HP claims its Officejet Pro 8100 inkjet printer makes a worthy competitor to color lasers and promises it saves businesses up to 50% on printing costs. This business-class inkjet boasts a full set of modern interfaces, including USB, Ethernet and Wi-Fi. It also supports direct printing from e-mail, Apple's AirPrint and an app for smartphones and tablets.
The 8100 is a sleek, black machine with a small information screen that displays ink levels and print tools. Its control panel is simple to operate and offers icons for a variety of functions. Adding paper is straightforward, as is loading a new cartridge. A paper guide on the back helps with thicker media, and an automatic two-sided printer feature maximizes productivity and cuts down on waste. This ENERGY STAR qualified device is quiet and runs on low power, so it can be placed in any environment.
In addition to its fast printing speeds, this printer boasts a high resolution that makes text documents and photos come out looking sharp. It also resists fading, water and highlighter-pen smearing, making it a good choice for professional use. The ink cartridges are affordable, and they're individually replaceable, so you only need to change the color that runs out. Using the high-yield XL cartridges reduces your cost per page to an impressive 2.6 cents for monochrome pages and 7.3 cents for four-color pages. Buyers Laboratory LLC, an independent tester of document imaging products, awarded this model a Pick award for its excellent performance and reasonable price.