Best printers to buy in 2013

Posted on 10 May 2013 at 13:00, by Andrew Unsworth

Want the best printer or scanner for your home or office? We review the best printers and scanners from all the big brands such as Brother, HP, Lomond, Konica and Xerox. Whether you need a multifunction printer, colour laser printer or A3 scanner, we’re sure to have something that suits your needs and budget. Our list is constantly updated to ensure it has the best printer and scanner products.

Canon PIXMA MP230

This MFP is easy to use and cheap to run

Our Expert Opinion This no frills MFP is basic and a bit noisy, and it can't print borderless photos. Otherwise it's easy to use, and its prints, scans and copies are all great for something so cheap. At about 8.5p per page it even has reasonable running costs, which makes it a bargain.

Read our full Canon Pixma MP230 review

SPECS
MAXIMUM RESOLUTION 4,800x1,200dpi
QUOTED SPEEDS 7.0ipm mono/4.8ipm colour
SCAN RESOLUTION 600x1,200dpi
INTERFACES USB
DIMENSIONS 153x444x329mm
POWER CONSUMPTION 0W standby, 0W idle, 14W active
WARRANTY one year RTB
PART CODE 6220B008AA

BUY IT FROM £32 from LambdaTek

Canon ImageFormula P-215

Quickly turns a document into a searchable PDF

Our Expert Opinion This portable A4 scanner is perfect for mobile workers who need to capture multi-page documents. Despite its small size, it has an automatic document feeder (ADF) more commonly found on full-sized scanners and MFPs. Using 'full auto' mode, capturing documents is as simple as loading the ADF and pressing the start button. The ImageFormula P-215 scans both sides of the paper stack at once, with the software automatically removing any blank pages, re-orientating any upside-down pages and correcting any page skew. With the ImageFormula P-215, you can quickly turn a document into a PDF with searchable text, making it a great Business Buy.

Read our full Canon ImageFormula P-215 review

SPECS
SCANNER TYPE CIS
OPTICAL RESOLUTION 600dpi
COLOUR OUTPUT 24-bit
INTERFACES USB
DIMENSIONS 40x285x95mm
POWER CONSUMPTION standby, active
WARRANTY one year RTB
PART CODE 5608B003

BUY IT FROM £221 from Pixmania

HP Officejet Pro X576dw

This office inkjet MFP is fast and economical

Our Expert Opinion This office inkjet MFP prints more than a page of black text per second, with each costing less than 0.8p. Scans and photocopies were also fast in our tests, with the results generally very good. Although it costs slightly more than an equivalent colour laser, the X576dw is much faster, uses less power and is far cheaper to run.

Read our full HP Officejet Pro X576dw review

SPECS
MAXIMUM RESOLUTION 2,400x1,200dpi
QUOTED SPEEDS 70ppm mono/70ppm colour
SCAN RESOLUTION 1,200dpi
INTERFACES USB, 10/100 Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n wireless
DIMENSIONS 517x517x399mm
POWER CONSUMPTION 5W standby, 11W idle, 83W active
WARRANTY one year RTB
PART CODE CN598A

BUY IT FROM £667 from LambdaTek

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