Printers: Tips For Choosing One

By Matthew Kerridge

With the number of printers available, trying to pick one can be overwhelming. Each type has tasks it does better than others. And the individual specifications can be tricky to sort through as well.

The best printer for you is going to depend on how you plan to use it. For the best quality text, a laser printer is a necessity. For color, especially printing photos, an inkjet is going to be the better choice. If you have a variety of needs, especially if you are using it for a small business, you probably want an all-in-one printer. These models can also fax and scan, eliminating the need for more equipment.

For high quality photo output, as well as for economical color printing, an inkjet will be the best printer. Color laser printing can be prohibitive in cost unless you are purchasing it for a larger business. Inkjets are less expensive than laser printers, though the ink is usually more costly.

Where laser printers excel is in the speed and quality of the text output. They are more expensive than inkjets but you will save money purchasing toner over ink. If you want to use your printer to output professional looking flyers and brochures that are text rich and with line images rather than color photos, this is the machine of choice.

If you need the ability to print on the go from your laptop, there are also portable printers available. They are between 2 and 5 pounds in weight and have a battery or car charger so you can easily print anywhere. In some cases, you can use your cell phone as an option for wireless printing.

As far as the specifications go, one of the ones you need to understand is resolution. This is given in dots per inch or dpi. The higher the dpi, the more detail that can be printed. Though the number of dpi given often provides a somewhat more inflated impression of the quality, they still give a general rule of thumb.

How many pages per minute can be printed can also be somewhat misleading. The manufacturer may list the highest possible number of pages per minute but this may be based on using the lowest quality setting. If you tend to use the higher quality setting, the actual pages printed per minute could be half of what is listed.

Printer memory, a specification listed for laser printers, is less important if you are printing smaller files. If, however, you tend to print longer and graphic heavy documents, the memory can be important. With a higher memory printer, these documents will print out faster.

Once you sort out your needs, you will have no trouble finding a variety of printers that will fit your requirements. When you have it narrowed down to a couple, you can always look at customer reports to help you make your final decision. - 29854

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