Our Favorite Printer
Permission slips, field trip forms, and homework printouts always seem to be due the next morning. The printer we chose is the HP OfficeJet 200: it prints clean pages over Wi-Fi from any phone or laptop in the house, and it's small and portable enough to move wherever the paperwork piles up. Here's the one we chose, plus a few others we seriously considered.
HP OfficeJet 200 Wireless Mobile Printer
This is the printer we actually run for permission slips, homework, and last-minute forms. It prints cleanly over Wi-Fi from any device in the house, and being portable means we can move it wherever the paperwork piles up.
Check price on AmazonBefore you buy, check four things: Ink or toner cost, because the cost per page matters more than the sticker price, and ink tank and laser printers are far cheaper to run. Wireless printing, so kids can print from a tablet or phone without a cable. Color or black and white, since a monochrome laser is cheap and reliable for forms and homework, while color is for school projects and photos. Scanning, because an all-in-one lets you scan signed forms and report cards instead of hunting for a scanner.
If you mostly print text, a laser printer won’t dry out between uses. If you print a lot of color, an ink tank printer like the EcoTank saves money over time.
The HP OfficeJet 200 at the top is the one we chose. Below it are the others we considered: the Epson EcoTank ET-2800 for families who print lots of color, the Brother laser printers for high-volume black-and-white pages, and the Canon PIXMA models as low-cost all-in-ones.
What else we considered
Also considered
Canon PIXMA TS5320 All in One Wireless Printer
An inexpensive wireless all-in-one that prints, copies, and scans. A good fit for occasional color school projects and forms.
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Also considered
Brother Compact Monochrome Laser Printer
A compact black-and-white laser printer. Toner lasts a long time and won't dry out, so it's dependable for homework and forms.
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Also considered
Brother MFCL2750DW Monochrome All-in-One Wireless Laser
A black-and-white laser that also scans, copies, and faxes, with an automatic document feeder for multi-page forms. Built for a busy home office.
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Also considered
Epson EcoTank ET-2800 Wireless Color All-in-One
Refillable ink tanks instead of cartridges, so color printing costs far less per page. A smart pick for families who print a lot of school projects.
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Also considered
HP LaserJet Pro M130nw All-in-One Wireless Laser Printer
A compact black-and-white laser all-in-one with Wi-Fi. It prints, scans, and copies without the ongoing cost of ink cartridges.
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Also considered
Lexmark MS312dn Compact Laser Printer
A sturdy office-style monochrome laser with automatic two-sided printing. It connects by network cable rather than Wi-Fi, so it suits a fixed desk spot.
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Also considered
Canon PIXMA TR4720 All-in-One Wireless Printer
A low-cost wireless all-in-one with a document feeder for scanning stacks of pages. Good for light, occasional printing.
Check priceWhy we chose it
Nothing exposes a household printer like a family of eight the night before a deadline. Permission slips, a book report, a shipping label for something Mom sold, a coloring page to keep a toddler busy—they all seem to come due at once, usually right when the old printer decides it is out of ink or simply refuses to talk to anyone’s laptop.
We went with the HP OfficeJet 200 Wireless Mobile Printer because it prints cleanly over Wi-Fi from whichever device happens to be closest, and it is compact enough that it does not hog a whole shelf in an already crowded house. Being wireless and mobile means we can tuck it away and still send a page to it from across the room, which is a small miracle on a chaotic morning.
We considered a couple of bulkier all-in-one machines, but most of them were built for high-volume offices and priced to match, and we did not need a copier the size of a microwave. The OfficeJet 200 handles our real workload—forms, labels, homework, and the occasional photo—without the bulk or the fuss. For a family that prints in unpredictable bursts, a reliable printer that just answers when called is worth a lot.
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