The Quest For A Competent Color Home Printer

I f*#@$%g hate home printers. Seriously, I despise them. They are the dumbest pieces of tech in the world. There are a lot of things I could say about them, but that is for another post. This one is about finding a new one of these horrible pieces of garbage based on simple and pure data. So, here's my "extremely comprehensive" analysis of the best color printers for home use since ours finally kicked the bucket. I just hope it was worth staying up past midnight working on this.

Criteria: Not overly expensive, prints in color, preferably uses ink tanks rather than cartridges, has WiFi printing, and is from a well-known brand.

The Process: I compiled this amazing list by looking at like 10 articles and handpicking the most appealing options, then choosing my top few out of those aforementioned options.

Printers (Arranged by cost, greatest to least)

Epson EcoTank ET-2720

Pros:

• Uses ink tanks instead of cartridges, which are cheaper and last longer.
• Not an HP.
• 4.5/5 stars with 1000s of reviews.
• Also a scanner and copier.
• WiFi printing.
• Cheaper in the long term thanks to no need to use cartridges. The ink tanks can last for thousands of prints before needing to be refilled.
• Apparently easy to use. (It's a printer, though...)

Cons:

• Nearly $300.
• Prints a bit slower than some similarly-priced printers.
• Tiny LCD.

Canon Pixma G3260

Pros:

• Cheaper than the Epson!
• Uses ink tanks rather than cartridges.
• Good reviews.
• WiFi printing.
• Supports scanning and copying.
• Also not an HP.

Cons:

• Not exactly "cheap" at $200.
• Fewer fancy features and a worse screen than the Epson.
• Based on reviews, it might be a bit more fiddly and less reliable than the Epson.
• Also not super fast.

Brother MFC-J1205W

Pros:

• The cheapest option at around $130.
• Supports copying and scanning.
• Wireless printing.
• Reputable brand.
• Still not an HP!
• Prints text quickly according to reviews.
• Simple and reliable. It doesn't do a lot, but it's good at printing stuff from what I can tell.

Cons:

• Uses cartridges!
• Not great for quick scanning.
• Doesn't print images quickly according to some reviews.
• Replacing the four cartridges can get quite expensive.
• It's still a very basic printer, and the cost of cartridges will likely make this a more expensive option than those listed previously in the long term.

Ultimately, which printer is best for you entirely depends on your priorities and budget. These ones were chosen based on their appeal to me, but there are plenty of other serviceable printers that I missed or did not meet my requirements. However, I do feel that for home use, if you want a color printer, any of these will do the job just fine. So, I hope this post was helpful, and I'm crossing my fingers that these printers will turn out to suck less than usual!