Comparative Test: 9 ink All-in-Ones up to 200 Euros

von Florian Heise

übersetzt von Ulrich Junker

Devices for printing only are becoming obsolete. Multifunctionals are booming, since they enable you to print, scan, copy, and fax with just one machine. DC takes a close look at nine AIOs, price range 120 to 200 Euros.

Erschienen am 20. Mai 2011 bei Druckerchannel.de, 18 Seite(n)

https://www.druckerchannel.de/artikel.php?ID=3004

Cost of print

If you plan to purchase a printer or AIO, we always suggest to take a close look at printing costs before you buy.

DC is one of the few labs which do real tests to determine cost of print. We do not rely on what manufacturers tell us. In the table below you will see that printing costs vary considerably, and you better find out about that prior to spending money on a "cheap" machine that will cost you lots of cash later.

DC-test files

Both dc_leerdruck_5p.pdf and dc_fotoyield to determine yield may be downloaded by you for private use (DC Testfiles).

DC-Textseite: dc_leerdruck_5p.pdf.

DC-Farbfoto: dc_fotoyield.tif.

This overview (table below) shows, that both Epson-AIOs come out with the lowest cost per page. HPs Officejet 6500A E710a still is in the low cost area. Both Canon-AIOs print pretty pricy. And Brothers and Lexmarks prints are very expensive.

The table above is available in German only. The column on the left side shows price per page with our test document 'DC-Textseite' when printing 10.000 pages of text, the right column when printing 'DC-Farbfoto' and 1.000 photos in color.

Remaining-ink-messages

When testing yield our lab prints the test documents until the ink tanks are empty. This may be indicated by a printers message e.g. "Ink status" (see photos below). If no mesage appears, as with HP, we print until print results start to become faint.

Brother DCP-J515W and MFC-J615W: If one ink tank is empty, the printer demands its replacement. You can´t continue printing until the ink tank is replaced.

Canon Pixma MG5150 and MG5250: Ink may have run out. Replacing the ink tank is recommended. A red "X" shows an empty ink tank.

Epson Stylus Office BX525WD and SX620FW: If one ink tank is empty, the printer demands its replacement. You can´t continue printing until the ink tank is replaced.

Lexmark Prospect Pro205: Lexmark gives a clear advice - no more printing until the ink tank is replaced.