Our research identified several cheap multifunction printers that meet users' expectations for value and performance. At the thrifty end of the market, printer heavyweights Brother, Canon, HP, and Epson hold dominant positions.
We particularly favor the (starting at $70) and the (starting at $75), which includes a fax machine. The (starting at $79) and the (starting at $80) are two other good budget options. The (starting at $50) may be affordable, but it's missing some key features.Even the best cheap multifunction printers are not perfect in every dimension. At budget prices you have to accept some weaknesses in performance or a lack of certain features. Lower-priced all-in-one printers are generally slower than pricier models, especially when printing photos, and color document printing may not reach professional-quality levels. Higher-end multifunction printers generally boast more built-in memory and much larger paper capacity. Bearing brand names such as Ricoh, Xerox, and Samsung, these upscale machines are designed for business use and deliver far more in the way of features and performance than a family, student, or home-office user would need.
When shopping for a cheap all-in-one printer, assess your needs before making your selection. Some machines excel at printing text while others handle photos especially well. Any multifunction printer should be able to print to an array of common paper sizes, such as letter and legal, but many machines also print more unusual options such as A4, B5, and A6. Most users won't need a built-in fax or automatic document feeder, but you can find an all-in-one with those options at a competitive price.
Wireless Connectivity.
It used to be rare to find a wireless multifunction printer for less than $100. Now all the models we researched boast wireless capabilities. If your household has more than one computer, wireless enables everyone to use the printer at once from anywhere in the home. Connecting to a home network was a real hassle in the past, but nowadays reviewers say it's pretty easy to connect a wireless all-in-one to a Wi-Fi network. You can also connect most multifunction printers to a PC by plugging in a USB cord. Ethernet connections are less common in all-in-ones. The only models we picked that have Ethernet ports are the Canon Pixma MG6320 and MG5420.Separate Color Ink Cartridges.
Frugal shoppers will no doubt be concerned about the cost of printer ink. How much you spend on ink depends in large part on the type of printing and copying you do, but the ink system also affects cost. Some all-in-one printers, the HP Deskjet 2540 among them, have only two ink cartridges: one for black and one for color. If you run out of one color within that color cartridge, you have to replace the whole thing, even if there's still plenty of the other colors left. All-in-ones with more color cartridges are more cost-effective than those with only one color cartridge. Most of our picks use a combination of one black cartridge and three color cartridges. The Canon Pixma printers have additional cartridges intended for high-quality black-and-white photos.Another way to save on ink costs is to buy "high-yield" cartridges. These have about twice as much ink as regular cartridges but cost only a little more. For example, a standard black ink cartridge for the Brother MFC-J450DW costs $15 from a source such as Office Depot and has a maximum yield of 300 pages. A high-yield ink cartridge for the same printer has a maximum yield of 600 pages but costs only $25, a savings of $5 over two standard cartridges. All of our picks have high-yield ink cartridges available.
