Brother DCP-J125

The Brother DCP-J125 is an all-in-one device comprising scanner, copier and printer and is the entry-level model in the range.
The two-tone grey design is rather utilitarian and better suited to an office than the home.
In order to connect your laptop using the USB port, you'll need to open the machine itself, as the port is neatly hidden away. However, you'll need to budget for a longer cable than normal, not supplied, as it runs the length of the printer before exiting out of the back.
Rather than the paper tray being on the back of the printer, you'll find it located at the front. Printed paper also comes out of the front, rather forcefully we found.
Print noise is quite respectable – not as quiet as the Canon PIXMA iP3600, but certainly more so than the Lexmark S305 and Epson Stylus SX425W.
Installing the four colour ink cartridges couldn't be easier, as you'll find an access hatch on the front of the device. Once all four are inserted, the colour LCD display informs the user that it will take four minutes to align and configure the device.
The controls are clearly labelled, so switching between scan and print is easy.
Scanning quality is impressive, with our test images being on a par with the Epson and slightly sharper than on the Lexmark and HP.
Regarding print quality, we found mono text was quick and the results sharp, while colour prints lacked true depth.
As for the running costs of your printer, you'll find that a multi-pack comprising all four colours is the most economic, as it costs around £28 (inc. VAT). Individual cartridges can also be bought, with black costing £13 (inc. VAT), and colour cartridges costing £8 (inc. VAT).
The Brother DCP-J125 may appear rather plain and, while we were impressed with its office printing skills, colour reproduction isn't quite as sharp as we would have liked.

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HP PhotoSmart Wireless CN245B

The HP PhotoSmart Wireless CN245B is the entry-level model in the PhotoSmart range, yet comes with a whole set of features that belies its budget status.
This all-in-one device comes with a colour LCD display on the screen, as well as full scanner, copy and print modes. It has a rather tall and boxy design, but with a front-loading in and out tray, it’s rather compact.
HP has done away with physical buttons, opting for touch-sensitive buttons around the display. Below this you’ll find an SD Card slot for uploading your documents and pictures, which you can then edit and trim via the screen before directly printing.
This printer comes with Wi-Fi built in and, along with installing the software and setting up the printer, you’ll find it takes over 45 minutes to be up and ready to print.
Inserting the four cartridges is standard, but we like that the black is a high-capacity module. The rather large size of the printer allows for the A4 scanner, which is neatly concealed.
We found scanning quality to be good and on a par with the Epson Stylus SX425W. When it comes to printing, you’ll find this quite a loud machine. However, the results are spectacular, with colour prints being rich and vibrant. Equally, mono text is crisp and sharp with plenty of depth to the black.
Cartridge replacements work out the most economical, with a four-pack costing around £22 (inc. VAT), while individual colours can be bought for just £7 (inc. VAT).
The high-capacity black cartridge is more expensive, but even at £13 (inc. VAT) it represents great value for money.
The HP PhotoSmart Wireless CN245B is a loud and rather slow printer, but the results are well worth waiting for. With highly economical running costs, this all-in-one certainly gives the Epson a run for its money.

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