Consumer Reports recently tested 135 printers, including the latest all-in-ones, to help you find one that won't eat up a lot of money.
Testers printed thousands of pages of text, color graphics and photos and then assessed quality.
The printers were also timed to see how quickly they print a page. Speeds vary widely, with one machine printing almost three times faster than the others.
And because the cost of printer cartridges can really pile up, testers also checked how quickly printers run through ink.
Dean Gallea said some printers cost more than twice as much as others to use.
If your printer is an ink hog, one cost-effective solution is getting your ink or toner cartridge refilled.
Adam Bai of Ink Toner Cartridge Ltd. in Vancouver said the process saves consumers as much as 80 per cent.
For example, a black laser cartridge is about $98 to buy new and $48 to refill. A black inkjet cartridge is $20 new and $7 to refill.
Bai said there's also a secondary environmental benefit of keeping old cartridges from ending up in the landfill.
Aside from how much ink your machine uses, testers say it's also handy to get a printer that has a network connection so you can print from across the room or even from another floor.
The all-in-one HP Officejet Pro 8500A is considered a Consumer Reports best buy at $180.
It has a network connection and uses less ink than any others tested. It has to be left on all of the time, but Consumer Reports says keeping it on uses very little power.
Consider a laser all-in-one printer if you only print in black-and-white. The $170 Brother MFC-7360N is a Consumer Reports best buy. It's easy on toner, and prints 14 pages a minute.
If you want to print photos and don't care about scanning and copying, testers say a good choice is the HP Officejet 6000 Wireless for around $100 – less than the cost of some ink cartridges.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Lynda Steele
