The first decision to make is what kind of printer you need. There are a variety of options: inkjets; colour and mono lasers; compact photo printers; and multifunction printers which also scan and copy.

INKJET PRINTER

Good choice for colour photos, text and graphics

Price range: $50 to $750

Pros: The best overall choice for printing a variety of file types. Excellent quality text, graphics and photos. Accept a variety of paper types and other media. Many can print photos directly from a digital camera.

Cons: Running costs are generally higher than lasers. Economy varies between inkjets, and depends on the size and cost of the cartridge being used.

Quality is usually compromised by speed. In other words, increasing the quality extends the print time. Most inkjets take between 10 and 30 seconds to print a page of text. Images are much slower. At standard or best resolution, an inkjet is doing well to print a picture in under three minutes. The worst offenders can take up to 30 minutes.

Paper makes a huge difference to inkjets, so don't be disappointed if pages printed on "photocopy" paper aren't up to scratch. On high-quality paper, the results will be far more impressive.

See the Test results and Recommendations for more information on inkjet printers.

LASER PRINTER

Good choice for low-cost text and graphics

Price range: $100+ for mono lasers; $350+ for colour lasers

Pros: The best choice if you print a lot of text. No trade-off between quality and speed. Print very quickly, regardless of the quality settings. Paper quality is not important.

Mono lasers are designed to print black text quickly, cheaply, and at high quality. They'll print a page in about six seconds. Running costs are low (3-6c per page of text), as black toner is less costly than ink.

Colour lasers are quick to print and cheap to run. A page of text costs about 4c. A colour graphic or colour photo is around 20-40c. Purchase prices have fallen steadily. Quality for colour graphics is improving.

Cons: Photo quality is generally poorer than inkjets. A top-performing inkjet printer, set to highest resolution and using special paper, will achieve better results.

See the Test results and recommendations for more information on colour laser printers.

MULTIFUNCTION PRINTER

Good choice for text, photos, and other functions

Price range: $50 to $1200

Pros: Combines printing, scanning, and copying in one unit. Usually cheaper than the individual components. Most will print photos without a computer. Good quality printing for text, graphics and photos.

Cons: Often more expensive to buy than inkjets. Often more expensive to run than lasers. Can't scan negatives or slides. If something goes wrong, the entire unit has to be repaired.

See our report on multifunction printers for buying advice and test results.

COMPACT PHOTO PRINTER

Dedicated 6x4 inch photo printing

Price range: $200 to $500

Pros: All can direct print so you don't need a computer. Some can run off a battery for portability.

Cons: Can't print on A4, or handle text or graphics. Photo quality, print speed, running costs and price aren't necessarily better than a stand-alone inkjet printer.

See our report on compact photo printers for test results and a checklist of features to look for.