The best review of laser and inkjet cartridges printers is done yearly by PC Magazine.
The PC Magazine "Printer Issue" has been arriving
around the beginning of November since 1984. Each year,
the reviews cover all the new printer models that companies
ship to the magazine's testing labs. Printer companies have
learned that they must be included in this review to gain
respect and a share of the printer market. PC Magazine's
printer reviews have an enormous impact on printer purchases.
The "Editor's Choice" models become the standard
for many people. From these reviews, consultants form their
opinions, salesmen decide which models to push, and buyers
make purchasing decisions.
Because the magazine review process is a great source of
free advertisement for printer companies, the companies
have a tremendous incentive to come up with new printer
models each year. An average of 100 new printer models are
produced each year. This number is starting to decrease
as the printer market becomes more stable. Few magazines
have the resources to test and compare 100 new printers
even PC Magazine cannot compare the current crop with the
previous year's models. Before 1985, purchasing last year's
printer was crazy the current year's would be better and
cheaper. But today, a printer released the preceding year
can still be a better model than any of the current releases.
Yet, this fact is usually not mentioned in the current PC
Magazine review, so the issue is not an encyclopedia of
all printers or even the best printer models currently sold.
Older printer models may actually be better. The newer
models sometimes contain design flaws that don't show up
during the review. In the winter of 1987, PC Magazine made
the Okidata Laserline 6 an "Editor's Choice," meaning that it was the best in its category. On April 29,
1989, a class action suit was filed in a U.S. District Court,
charging that up to 80 percent of the Laserline 6 printers
sold produced shadows, blurs, and splotches on print-outs.
The test of time is not available to magazine reviewers.
Many printers reviewed do not really exist. Companies send
preproduction models to the magazine, hoping for a good
review. If the review is not positive, the company may not
even try to sell the printer.
Most magazines try to come up with a rating scheme for printers.
Some use a 1 to 10 scale or even stars, like movie reviews.
These rating systems have problems:
* Only a few printers are compared at a time.
* The rating formulas usually do not emphasize your unique
needs.
* Printer features are not covered sufficiently to aid
your own evaluations.
The other printer-rating technique the one PC Magazine
uses is to write a page or two describing each printer.
The readers are free to make up their own minds. The trouble
with this technique is that more thorough reviews must be
done: readers have to read over 100 pages of a magazine,
and then sorting out the reviewers' true feelings requires
rereading each review. Because the magazine can lose advertising
revenue with an entirely negative review, the reviewers
generally try to find something positive to say about every
printer. Even so, PC Magazine maintains a good perspective,
and their reviewers are certainly less biased and more informed
than most other sources.
Read the past two special printer issues of PC Magazine
if you want the facts. Make up your own mind; do not blindly
follow the editor's choice. Some other magazines also write
fine printer reviews, but they should be used as supplements
because they usually are not as detailed.
Prev
| Next
