Inkjet Printer: End of the Year Roundup

The Tests

We ran the same tests as usual: text, compound, monochrome and color documents, ordinary, draft and high definition resolution, etc. You can read a detailed description here .

Estimated Cost Per Page

Canon I850

A full set of cartridges (black + color) costs US$64, or 66 euros. They last for ages, printing up to 440 pages and halving the average cost of office printing. They are also economical in photo mode. Including the cost of the paper, prints work out about 30% cheaper than average. The paper price we used is based on an A4 sheet of their new Glossy Photo Paper, divided by four.

The long-term cost calculated by adding the purchase price to the cost of printing 1500 monochrome and 1500 color pages (filled at 5%) is disadvantaged by the high US$454 price you have to pay for the printer.

HP Deskjet 3820

A full set of cartridges (black + color) costs US$55 or 69 euros. A surprising thing is that the black cartridge is about half the price of the color one, but lasts twice as long. This means the 3820 running costs are pretty much average when it is used for monochrome office printing, but they double compared to its competitors when it comes to color. In photo mode, where part of the cost is due to the paper, the difference is less, but the Deskjet 3820 is still in the upper bracket.