The manufacture of printers is dominated by Japanese companies such as Canon, Epson and Brother. Users though, have there own preferences when it comes to makes of printers. Some may be perceived as more reliable, others cheaper to get cartridges for, and others may feel that there is a different print quality involved. How do their products actually compare though?

As a simple experiment three personal printers were taken and compared.

BROTHER HL 2040

Brother has had a long association with printer production although they are more normally to be found in an office environment. The HL 2040 though is great for the home office and personal use as well, and has been specifically designed for high-speed printing.

The Brother is easy to install and connect to your PC, with a range of connection options, be it USB, parallel or Ethernet, although cables are not included.

So a good start but then the downside quickly comes, the Brother HL 2040 is a monochrome printer, thus, no color photos being printed from this machine. Black and white prints though prove just how good the printer is, with a resolution of 2400x600 dpi, the quality is excellent.

Toner for Brother HL 2040 will normally print about 1000 pages and the drum will last for about 12 times that amount. When printing though it is not the quietest of printers, and can be off-putting.

At about $200 it is not cheap for a personal printer especially when you consider the cost of its rivals. It is easy to use but is of course impossible for all of your home needs with the lack of color facilities.

EPSON STYLUS DX8400

One of the latest personal printers from Epson is ideal for home use, and can print direct from a memory card if required. Set-up and installation is extremely easy. This home printer also comes complete with a 2.5 inch LCD preview monitor.

This is one of the easiest to use color printers available to buy currently. It can scan documents and photos, and photocopy to a high standard. The print quality comes about from color inkjet from 90 nozzles and with a 5760 x 1440 dpi resolution. Surprisingly enough as well, the color cartridges seem to last longer than other manufacturers. Noise wise, it is also one of the quietest of personal printers out there; although noticeable, it is not intrusive when printing.

It isn't the smallest or lightest of printers, but benefits from some cheap Epson replacement cartridges. At about $160 the Epson printer is cheaper than the normal price for a Brother but is more expensive than a lot of Canons.

CANON PIXMA MP210

Canon has also introduced an all in one personal printer much like Epson, and the MP210 prints, scans and copies. It is not as advanced as the Epson DX8400, although it to can print direct from a memory card or USB, as well as Bluetooth if an adaptor is added.

Overall print quality is good at a maximum of 4800 x 1200 dpi and the cartridges seem to last for a reasonable period of time. The PIXMA MP210 ink cartridges are black and tri-color.

So, overall how do they compare? Well, the Epson Stylus DX8400 has the highest print quality and some of the cheapest cartridges, and the Canon Pixma MP210 is the cheapest. Hence that just leaves the Brother HL2040; as a monochrome printer, it doesn't really fit in a home environment, although it is great for black and white document printing.