> Test 4 Printing costs

Per page costs versus large capacity

All the printers in our group test are budget– friendly devices that pack in features while achieving good quality and speed. But the cost of consumables and hence the per–page printing costs is also important, particularly for products aimed at the budget–conscious buyer. A full set of standard–capacity, manufacturer–brand ink cartridges for the Brother printer costs just under $90 from online retailers and lasts approximately 2,200 A4 pages at the standard 5 per cent coverage of a typical office document. The Canon printer’s cartridges cost almost $60 and print roughly 1,700 A4 pages, while the Epson cartridges cost around $40 and print 1,120 pages. The Kyocera uses toner rather than ink. A full set of toner costs just over $220 but lasts about 4,800 pages. An expensive initial outlay and slightly pricey per page costs, but if you find frequent re–ordering a pain it might be worth it in the long run.