Although the Canon Color imageCLASS MF634Cdw isn't the cheapest option out there, it's one of the best color laser all-in-one printers on the market. With a print speed of up to 19 pages per minute, high-capacity toners, and wireless capabilities, this printer will keep up with you and your printing needs.

• Best Wireless Printer For Mac
• Mac Printer Settings

It even has single-pass scanning, so you can scan both sides of a document at the same time! Why laser over ink? Laser printers have a ton of advantages over your typical inkjet printers and are a very viable option for at home use.

Best Wireless Printer For Mac

Laser printers will save you money in the long run. Although your average toner cartridge for a laser printer is more expensive than an ink cartridge, toner lasts a lot longer and because its a powder, it can't dry out over time. Plus, laser printers offer much sharper lines than inkjet, meaning small text is much easier to read as it always comes out crisp and clear. Of course, laser printers aren't quite as good at printing photos as a high-quality inkjet printer would be, because inkjets can often have up to six or more different colors of ink allowing them to blend colors together smoothly and produce more colors. Overall, I'm very happy with my for my home office. It's compact, simple, and quite fast at printing large documents, and since I never need to print anything in color, I don't mind that it's monochrome.

Updated September 2018: Added the fantastic Canon Color imageCLASS MF634Cd for people looking for a great color all-in-one. This post may contain affiliate links. See our for more details.

Although a color printer may be more cumbersome and slightly more expensive than a black and white model, the benefit is undeniable: you get color prints. As such, some consumers find it prudent to buy a cheap monochrome printer for text printing and an all-in-one color printer for everything else.

Notably, all of the monochrome models we looked at were laser printers, designed for rapid output of large amounts of text and/or black and white images. Even the very best inkjets struggle to produce text that's as sharp (particularly at sizes below 12 point), and when they do, they run much slower because they're on a “high resolution” setting. Should you buy a single or multifunctional printer? In general, this is an easy question to answer.

If you can find a quality color printer with fax, scanning, and copying capabilities for the same price as a printer without those functions, the decision is a no-brainer. However, some situations exist in which you might prefer a single-function printer.

Consider the following:. If you want photo-realistic output of high quality, you almost certainly want a specialist machine that focuses solely on the task at hand.

A printer with a built-in scanner would probably serve the needs of most consumers, but if you require high-resolution scans for trade printing or graphic displays, a machine dedicated entirely to high-resolution prints could be your best bet. Business owners might prefer a more robust single-function unit that can consistently handle their heavy output demands. This is always going to be a difficult question to answer, and even the BestReviews lab testers had differing opinions.

Mac Printer Settings

However, all agreed that your final choice should depend largely on what you intend to use the printer for. In the early days of home printers, the choice between inkjet and laser was rather straightforward. Back then, laser printers created images with superior detail, but the machines were prohibitively expensive. Inkjets were far more affordable, but the final product wasn’t nearly as sharp. Most inkjet and laser printers offer similar features. Almost all can communicate wirelessly with your smartphone or tablet.

Many offer WiFi so you can share the printer with other users. And, as we've seen, scanning, copying, and faxing are common. Here are some notable “other” features you might be interested in:. Paper tray capacity: If you do a lot of printing, a large-capacity paper tray comes in handy. Automatic feeding: If you print lots of envelopes or cards, automatic feeding of multiple sizes is useful. Automatic duplexing: This feature is great for those who want to execute rapid double-sided printing. Borderless printing: This is great if you want to print lots of photos, but you should check the print sizes available before making a purchase.

Ink refill subscription program: A program such as this could save you money, but we urge consumers to think about their usage patterns before choosing a printer with this feature. It’s not necessary for everyone. Testing suggests that some images created by cheap replacement ink fade in as little as three months.

This may be extreme, but it’s a known danger of buying remanufactured cartridges. Ink purchased directly from the printer manufacturer may cost more, but the images rendered from it could last longer. The reason: this ink will probably be part pigment (the black) and part dye (the colors). If you want your photo images to retain their richness for years, consider a specialist photo printer and the corresponding ink and paper. You'll pay more, but you’ll enjoy remarkable technology.