I've tested the top three color ink-jet photo printers and came up with some money saving tips for you to consider. It is always a good idea to shop around and read a few printer reviews before buying big ticket electronics, especially photo printers because there are so many different models to chose from. In order to make a solid buying decision, you need to compare photo printer features, prices and print quality.
The best way to compare photo printer quality is to evaluate brands selling for the exact same price. We put the Canon PIXMA iP5000, the HP 8150, and the Epson Stylus Photo R320 to the test and found that despite the manufacturer's claims that their printer produced the "best photo prints" over any model in its price range, there was a distinct leader in print quality among the top three best photo printers.
To accurately compare photo printer printing quality it is imperative that you use the photo paper and ink recommended by the manufacturer. Each photo printer is specifically designed to produce the highest quality prints using their manufacturers photo paper and printer ink. So to get the best photo print results, we used the recommended paper and ink for all of our comparison testing.
Before we take a look at our photo test results, let's compare photo printer features that seem to stand out among our top three best printers. The Canon PIXMA iP5000, is the smallest of the three models and is very compact. It prints ink jet droplets as small as 1 picoliter, which is half the size of last year's model. The smaller the picoliter, the sharper crisper and clearer the final photograph will be.
The Canon PIXMA photo printer has duplex printing capabilities which allow you to print on both sides of the paper which is a very convenient feature for multi page printing. All you have to do is check the appropriate box on the print screen and the printer does all the work for you. The PIXMA iP5000 will also sequentially print on both sides of the paper which makes it easy to print professional looking photo album pages right from your own home.
The HP Printer and the Epson Stylus Photo printer both allow you to edit and print you images without using the computer. All you have to do is plug in the memory card from your digital camera into the slots on the printer and use their controls to make minor adjustments to your images before printing. You can crop, remove red-eye, adjust brightness and select formatting all from the color LCD display on the printer. This is an extremely handy feature to take note of, especially for travelers.
Not only are photo printers with memory cards convenient for travelers, but if you're in a rush and just want to make a quick print, it's a great time saver. However, if you need to make color corrections or precise image adjustments, you should use your computer's photo editing software for best results.
One of the coolest features that I have found during my quest to compare photo printer deals is the ability of the Epson Stylus Photo R320 to print directly onto specially coated CDs and DVDs. Yes, you can print directly onto a CD; just slide the disk into the specially designed slot on the Epson printer, and presto! You have a digital image of any kind printed directly onto your own custom CD or DVD.
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