In Living Color: 8 New Inkjet Printers Put to the Test

The Contenders, Continued

Epson Stylus Photo R300

Unlike the Stylus C66 Photo Edition, the Stylus Photo R300 uses traditional color inks. Its design focus is more on color rendering than on fading and humidity resistance, benefiting from six ink colors. It also puts an emphasis on output speed, particularly in photo mode, and has interesting functions like the ability to print directly on CDs and DVDs.

HP Photosmart 7450

You don't change a winning team, and HP is staying with its new Photosmart line, which has been so successful. HP was the first to use memory slots on printers, and they are represented here. The Photosmart 7450 is the basic model of the line-up, and operates in photo mode with a dedicated ink cartridge that takes the place of the black cartridge.

HP Photosmart 8150

This HP model takes the use of the memory cards farther than ever before, including a real control panel that will let novice users print without a PC. It also includes PictBridge and Bluetooth functions for downloading pictures directly from a digital camera, cell phone, or PDA.

Lexmark Z816

Weighing a mere 2.2 kg (5 lb), the Lexmark Z816 is without a doubt the "Tom Thumb" of this group. Lexmark has gone for simplicity above all here, and this $99 model does without any additional functions (PictBridge, memory slots, and so on.) Everything is in the driver, which is very complete, and in the innovative use of both solid and water-based inks. According to the manufacturer, this provides the advantages of each technology without the disadvantages.