Wireless printers remain the most popular, especially when it comes to the best printer for laptop. Since the very essence of laptops is portability, most of these printers are also designed to be lightweight and portable. However, you can also find some cheap printers that need a physical connection.
You can go for wireless all-in-one printers too, as they offer other features like scanning, copying, and faxing. However, the great news is that such laptops are not expensive at all. As a result, even if you’re on a tight budget, you can find something to cover most of your printing and scanning needs.
Comparison Of Best Printers For Laptop – In 2020
| Image | Product Name | Features | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
  | Canon Pixma TS5120 All-in-One Printer |
| |
  | HP Officejet 3830 All-in-One Printer |
| |
  | HP Deskjet 1112 Printer |
| |
  | HP Envy 5055 Wireless All-in-One Photo Printer |
| |
  | HP Envy 4520 Wireless All-in-One Photo Printer |
|
Best Printer for Laptop Review
If you’re looking for a good printer for a laptop, these reviews will detail everything you need to know. Most of the printers are from HP, which is a leader when it comes to printers.
1. Canon Pixma Ts5120 All-in-one Printer – Best Compact Printer For Laptop
The Canon Pixma TS5120 is the best printer for laptop if you’re looking for an all-in-one printer that also scans and copies. This compact printer has all the wireless capabilities you could ask for in a printer. You have built-in Wifi and cloud printing, including support for AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, and Canon’s very own Pixma Cloud Link.
The wireless printer can print a variety of formats, including the common paper formats and 4 x 6 inches photographs. You also have automatic dual side printing, which saves time and money. Also, the printer comes fully equipped with all ink cartridges, which provide impressive running duration.
The tilted front panel makes for an ergonomic control panel providing ease of access. You have a 2.5-inch color LCD screen with a bunch of buttons. Since this is primarily for home use, the paper capacity is 200 sheets. There are a 100-sheet tray and another 100-sheet rear feeder. In addition, you can also fit about 20 photo sheets in the rear feeder.
The printing speed is also decent, clocking in 4.8 black and white pages per minute. Of course, the print speed varies depending on what you’re printing. For instance, the speed for printing a photo is nearly 30 seconds, so two 4 x 6 inches photos in a minute.
The textual print output is comparable with high-priced inkjet printers. In addition, the color print output is also good quality, given that its maximum resolution is 4800 x 1200 dpi. As a result, it’s good enough for simple business or school documents. The scanner and copier also have similar resolution and quality.
- Wireless printing
- Great value
- Compact size
- Photo printing
- Also offers high-resolution
- No ethernet
- No automatic feeder
Also Read: Best Printer for Mac in 2020 – Complete Reviews Your Apple Device
2. Hp Officejet 3830 All-in-one Printer – Best Portable Printer For Laptop
The HP Officejet 3830 is a stylish looking top printer for laptop that’s also portable. This is yet another all-in-one printer with copying and scanning capabilities. As a result, it offers great value for money as you get multiple functions at an affordable price.
This printer comes with HP’s Instant Ink subscription option, which can dramatically reduce ink and printing costs. As a result, this feature alone makes it ideal for use with a work laptop, as you’ll be doing a lot of printing. Otherwise, it’s going to cost pretty much what a typical inkjet printer ink costs and maybe, even more, depending on your printing outputs.
The Officejet 3830 has a 30-sheet automatic document feeder. However, it does lack auto-duplexing, which would have made it even more desirable. Nevertheless, the printing speed is impressive, coming in at 8.5 pages per minute. For color pages, this speed is six pages per minute.
This HP printer offers wireless printing options as well, including the most popular cloud printing options. So you can virtually connect any type of laptop or even a mobile device. The print quality is pretty high, given its low price. For instance, the resolution for black and white printings is 1200 x 1200 dpi, which is pretty good.
What makes HP Officejet 3830 stand out from the crowd is its shape and style. It may look a bit bulky, but the contours of its body make it look quite extraordinary. Also, it features a simplistic LCD panel and a large on/off switch.
- Fast printing
- High-quality print output
- Also easy to use
- Low running costs
- Touchscreen
- No auto-duplexing
- No ethernet
3. Hp Deskjet 1112 Printer – Best Small Printer For Laptop
The Deskjet 1112 Printer is a compact printer, best for home use. You can connect it with your laptop via USB. It will not take a lot of your desk space, which makes it ideal for use with a laptop. This is an Energy Star certified printer, so it uses minimal energy and reduces running costs.
For a small printer, it can support a wide range of paper formats. This includes the usual letter, A4, legal, as well as 4 x 6 inches, 5x 7 inches, and No. 10 envelopes. You would be surprised by the printing speeds of this printer, as it can print 20 black and white pages per minute.
This HP thermal inkjet printer requires two cartridges: one black and one color (four inks: CMYB). The input tray can hold 60 sheets of paper, which is not bad for such a small printer. The maximum color resolution is 4800 x 1200 dpi, and as for black and white resolution, it’s 1200 x 1200 dpi.
This is an extremely lightweight printer, weighing just under five pounds. As a result, it’s portable as well. However, you would need it right next to the laptop, as this requires a wired connection to the computer.
While it’s a cheap printer for a laptop, it’s also cheap in terms of running costs. The ink cartridges last for a long time, provided you use original HP cartridges.
- Multiple format support
- High resolution
- High-speed printing
- Also comes with Windows and Mac compatibility
- Works with photo paper as well
- Only USB connectivity
- Not great for heavy-duty printing
4. Hp Envy 5055 Wireless All-in-one Photo Printer – Best Printer For Hp Laptop
The HP Envy 5055 is the best printer for laptops if you print a lot of photos. Optimized for color photo printing, this printer also gives you the benefits of copying and scanning. This means you can print borderless photos and documents of multiple formats via this printer.
The 5055 is an all wireless printer i.e., you have a lot of connectivity options for your laptop. You can simply connect via Wifi or use one of the many cloud printing options. For instance, you can directly print from the iCloud on your Macbook. You can also use the HP Smart app to print and scan photos directly from the camera of your phone.
You can sign up for the Instant Ink subscription option from HP to save on your ink expenditure. As a result, if you’ll be printing a lot of photos, it will increase the printing costs as photos generally use a lot of ink.
In terms of format, you can print photos that are 4 x 6 inches, 5 x 7 inches, and 8 x 10 inches. It’s not exclusively for photo printing; you can also print your regular documents in a letter or legal sizes. Also, you can print on No.10 envelopes using this photo printer.
The printer has a beautiful look with a color LCD screen in the center on the front. As for the print output, the quality is pretty impressive. For color photos, the maximum resolution is 4800 x 1200 dpi. The printing speed for color pages and photos is seven pages per minute.
- High-quality print output
- Multi-format support
- HP Smart app support
- Also low energy consumption
- Easy to use
- No ADF
- No ethernet
Also Read: Best Shipping Label Printer in 2020 Top 10 Reviews for Business.
5. Hp Envy 4520 Wireless All-in-one Photo Printer – Best Photo Printer For Laptop
If you’re looking for a high-quality photo printer to go with your laptop, the HP Envy 4520 is the answer. This is not merely a photo printer; it’s also a copier and scanner. With auto-duplexing, this printer is efficient and fast at printing documents and photos alike.
Since there are no trims, you can print beautiful images, ready for use. As a wireless printer, it gives you the ease of printing wirelessly from your laptop. It’s also the best printer for Mac Pro laptop as it supports Apple AirPrint. You can also print from a bunch of other cloud printing platforms.
The photo sizes have ample variety with sizes like 4 x 6 inches, 5 x7 inches, and 8 x 10 inches. Similarly, you can also print on the regular legal and letter sizes. As for the ink usage, it can be optimized with HP’s Instant Ink subscription. That would reduce ink costs by a decent margin.
Similar to the HP Envy 5055, this printer also has a 2.2 inch LCD display that you can use effortlessly. The input tray can hold up to 100 sheets, whereas the output tray can house 25 sheets. Similarly, the maximum resolution is 4800 x 1200 dpi, which is more than enough for color-rich photos.
The printing speed is quite fast, printing 9.5 black and white pages per minute and 6.8 color pages per minute. As a result, it’s also appropriate for professional use, for example, photographers or graphic designers.
- Amazing photo printing
- Easy to set up and use
- Fast printing speeds
- Cloud support
- Scan to email
- No ADF
- No ethernet
Buyer’s Guide
Whether you’re looking for a printer for home use or office, you have to keep the following important things in mind:
Size: A printer that you will connect with your laptop has to be compact. It would not make sense to get a printer that is five times the size of your laptop. Also, you should be able to house the printer next to your laptop or even travel with it if need be.
Therefore, go for a printer that’s small in size and easy to move around. In terms of weight, keep it under 20 pounds. That kind of weight is manageable.
Cloud Printing
One way to ensure that the printer you buy is compatible with all kinds of laptops is to go for a wireless printer with cloud printing. This would eliminate the need to get drivers and update them every now and then.
Cloud support means you can print from virtually any device that can access the cloud. As a result, this type of printer is more versatile and not limited to just laptops.
Format Support
You should be mindful of the media support that printers provide. Can it print photos on a photo paper? Can it print wide-format pages? This would depend directly on your needs and usage. For instance, a photographer would essentially need a photo printer.
Most of the printers for laptops can at most print legal-size pages. If you print wide-format pages, you need to look at wide-format printers, which is a whole other category. Those printers are not exactly lightweight or portable. However, you can still easily pair them with your laptop.
FAQs
What Is The Best Wireless Printer For Dell Laptop?
There’s a wide range of printers that are compatible with a Dell laptop. The most common printer brands like HP, Epson, and Canon, can easily connect with any kind of laptop that uses a Windows operating system, including Dell laptops.
If you’re buying a wireless printer, make sure your Dell laptop has support for connecting wireless printers and scanners. The Canon Pixma TS5120 Wireless All-in-One printer is a great pick for Dell laptops.
For those with a very old Dell laptop model, a more basic printer with a USB connection would be a much safer option. Therefore, you can go for the HP Deskjet 1112 Compact laptop as it’s pretty basic and compact in size.
Do I Need To Install A Driver On My Laptop For A Wireless Printer?
Yes, in most cases you do need to install a corresponding driver for your printer, even if it’s a wireless printer. The driver will make it easy for the laptop to connect wirelessly with the printer and give you full control of the features of the printer.
You need to install an appropriate driver for the particular model of your printer and the operating system you are using. In most cases, the drivers come with the printer, so you can directly install it from the CD. However, you can always find drivers online on the manufacturer’s website.
If you’re printing from a mobile device, you do not need drivers. In other words, the purpose of cloud printing is eliminating drivers so you can seamlessly print from anywhere anytime.
Do Wireless Printers Use Wifi Or Bluetooth?
Most wireless printers use Wifi to send and receive signals from your laptops. However, you can also find printers that have Bluetooth support. Wifi remains more popular as it’s readily available in most laptops, and they connect to a central Wifi network, unlike Bluetooth, that only connects with one device.
Whether it uses Wifi or Bluetooth or both, these printers are often categorized as wireless. So even if a printer is wireless, so to speak, you have to look into what wireless connectivity options it offers.
Conclusion.
The best printer for laptop will ideally print fast, provide multiple media format support, and take minimal space. Therefore, wireless printers are, by default, the best for use with laptops as you do necessarily need the laptop to be next to the printer.
When buying for home use, go for a more affordable printer like the ones in this article. In other words, You do not need to spend hundreds of dollars to get a high-quality printer for your laptop.
