| To get a perspective of the best printers in the | | | | favorites in this segment: |
| market, recently PC Mag conducted the Reader's | | | | 1. Canon: Canon tops the list in this category. With |
| Choice: Printer's Survey. After all, who better than | | | | more than average ratings, multifunction ink jets, |
| the consumer to review which printers are the | | | | as well as photo printers, Canon has distinguished |
| best! In the Reader's Choice survey more than | | | | itself well. Another interesting aspect - less than |
| 6500 printers, including color ink jets to mono | | | | 3% of Canon printers needed repair on average |
| lasers were analyzed. | | | | and their technical support is much superior than |
| Service levels being the new driver | | | | others. Even Canon's ink is top quality with |
| According to the Reader's Survey, the top two in | | | | affordable rates. Canon ink cartridges cost has a |
| the list are Canon and HP respectively. While HP | | | | score of 4.9 out of 10, with an overall rating of |
| has always remained the favorite, Canon has | | | | 5.7. |
| moved ahead of it this year. Product features are | | | | 2. HP: The overall score for HP is better than |
| no longer the sole yardstick of competitive edge. | | | | average. However their technical support still |
| The new 'mantra' of success is the service levels | | | | remains unpopular, in spite of their Instant support |
| and maintenance required. That's why overall, | | | | utility which maps dysfunctional printers to the call |
| parts needing repair have declined from 11% to | | | | centers for instant action. The root of the |
| 8% over a one year span! Among printers less | | | | problem lies in HP's support providers. HP ink is |
| than a year old, the ones which stood their | | | | costlier and also the 3rd party ink of HP printers. |
| ground were Konica Minolta and Samsung. These | | | | Even their photopaper is costly! |
| printers did not need much repair as far as their | | | | 3. Brother's: The quality of ink is not as good |
| units were concerned. | | | | although cost of ink does not pose a major |
| Service levels have not been up to readers' | | | | problem with consumers. Their mono lasers |
| expectations although the basic technical support | | | | require minimal maintenance and have scored well. |
| is fine by them. | | | | However Brother's ink and photos overall get a |
| Printer type scores | | | | poor score. |
| As far as home printers go, Samsung seems to | | | | 4. Epson: Their first-year printers have received |
| be the top on the list. Another interesting | | | | very good scores- an 8.2 rating. However since |
| observation is that HP, which used to be the | | | | 2005, there's been a sharp rise in repairs needed - |
| strong favorite, isn't anywhere among the top 2 | | | | almost 6% of the new printers needed repair - a |
| in the photo printers category. In fact, Epson and | | | | disturbing trend for Epson. |
| Canon take the top 2 slots. HP does seem to do | | | | 5. Dell: While Dell as a brand commands respect |
| well in the monochrome lasers category, with a | | | | and trust, when it comes to printers, it doesn't |
| good margin. Brother and Samsung lag behind HP | | | | seem to get the same level of trust. Even their |
| in this segment. Konica and Lexmark are next in | | | | web based support is below satisfactory levels. |
| line. | | | | 6. Lexmark: The only saving grace for Lexmark |
| Ink jets: The most popular ones | | | | would probably be its repair rating - a good score |
| Ink jets, being the most widely-used printers that | | | | of 6%. Apart from this, all other aspects score |
| they are, deserve special mention. That's why the | | | | poor - be it reliability, recommendation from |
| Reader's Choice survey chose to pick the top 6 | | | | consumers or even technical support. |