subject: The Top 4 Photo Printers [print this page] For serious hobbyists, those who don't have access to cheap professional photo printing, or just can't be bothered taking a camera card into the shop at home photo printing has been a blessing! However, it isn't always economical, or great quality, to just print your pics with your 6-year-old early colour bubblejet' you'll need to upgrade to a dedicated or designed photo printer in order to get good quality and ensure that your ink cartridge spending is kept to a minimum. Today we review some of hte best photo printers on the market - some dedicate, some with excellent photo-printing functionality within an all-rounder machine.
HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless
This was the CNET editor's choice for September 2009. HP computers have a long way to come before they challenge Apple, but their printers are top notch, where they use laser toner or inkjet cartridges. The wireless technology is not cheap, but as this is designed for office use, the convenience would far outweigh the initial cost. It's a workhorse printer that produces excellent quality photo prints but you may want to try to convince your boss to install one, and then print your photos from work!
Canon Selphy ES3
The Canon Selphy range has been amazingly popular; they are dedicated photo printers and include a great range of options for pictures. Reviewers are most impressed with the compact design, the borders and novelty printing options for your pics, and the excellent quality of prints that comes from a four-step ink cartridge process - cyan, then magenta, then yellow, then black are all done in separate passes. A special UV coating is added, creating a very professional look. However, there are downsides - it can only print on postcard sized or smaller paper, and the cost per print was 55 cents in early 2010.
Canon Pixma iP100 Inkjet Printer
This printer has the highest resolution available in the mobile printer market, so quality rivals even that produced by professional photo developers. Unfortunately (for a mobile printer) there are no Wifi or carrying case options, and it doesn't have an integrated media card reader. There is a huge range of prices for the Pixma photo printers - they retail for $449, but you can pick them up for as little as $200. It does have options for reducing your printer cartridge costs, with Save Black Ink' and Use Composite', which uses up the cyan, magenta and yellow to create a composite black once the true black ink cartridge is depleted.
Epson Stylus Photo T50
Epson has long been considered the market leader in photo printing - and this model scored 7.4 out of 10 from reviewers. The photo quality is excellent, but if you want an all-rounder printer, plain text print quality is said to be somewhat lacking. However, this is one of the more affordable photo printers in the market, with a range centring around $150.
Photo printers are becoming more and more affordable, and frequently prints costs about half as much as you can access through a professional photo shop. As long as you have a cost-effective source of ink cartridges, they are well worth it!
