A3 printers put to the test by Which? April 30, 2011 14:53 by Chris Rails

A new study by Which? could be of assistance to people wondering which printers and ink cartridges are best suited to their requirements.

The consumer watchdog announced yesterday (April 26th) that it has tested six A3 inkjet models, after putting 130 A4 printers through their paces earlier in the year.

Included in the report were the Canon Pixma Pro9000 Mark II, the HP Officejet 7500A Wide Format e-All-in-one A3 printer and two all-in-one HP printers.

Among the results, Which? found the platen - the glass plate in the printer on which users place a page or object for scanning or copying - on the HP machines were too small for A3 pages.

However, the HP7500A Wide Format allows an A3 page "to be scanned in two halves, then software is used to 'stitch' the two images together to reproduce an A3 size scan on the computer", the organisation noted.

Consumers considering an Epson A3 printer may, however, want to invest in the manufacturer's Stylus Photo R2880, which makes use of UltraChrome K3 Vivid Magenta Epson ink cartridges.