We found the cheapest printer for producing gigantic posters in minutes

(Image credit: HP)

While we are slowly moving towards the paperless office, there are some specific scenarios in which printing on a paper is simply unavoidable. One of them is large format printing.

The cheapest way to print a poster right now - other than through specialist online printing services - is to opt for HP's DesignJet T100, one of the smallest plotters around.

At only $649 (about £490 or AU$970) from Newegg, this machine is mightily affordable and doesn't cut too many corners either.

HP DesignJet T100 - $649 at Newegg
$649 at Newegg

HP DesignJet T100 - $649 at Newegg

You won’t find a cheaper printer or plotter that can print as big. Sure, the print cartridges are likely to be expensive and the print speed slower than most printers, but this device is in a category of its own. Plus, Newegg sells it at a significant discount compared to other online retailers.

It can obviously print in A4 and A3, but its real forte is printing in sizes up to A1 (four times the size of A3). The device can print smaller pages within just 30 seconds, and an A1 sheet is delivered in just over 35 seconds.

Be aware, this is a large printer. It measures almost one meter in width, more than half that in depth and is a whopping 30cm tall, which means you'll likely need to keep the printer on a dedicated desk. Neither is it light, coming in at 25Kg.

You'll be able to send jobs for printing via an Ethernet port, Wi-Fi or USB. There’s no card readers or USB port for connecting an external storage device, but you can print from a variety of platforms (Chrome OS, Android, Windows) directly.

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Desire Athow
Managing Editor, TechRadar Pro

Désiré has been musing and writing about technology during a career spanning four decades. He dabbled in website builders and web hosting when DHTML and frames were in vogue and started narrating about the impact of technology on society just before the start of the Y2K hysteria at the turn of the last millennium.