Machines from printer supplies manufacturers Brother, Samsung and Canon have been named as the most reliable printers in a new study.

A survey conducted by PC World revealed these companies all performed better than average for the number of problems encountered by users.

Overall, 14.2 per cent of individuals stated they had experienced a significant issue in the last year, though only 6.3 per cent of people found their machine stopped working altogether due to a fault.

Brother and Canon owners were also among the most satisfied consumers, along with Epson users, the report found.

This took into account factors such as the design of the gadget, printing speeds and output quality for both text and graphics.

Canon and Lexmark also received praise for the customer service offerings they provide to consumers.

One model that individuals may find useful is the Canon Pixma iP4950, which was recently awarded an Editor's Choice accolade by CNet UK.