Printers That Don't Rob You Blind

As anyone who buys supplies for their inkjet printer knows, over the life of the printer, you can spend a lot more money on ink and other consumables than for the printer itself. That's why it's very important to consider the cost of consumables when buying a printer. Laser printers, for example, are typically more expensive to buy than inkjets but, for standard black text, they're usually cheaper to use.

But, that's no longer necessarily the case.

Hewlett-Packard has just released an inkjet printer which can be as cheap or even cheaper to use than a laser and; with an optional 350-page paper tray, speeds up to 37 pages a minute (black in draft mode) and a duty cycle of 7,500 pages a month, it can also rival a laser printer when it comes to speed, convenience and ruggedness. Normal mode black printing is rated at nine pages a minute but, for personal use, draft mode is fine.

Color speeds range from 24 pages a minute in draft mode to four pages a minute in "best" mode. Normal mode is rated at eight pages a minute. All speed and cost comparisons are based on industry standard pages, but your own results will vary considerably depending upon the density of what you print.

And, because it's an inkjet, it can also do color, including photo realistic color prints.

The Hewlett-Packard OfficeJet Pro K550 comes in three configurations. For $199 you get the basic printer with a single 250-page input tray and a USB connector for Windows and Mac PCs. For $299, the printer comes equipped with a 2nd (350 sheet) paper tray, automatic two-sided printing and both a USB port and a wired Ethernet port that allows you to share the printer by connecting it directly to a network or a router. The $349 version buys a model with a built-in wireless network adapter.

That second tray is a very handy option because, in addition to storing 350 sheets of paper, it frees up the main tray for envelopes, photo paper or any other special stock. The printer software lets you select which tray you want to print from so you don't need to fiddle with the paper when you want to print a special job.

Another thing I like about that optional 350-sheet printer tray is that it stores a lot of paper – a lot more than most inkjet printers – which means you don't have to fill it as often.

I loaded the bottom tray with regular paper and put a stack of envelopes in the top tray. Using Word, I was able to quickly print out some letters and envelopes without having to bother changing stock in the printer. I then tested the printer by putting 4-by-6 photo paper in the top tray and used Corel PhotoAlbum 6 to edit and print some pictures. Again, printing was easy because I didn't have to remove the standard paper from the bottom tray to print photos from the top tray.

Also, the quality of those color prints was as good as most photo-printers I've tested.

If you opt for the $199 model, you can later add the second tray for $99, but if you think you might need it, it's more economical to get the $299 model that includes the tray along with wired networking and two-sided printing.

The two-sided printing option slows things down, but it does make it easier to print on both sides by freeing you from having to put the paper back in the input tray to print on the back side. It works by printing one side, waiting a few seconds for the ink to dry and then sucking the paper back in, flipping it over and printing on the other side.

Because it does this for each page printed, the process will definitely slow things down. Even though it's less convenient, it's actually faster to manually print on both sides.

Unlike some inkjet models, the printer has four separate ink cartridges. If you run out of cyan, magenta, yellow or black you can replace that cartridge. Many inkjet printers come with a black cartridge and only one color cartridge.

Hewlett-Packard says the machine can print color "as low as 7.7 cents per page and black text "as low as 1.5 cents per page." Again, this is based on standard pages that may differ from what you print. It also assumes you purchase their high-capacity ink cartridges which makes sense.

Clearly, this printer is more expensive than a lot of other inkjets on the market, but when buying a printer, think about the consumables as well as the price. Also think about the features you need and don't need. While this printer is marketed towards small business, HP and its competitors sell consumer printers that are just as expensive and, if I were about to spend $200, I'd consider the HP K550 over a comparably priced consumer printer even for home use.

Many of the high-end consumer printers have extra features such as media slots to read cards from your digital camera, screens to preview your prints and, of course, imaging software. Personally, I can live without the screen and you can get media readers and imaging software separate from the printer. At the end of the day what matters is good printing at an affordable price and the OfficeJet Pro K550 offers both.