You've analysed your printing quantity and the quality you need ... decided on a laser or inkjet ... and now you just want to know that when you buy a specific brand of printer, it won't fall apart on you two weeks after the warranty expires! There is still a lot to be said for buying 'respected brands' within any industry, whether you're looking for a car, a refrigerator, a printer or toner cartridges. Today we do a reputation-check on printer models, and find the 5 best.

HP Printers

Hewlett Packard only grew to be big enough to infiltrate the laptop market and general computing industries on the strength of their awesome printers. Looking through the 'editor's top picks' of printers, 4 out of the top 10 models of printer come from the HP brand. Their HP Ink Cartridgesand HP Toner Cartridges last quite a while compared to other printers, and their printers are good all rounders without the problems of many other brands.

Canon Printers

Canon are a well-known printer brands, but their excellence is expressed in far narrowed niches than HP's. Canon do Photo Printers well, and they do high-end Laser Printers well ... however their all-rounders are known to have some problems. Canon printers don't enter the 'top ten' list until position number 7, and a single model (the Pixma) takes up positions 7, 9 and 10).

Brother Printers

Brother doesn't always rate on 'best brands of printer' lists - mostly because they aren't as well known in the printing industry as HP, Lexmark, Canon or Epson. Brothers aren't outstandingly good in any category - but neither are they outstandingly bad! They are considered workhorse-type, dependable printers for InkJet Printer and Laser Printer.

Lexmark Printers

Lexmark printers are generally low-priced in initial cost, and also in terms of their Ink Cartridges and Lexmark toner cartridges. The Lexmark Impact was listed at number 4 in the 'editor's choices', for its low price and great swathe of extra features - however it is only intended for intermittent printers.

Epson Printers

The Epson Workforce series of printers is very highly regarded for business needs - it prints fast, with decent quality and an agreeable price tag. They have been known to have print head problems, and to crash out without warning ... so get an extended warranty on your Epson printer!