Sharp, Fast and Cheaper Too

By Jonathan Clenman

With the onrush of home PCs practically as powerful as mainframes and digital cameras that match film quality, printers and scanners have become essential helpmates at astonishing prices. For printers this has been the year of the color inkjet. They've nearly caught up with laser printers in terms of quality and speed, yet you can get a low-end inkjet for $50 and one with photo-quality output for less than $400. (But be sure to compare competing models' costs for replacement ink cartridges.) Scanners have been remarkable too. The current crop produces rich images at prices considerably lower than those of even a year ago--$100 buys a perfectly adequate machine. These two products are truly digital revolutions. And they're only getting better.

--TIPS: RESOLUTION IS THE KEY

DOTS Dots per inch indicate print quality. You want at least 600 dpi, but always go to a store and look at real printouts before you buy.

MORE DOTS For top-quality scans, you'll want 1,200 dpi and 36-bit color depth. Generally, the higher the price, the better the lens--one of the most important components.

--By Jonathan Clenman