$170 - $200 Personal Printers

The Bottom Line: The HP Deskjet D4260 is a good choice for home users looking for a basic printer that's good enough for projects like school reports, but that won't break the bank.

Specs: Personal printer - Ink-jet - Color, Legal (8.5 in x 14 in), Wired, 30 pages/min, 23 pages/min, 26 pages/min, PC, Mac, USB

The Bottom Line: The HP Color LaserJet 1600 printer is the same printer as the HP CLJ 2600n with fewer features. Unlike the 2600n, the 1600 is not network ready and can be connected only via USB. Finally, the CLJ 1600 printer is compatible only with Windows-based PCs; the 2600n works with both PCs and Macs. Because both models use the same processor and memory, performance and print quality should be the same, so our assessment of those aspects of the 2600n stand for the 1600 as well. With its basic features and smaller price tag (about $299), the HP CLJ 1600 is better suited for home office environments.

Specs: Personal printer - Laser - Color, A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in), Legal (8.5 in x 14 in), Wired, 8 pages/min, PC, USB

Specs: Personal printer - Ink-jet - Color, Legal (8.5 in x 14 in), Wired, PC, Mac, USB

Specs: Personal printer - Laser - Monochrome, A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in), Legal (8.5 in x 14 in), Wired, 25 pages/min, 24 pages/min, PC, USB, Parallel

Specs: Personal printer - Ink-jet - Color, A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in), Legal (8.5 in x 14 in), Wired, 12 pages/min, 6 pages/min, 2.5 pages/min, 10 pages/min, 4.5 pages/min, 1 pages/min, 3 pages/min, 0.8 pages/min, 0.2 pages/min, 0.5 pages/min, 0.3 pages/min, PC, Mac, USB, Parallel

Specs: Personal printer - Ink-jet - Color, A4 (8.25 in x 11.7 in), Legal (8.5 in x 14 in), Wired, 9 pages/min, 8 pages/min, PC, Mac, Serial, Parallel

Specs: Personal printer - Laser - Monochrome, Legal (8.5 in x 14 in), Wired, 6 pages/min, PC, Parallel

Specs: Personal printer - Direct thermal - Monochrome, A7 (2.9 in x 4.1 in), Wired, Wireless, 4 pages/min, PC, USB, Serial, Infrared

Specs: Personal printer - Direct thermal - Monochrome, Roll (3.15 in), Wired, 40.7 lines/sec, PC, Parallel

Specs: Personal printer - Dot-matrix - 9 pin - Monochrome, Roll (10 in), Legal (8.5 in x 14 in), Letter A Size (8.5 in x 11 in), Wired, 570 char/sec, 510 char/sec, 380 char/sec, 95 char/sec, PC, USB, Parallel