how printed colors look.  

The first three colors come in either a unified "tricolor" cartridge or in separate cartridges. Black is always separate. The tricolor cartridges are more compact, but they’re also wasteful because you have to replace the entire cartridge whenever you run out of any one color.

Compatible with Macintosh and other Apple systems

Printers such as this model are compatible with computers designed by Apple, meaning it has at least one appropriate connection type and also has drivers written for the Mac OS X operating system.

Compatible with Microsoft Windows Operating System

Printers such as this model are compatible with computers that use the Microsoft Windows operating system, meaning it has at least one appropriate connection type and also has drivers written for Windows.

Be Skeptical of Color Print Speed Claims

A printer's stated color print speed (expressed in pages per minute, or "ppm") should be taken with a grain of salt. Vendors often use contrived methods to arrive at such numbers. For instance, they might print in draft mode, which is faster than the default mode most people use. Or they'll exclude the first page out from a document's total print time, because its slower exit reflects the processing time needed to create the document image for the printer. Or they might send raw data straight to the printer, bypassing any application or PC processing time. The PC World Test Center uses dedicated testbed PCs and real-world applications to reflect actual use as closely as possible. We also time the document "from click to clunk" -- from the time we click the "Print" button to the time when the last page falls into the output tray.

Take black-and-white print speed times with a grain of salt

A printer's stated monochrome or "black-and-white" print speed (expressed in pages per minute, or "ppm") should be taken with a grain of salt. Vendors often use contrived methods to arrive at such numbers. For instance, they might print in draft mode, which is faster than the default mode most people use. Or they'll exclude the first page out from a document's total print time, because its slower exit reflects the processing time needed to create the document image for the printer. Or they might send raw data straight to the printer, bypassing any application or PC processing time. The PC World Test Center uses dedicated testbed PCs and real-world applications to reflect actual use as closely as possible. We also time the document "from click to clunk" -- from the time we click the "Print" button to the time when the last page falls into the output tray.

Medium-Resolution Scanners Keep Enlargements Clear

This scanner's optical scan resolution is midrange. In addition to scanning typical documents or photos at actual size (300x300 dpi or 600x600 dpi suffice for such tasks), it can also use these higher resolutions to enlarge such items digitally with good results. The image-file size also gets bigger, of course, so make sure you have enough storage space.

Paper Capacity is Sufficient for Home Use, Small Documents

This inkjet printer's maximum sheet capacity is low. It's probably sufficient for single users or a family, printing simple documents or school reports, nothing over 10 pages in length. If you regularly print longer documents, however, you should seek a model with a higher-capacity input tray--unless you enjoy refilling it constantly. Rule of thumb: If you're refilling the input tray more than once a day, you need a higher-capacity one.

Low Paper Capacity Suits Smaller or Home Offices Light Printing Needs

This laser or solid-ink printer's maximum sheet capacity is low. It's sufficient for a small or home office, printing simple documents, nothing over 10 pages in length. If you regularly print longer documents, however, you should seek a model with a higher-capacity input tray -- unless you enjoy refilling it constantly. Rule of thumb: If you're refilling the input tray more than once a day, you need a higher-capacity one.

Wi-Fi connectivity allows several home users to share one printer

This printer offers Wi-Fi capabilities to connect to your existing wireless network. This is a more convenient way to share a printer among a few users in a home or small-office environment. Installation is theoretically easy, assuming your network is operating smoothly already and you have the appropriate information at hand (such as the network password). Sometimes you will connect the printer briefly via a physical cable (such as USB) as part of the process.

USB Interface Connects Quickly and Easily to Your Computer

This printer uses USB (Universal Serial Bus) to connect to your computer. Connecting a printer via USB is very easy; just remember not to do it until the installation routine tells you to -- or risk having to start over.  

The original USB version 1.1 was slow: 12 Mbps (megabits per second). USB 2.0's faster bandwidth of 480 Mbps is plenty for a standalone printer.

If You Use a Sony Camera, Print Right From Its Memory Stick

This printer can read and write to Sony's proprietary flash memory devices called Memory Sticks, and with an adapter, could also support variants such as Memory Stick Pro, Duo, Pro Duo, and Micro. Few non-Sony devices use Memory Sticks, however, the company is so large that there's still a good chance you might need to read data from one someday.

Got an Olympus or Fujifilm digicam? Print Right From the xD Card

This printer has a media slot that accommodates xD-Picture cards, one of the removable storage devices used by (mostly Olympus and Fujifilm) digital cameras.

Allows Photos to Be Printed Right From Your Camera's SD Memory Card

This printer supports Secure Digital (SD) cards; the most common storage card format used by digital cameras. MiniSD and MicroSD cards can be read by using a basic adapter. A newer standard, SDHC (HC as in "high capacity") is not backward compatible, so the slot may not read these cards. The latest SD card, the microSDHC, is the tiniest flash memory card to date, measuring only 11mm across. It's also the fastest and roomiest, capable of holding up to 16GB of data. 

If you use SD cards to store photos, you can insert the card into this slot to start printing photos (instead of hooking up your entire camera via a cable). Make sure that whatever printer you buy accommodates the storage format you use.

Print Photos Right From Your Compact Flash Memory Card

This printer has a media slot that accommodates Compact Flash (CF) cards, one of the removable storage devices used by (mostly digital SLR) cameras.