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This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.
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We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. With that in mind, we’re rounding up the best at-home printers according to the people. (See our introduction to this series here.) Our recommendations range from our deputy editor’s beloved minimalistic laser printer to something called the EcoTank, which saved a Hollywood screenwriter from his nightmare with ink.ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. There are color laser printers, but they’re often prohibitively expensive for personal use. If you want to print in color, you probably want to stick with inkjet printers. Plus laser printers are faster and have superior print quality with text that looks much more precise and clear.
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And while inkjet printers can be much cheaper, they don’t tend to last as long as laser printers, and you do have to factor in the cost of more frequent ink refills. Inkjet printers use liquid ink, while laser printers use a powder ink that’s melted on the page. The biggest thing to consider is whether you want an inkjet or a laser printer. Most at-home, nonprofessional printers are all-in-one units, which means they include some form of scanner and fax machine, but if you don’t need those features, you can save a little money by finding a print-only machine. It’s not particularly hard to find a printer that will suit your day-to-day needs. For most of us, a small and discreet printer that can handle the occasional online form or shipping label will be plenty.
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Unless you’re a lawyer or an author, or in some other profession that relies on printing a lot of documents, you probably don’t need one of those gargantuan, gray, rectangular printers. But one thing most of us don’t think about having until we actually need it is a printer. Over the past two years, your home may have suddenly transformed into a makeshift office complete with a comfortable desk and chair, a wireless keyboard, and a wireless mouse.
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