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The Ultimate Guide for Home Office Printing
If you are doing a lot of paperwork at home, having a computer is great but it would be more helpful if you have your own printer. Whether it is for printing your children’s workbooks, family photos, reports, and others, printers have become an essential part of every home. Although printers haven’t changed that much in the past years, they have become cheaper and more efficient.
It’s true, you have various options to choose from when buying a printer for home or small office use. But with the many options available in the market, it can be quite overwhelming to choose a printer that best matches your specific needs. So here, we’ve created a series of printer guides to help you pick the perfect printer for home office printing.
What Should I Look For When Buying a Printer?
First of all, when looking for a printer, price should not be your only basis. Choose a printer meticulously just like how you choose a computer. Even if you have a nice computer but your printer can’t keep up with your needs, you’ll only be giving yourself a headache when you impulsively buy just any printer out there.
Speaking of choosing a printer, below are the main things you should look for before deciding on buying one:
- Features
- Connectivity (WiFi / Smartphone)
- Speed
- Resolution and Color
- Paper and Printing Options
- Price
You will find a detailed discussion on how to choose the best printer for your home office in our Home Printer Buying Guide blog. In addition to the printer specifications, you also need to decide whether you want an inkjet or a laser printer. We’ve written a comparison between inkjet and laser printers previously but below is a summary of the pros and cons of each:
Inkjet Printers
Laser Printers
Pros
- Cheaper, usually compact, and better when it comes to printing color photos
- They can print on more paper types than lasers
- They don’t need to warm-up
- Refillable and reusable ink cartridges
- Low toner running costs
- Faster printing speeds
- Superb black-text printing
- When it comes to the overall price, laser printers print more pages
- Ideal for high-volume printing
Cons
- Slower black-text printing
- High ink running costs
- Some will print fuzzy texts on plain office paper
- Not ideal for high-volume printing
- Frequent cleaning of ink cartridges is needed
- Prints are prone to fading
- Expensive, bulky, noisy, and not great with color prints
- Not ideal for printing graphics
- You cannot run heat-sensitive paper through them
- Toner cartridges can leak
- They need time to warm-up
What Is the Best Printer for Home Office Use?
Now, let’s proceed to our list of the most recommended printers for home office use. We’ve listed three printers according to top reviews you can choose from below including their pros and cons:
#1: Brother MFC-L2750DW
--- Key Features
- Functions: Print, Copy, Scan, Fax
- Printer Type: Laser, Monochrome
- Print Speed: 36 ppm (Black)
- Print Resolution: 2400 x 600 dpi
- Paper Capacity
- Input Tray: 250 Sheets
- Output Tray: 100 sheets
- ADF: 50 sheets
- Manual Feed Slot: 1 sheet
- Monthly Duty Cycle: 15,000 pages
--- Pros
- A wireless all-in-one monochrome laser printer
- Prints an exceptional number of black documents before its toner runs out
- Incredibly low cost-per-print
- It comes with an automatic document feeder that can be used for duplex scanning
- It has a high-resolution flatbed scanner
- You can use Brother iPrint&Scan to print, copy, or scan directly from mobile devices
- It supports Ethernet, USB cable, and Wi-Fi connections as well as Mopria Print Service and Apple AirPrint
- Most suitable home office printer for printing black and white documents cost-effectively and quickly
--- Cons
- First-page printing is slow but succeeding pages print faster
- Since it is a laser printer, it’s not recommended for printing photos because there is a lot of graininess and banding
#2: Canon imageCLASS MF743Cdw
--- Key Features
- Functions: Print, Copy, Scan, Fax
- Printer Type: Laser, Color
- Print Speed: 28 ppm
- Print Resolution: 600 x 600 dpi
- Paper Capacity
- Input Tray: 250 Sheets
- Monthly Duty Cycle: 4,000 pages
--- Pros
- An all-in-one wireless laser printer with a large touchscreen display that responds quickly to touch
- It is made from sturdy plastic and allows easy access to papers jams and the toner
- It comes with an automatic document feeder that can be used for duplex scanning as well as a flatbed scanner that can scan fragile books and photos
- High-yield cartridges and impressive cost-per-print
- Color printing is faster compared to black-only texts
- The cartridges have their own drums so you don’t have to buy separate ones for replacement
- Supports USB flash drives
- Exceptional connectivity options which include USB, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi
--- Cons
- Its display screen is sticking out. It’s not built into the printer’s body.
- Although it has great color accuracy, it’s still a laser printer so photo print quality isn’t that good
- The color cartridges are expensive to replace
#3: Canon Pixma G6020
--- Key Features
- Functions: Print, Copy, Scan
- Printer Type: Inkjet, Color
- Print Speed:
- 13 ipm (Black)
- 6.8 ipm (Color)
- Print Resolution: 4800 x 1200 dpi
- Paper Capacity
- Input Tray 1: 250 Sheets
- Input Tray 2: 100 Sheets
- Monthly Duty Cycle: 5,000 pages
--- Pros
- A bulk-ink all-in-one printer with extremely low per-page printing costs
- It comes with an approximately 18,000-page worth of black ink and a flatbed scanner
- Exceptional print quality (legible texts as well as detailed and accurately colored photos)
- A fast printing speed of up to 13ppm with a print duplexing capability
- It is specifically designed for home-based offices with mid-volume printing requirements
- It can accept voice-activation commands for executing tasks like checking ink levels as well as hands-free printing from Google Assistant home devices, Amazon Alexa, Windows Cortana, Apple’s Siri, and others
- Connectivity options include wireless, Ethernet, USB, PictBridge, and Canon Print App
- Other options include Pixma Cloud Link, Mopria Print Service, Google Cloud Print, and Apple AirPrint
--- Cons
- It has an archaic control panel and doesn’t have an automatic document feeder
What Is the Most Economical Printer for Home Use?
Are you looking for a budget-friendly printer for your family? Check out the recommended printers below:
#1: Brother HL-L2370DW
--- Best Cheap Laser Printer for Monochrome Printing: Key Features
- Functions: Print
- Printer Type: Laser, Monochrome
- Print Speed: 36 ppm
- Print Resolution: 2400 x 600 dpi
- Paper Capacity
- Input Tray: 250 Sheets
- Output Tray: 100 Sheets
- Monthly Duty Cycle: 15,000 pages
--- Pros
- A simple wireless monochrome laser printer
- It allows you to easily access the drum unit, toner cartridges, and paper jams
- It supports a wide array of wired and wireless connection options including Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Wi-Fi Direct, USB, Brother iPrint&Scan, AirPrint, Mopria, and Cortado Workplace
- It can print up to 36 pages per minute and supports automatic duplex printing to help you save on costs
- Remarkably low cost-per-print because of its high-yield cartridge system
- You also have the option to buy higher-yield toners for more prints
- Decent print speed for the first page but significantly faster for the next pages
--- Cons
- The toner cartridge and drum unit are separated so you will need to eventually replace the cartridge which can be costly
- It can only print and doesn’t come with a scanner
- Again, it is a laser printer so it is terrible at printing photos and it cannot print in colors in the first place
#2: Canon PIXMA MG3620
--- Best Cheap Inkjet Printer: Key Features
- Functions: Print, Scan, Copy
- Printer Type: Inkjet, Color
- Print Speed:
- 5.7 ipm (Color)
- 9.9 ipm (Black)
- Print Resolution: 4800 x 1200 dpi
- Paper Capacity
- Output Tray: 100 sheets plain paper / 20 sheet 4 x 6″ photo paper
- Monthly Duty Cycle: –
--- Pros
- A compact all-in-one wireless inkjet printer that is ideal for occasional printing in small spaces
- Its high-resolution flatbed scanner has hinges that you can raise if you want to scan thicker files like manuals or textbooks
- Very cost-per-print (especially for photo and color prints) due to its reasonably-priced cartridges
- It has mediocre color accuracy but it can produce detailed and good-looking photos
- It supports Mopria Print Service and Apple AirPrint if you don’t want to install additional drivers
- You can also buy high-yield cartridge versions if you want your ink to last longer
--- Cons
- Gray areas in color prints may have some banding
- It only offers limited connectivity options through USB and Wi-Fi connections
- You need to scan multi-page documents manually because it doesn’t come with a sheetfed scanner
- You need to replace ink cartridges often because it has a very low page yield for both black-only and color documents
#3: Canon PIXMA TR4520
--- Best Cheap Inkjet Printer: Key Features
- Functions: Print, Scan, Copy, Fax
- Printer Type: Inkjet, Color
- Print Speed:
- 8.8 ipm (Black)
- 4.4 ipm (Color)
- Print Resolution: 4800 x 1200 dpi
- Paper Capacity
- Input Tray: 100 sheets
- Monthly Duty Cycle: –
--- Pros
- An inexpensive all-in-one wireless inkjet printer that is best for photo printing
- Great photo print quality and decent cost-per-print when it comes to pictures
- It comes with a sheetfed scanner for processing multi-page documents
- It has a high-resolution flatbed scanner with an excellent color depth that can retain small details
- Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, USB, Ethernet, Mopria Print Service, and Apple AirPrint
--- Cons
- The accuracy of colors is good enough for casual photo printing but not good enough for professional printing
- It has a very low yield for black-only pages even though it has a decent cost-per-print for color documents
- It has relatively cheap cartridges but you need to do frequent replacements so the overall costs might be expensive
- Slow printing speed especially the first page
- It is only good for occasional color and photo printing
What Is the Best Printer With the Cheapest Ink Cartridges?
Are you printing a lot of documents and also using a lot of ink? No worries because there are also printers with cheap ink cartridges you can buy. Below are the three most recommended ones:
#1: Canon PIXMA G7020 for Photo Printing
--- Key Features
- Functions: Print, Copy, Scan, Fax
- Printer Type: Inkjet, Color
- Print Speed:
- 13 ipm (Black)
- 2.9 ipm (Black Duplex)
- 6.8 ipm (Color)
- 2.8 ipm (Color Duplex)
- Print Resolution: 4800 x 1200 dpi
- Paper Capacit
- Input Tray 1: 250 Sheets
- Input Tray 2: 100 Sheets
- Output Tray: 50 Sheets
- Monthly Duty Cycle: 5,000 pages
--- Pros
- A versatile all-in-one wireless inkjet printer best suited for casual photo printing
- It feels sturdy with a scanner bay that you can lift to easily access paper jams and ink bottles
- With its affordable ink price and superb page yield, it has an outstandingly low cost-per-print
- It has good scanner features and comes with a high-resolution flatbed scanner with excellent color depth and an automatic document feeder
- Great connectivity features and compatibility with Canon’s PRINT Inkjet/SELPHY app
--- Cons
- Its monochrome screen is small and doesn’t show a lot of text
- Disappointing low print speed from first to subsequent pages
- You can’t print from an SD card, a USB, or via Bluetooth
- Although photos come out detailed, darker areas may have some banding
- Colors also look acceptably accurate and a bit oversaturated
- They are good for casual photo printing but not for prints where you need to reproduce exact colors
#2: Epson EcoTank ET-4760 for Home Office Use
--- Key Features
- Functions: Print, Copy, Scan, Fax
- Printer Type: Inkjet, Color
- Print Speed:
- 15 ppm (Black)
- 8 ppm (Color)
- 6.5 ppm (Black Duplex)
- 4.5 ppm (Color Duplex)
- Print Resolution: 4800 x 1200 dpi
- Paper Capacity
- Input Tray: 250 Sheets
- Monthly Duty Cycle: 5,000 pages
--- Pros
- An all-in-one wireless inkjet printer that is recommended for home office use
- Exceptionally low cost-per-print
- Incredible page yield with its four ink tanks
- No need for frequent refilling or buying new ink
- It has an automatic document feeder that quickly scans multi-page documents
- It has a high-resolution flatbed scanner with excellent color depth
- It supports Wi-Fi, USB, Ethernet, Mopria Print Service, Apple AirPrint, and more
--- Cons
- Decent print speed for black-only documents but slower for photos and color documents
- Although it comes with an automatic document feeder scanner, it doesn’t support duplex scanning
- It doesn’t support USB or Bluetooth printing
- The color accuracy and quality of photo prints might not be ideal for professional applications but they would suffice casual photo and color prints
#3: Brother MFC-J995DW for Family Users
--- Key Features
- Functions: Print, Copy, Scan, Fax
- Printer Type: Inkjet, Color
- Print Speed:
- 12 ppm (Black)
- 10 ppm (Color)
- Print Resolution: 6000 x 1200 dpi
- Paper Capacity
- Input Tray: 150 Sheets
- Monthly Duty Cycle: 5,000 pages
--- Pros
- An all-in-one wireless inkjet printer with a touchscreen interface that is ideal for family use
- It comes with an automatic document feeder and a high-resolution flatbed scanner
- It features an INKvestment Tank ink system. Meaning, it can print an astounding number of pages before its cartridges need replacement
- Incredibly low cost-per-print whether for black-only or color document printing
- For photo printing applications, it can produce very detailed images in fairly accurate colors
- Color and black-only documents take some time to print but photo printing is impressively fast
- It supports wireless, Ethernet, and USB connectivity options
- It also has NFC print and scan and Mobile printing capabilities
- Ideal for high-volume printing
--- Cons
- Although it comes with a sheetfed scanner, this printer can’t automatically handle double-sided documents
- Flipping over each paper while scanning is time-consuming
- It doesn’t support printing through Bluetooth
- Mopria Print Service doesn’t work
Wrapping Up
Buying a printer for your small office at home can be challenging but if you know your options and understand your specific needs, you can easily find a printer that is most suitable for your application.
Take note that there are a lot of cheaper options you can choose from, but do not expect them to come fully packed with outstanding features. Speed and quality will always be compromised when you buy cheaper printers. But hopefully, our guide has been helpful in choosing the ideal printer for your home office. You might also want to read our blog on What is the Best Printer for Home Office Use?.