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Perfecting
the Printer
As digital
photography explodes and more consumers produce their own pics,
printer makers are refining stand-alone and multifunction models
6/6/2006
By
Arik Hesseldahl
Wasn't paper supposed to go away with the
onset of the Digital Age? Add that to the list of predictions that
haven't panned out. Many of us are printing now more than ever,
both in the office and at home.
One big reason: digital photography. Home
photo-printer sales rose 33% last year from 2004, according to InfoTrends/Cap
Ventures. Printer makers are refining their stand-alone models,
making them smaller, sleeker, and equipped to produce prints as
clear and vivid as those from the corner drugstore.
At the same time, manufacturers are doing
a better job of weaving photo-printing features into the machines
already adept at cranking out paper copies and sending faxes, heightening
the appeal of multifunction printers.
RANGE OF PRICES. With all that upheaval, we
thought it would be a good time to take a closer look at a range
of machines, from stand-alone photo printers to those that do it
all. In the multifunction category, we looked at offerings from
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ ) and Dell (DELL ), while in the photo category,
we sampled printers from Samsung, Epson, Lexmark (LXK ), and Canon
(CAJ ).
Readers won't be surprised to learn
that all printers are not created equal. They range from $150 to
as much as $400. One received two of five stars and another got
a rare 4½-star rating. There's bound to be one that's right
for you. Click
here for the slide show
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