5 Top Printers that Won't Break Your Budget-Even when You Replace the Ink

Probably the biggest problem with printers these days, is not how much paper will you use, or how good the printer actually works, but how much will the ink cost when you need more. Unfortunately, a modern trend of late is the ink costing almost double as much as the printer did, especially when you buy that printer in a store like Wal-Mart or Target and get it for $30 or $40. Here, while the quality of the printer may not be the best, they are good enough for normal daily use. Even most photos come out looking nice. These printers will come with one black and one color cartridge, but when it is time to replace the ink, you will pay almost as much-if not more-than you would have the printer itself.

Many people are now opting for the "Disposable printer," which is any printer you can throw away when the ink runs out, and go buy another. So, ink price is a big factor when buying printers today. However, most people still buy a printer for keeps. Lets take a look at some printers that are decent enough in print quality, are affordable, and won't break the bank, for the most part, when it's time for new ink, or a new printer itself.

Canon PIXMA MP250

I use this printer and I purchased it at Wal-Mart for $40. However, if you get it anywhere else, you will pay anywhere from $40 to $80 for it. This is probably the best printer I have ever bought and I am a user of the disposable printer-I have never bought one over $25. I don't plan on tossing this one, though, as it also has a scanner. It prints at decent speeds, just this morning I printed a 20-page report in less than three minutes. The resolution is 4800 x 1200 maximum color dpi and the colors are crisp with almost perfect saturation and hues while the blacks use pigmented color, so they are crisp and are clean, no jumps or blotchy spots at all. It prints nicely from the web, which is not something all printers do well, and this one does it without needing special software. It also has a USB port, so you can connect any camera to it, no problem And, when it comes time for me to replace the ink, I will only spend $42-$21 on a color and $21 on black cartridge together. This by far, in my opinion, is one of the best, inexpensive printers on the market.

HP Deskjet D2660

The HP Deskjet is another one I have used and it's document print quality is quite amazing. However, while this printer has excellent print quality when printing black and white-or even color-documents, the photo printing is not so great. But, I guess it also depends on what kind of paper you use, but I looked at different independent reviews as well, and most agree that the photo quality leaves something to be desired. That said, the printer is surprisingly compact, considering it's an inkjet, and it's quiet too. It comes with only one USB port, but that's good enough to add a hub for multiple devices. The HP is a little slower than the cannon, printing only about five pages a minute, and the ink-it uses one black and one tri-color cartridge, with a price range of $22-$25 each, which isn't too bad. As for the price of the printer, it's price ranges form $49 to $89, and you can get it just about anywhere, so make sure you check your local Wal-Mart or Target first, so you can get the best prices.

HP Deskjet D1660

This is one of HP's wallet friendly printers. It is also one of the smallest, coming in at just under five pounds. Let's get the bad points out of the way first-according to independent reviews (I haven't had a chance to use this one) it is much slower than other printers. However, according to the HP website, it can print up to 20 pages a minute black only and 16 per minute color, and it has a monthly duty cycle of only about 750 sheets. The good is that it is very small, not much wider than the paper itself. The color and black and white printing of documents, according to user reviews, the print quality is just as good, if not better than other printers they have used. If you use your printer a lot, you might want to think about one that can handle more a month, however for the occasional print form web, or photo, then this one is perfect. Given the price, at $25-$40 anywhere you go, I am sure people can sacrifice print speed no problem and you can get one black and one color cartridge for about $30. On the other hand, you could just buy a new printer, like many are doing these days.

Epson Workforce 310

This printer, reviewed by CNet.com, received a three and a half star rating by the editors who tested it, and for good reason. It is an all in one printer, scanner, copier and fax that offers a fully complimented control panel, unlike many of the all-in-ones under $100 (Mine doesn't even have one). It can store up to 60 speed dial numbers and it displays all the information you could ever need or want on the smallish, two line LCD displays. Probably the best thing about this printer is that when you run out of a color, you buy it separately. It has five ink tanks, so no more wasting yellow that you never use when you run out of cyan. The print speed is exceptionally fast at almost 14 pages a minute and the quality of the black text is exceptional as well, although again, the color and the photo prints leave something to be desired. The Epson costs from $79 to $129, depending on the usual factors like where you buy it and if you get it on sale or not. The ink, however, is a much better buy than most at $20 for black and $17 for color.

Brother MFC-3360C

This is probably one of the lesser-known printers as it is not sold in the discounted stores, but one of the best in terms of print quality compared to price. It is another multi function printer copier, and fax, although it does not have a flatbed scanner, and I don't think anyone would be happy with the very slow speeds when printing many pages at a time, again according to a CNet.com review. The printer offers different print quality settings as well as other custom settings like contrast and brightness. However again, at only 2 pages a minute, I think for the price range from $70-$100, you are better off getting a different printer if you plan to use it other than once or twice a day, or if you need to print more than one page at a time. The ink is also more expensive, costing from $25-$45.

Well, there you have it, five printers all under $100, and most around the $50 range. Personally, I have used the first two and I like the Cannon PIXMA the best, even throughout all the printers I have used in the past as well, and I have used many. The Cannon is probably the best when it comes to a multi-functional, but the HP is excellent when it comes to compact size and print quality for the money. Whatever you do purchase, however, just make sure you can justify the print quality and the cost against what you are doing with it, as everyone's needs-and budget-are different.

References & Resources
CNet: Less than $100 Printers
HP: Deskjet D1660
Consumer Research: best Inkjet Printers