LASERJET Vs. DESKJET?
The first question all printer buyers must tackle comes down to a simple matter of what you plan on printing.
Color deskjet printers comprise the bulk of the market simply because they can print just about anything: reports, letters, charts, photos, you name it. But printed text from deskjets is not always as sharp as from a laser printer, they’re typically slower, and they cost more to run.
Laser printers rule in offices because they can print large volumes of text quickly, reliably, and cheaply. And besides looking sharper than text from an inkjet, laser printouts won’t run when they get wet. Color lasers have also fallen into the range of affordability for consumers recently, but the cost of replacement color laser toner remains prohibitively high, making them a poor option for home use.
Unless you plan on printing textbooks or page after page of project reports, deskjet printers usually make the best bet for home users due to their flexibility. But for practical printers who just want to be able to read their printouts – not make an artistic statement with them – laser printers are still a best bet.
ALL-IN-ONE?
Both laser and deskjet printers often come built with a scanner bed up top, turning them into all-in-one machines: printer, copier, scanner and fax. Although you might not need all the functions, buying an all-in-one printer for home user makes a lot of sense, not only because it’s cheaper than buying a standalone scanner, but for the sake of saving room. Since all-in-ones are extremely common and manufacturers rarely charge much of a premium for them we highly recommend them for home users.
SUPPLY COSTS
Remember the mantra “give away the razor, sell the blades”? That century-old business model is still alive and well in the printer business, where many companies entice consumers with unimaginably low prices on their budget printers, knowing they can milk them over and over again when it’s time to replace the ink cartridges.
Find out about the cost of replacement supplies before you buy any printer to know what you’re in for when the initial cartridges finally run dry. Depending on how often you plan to print, it can actually be worth it to purchase a more expensive printer in order to buy into a cheaper line of cartridges. Also, look into the possibility of refilling your own cartridges, which can cost dramatically less than buying new every time.
DUTY CYCLE
Why do office printers with features similar to home models cost so much more? Longevity. Those cheap home machines weren’t built to supply a stream of paper to an entire office, a number reflected in the manufacturer’s suggested “duty cycle,” which is the number of pages it can print in a month without damaging the printer. A home printer, for instance, might be rated for 750 pages, while an office printer might hit 8,000 pages. Keep in mind that these are maximums – you should operate well below them unless you want to shorten the life of your printer by pushing it right to the brink. However, most printers marketed for consumer use should hold up just fine under casual printing.
NETWORKING CAPABILITY
Do you plan to print from multiple computers? Investing in a printer with networking capability will make that process much easier. Although you can configure any printer (connected to a single computer via a USB cable) to be shared on a network, it will rely on that computer for access to the network. Unless you want to keep a computer blazing 24 hours a day just for print capability, you’ll want a printer with its own built-in networking capability. An Ethernet jack will force you to put it somewhere near your router, but Wi-Fi can prove especially convenient, since it will allow you to place your printer in a central location where all members of the household or office can easily pick up their documents.
MEMORY CARD SLOTS, BLUETOOTH AND PICTBRIDGE
If you plan to print a lot of photos, consider a printer with built-in memory slots, Bluetooth capability, or PictBridge support. All three will allow you to print photos directly from a camera, rather than transferring them to a computer and printing from there. Memory cards can be popped out of the camera and into the printer, Bluetooth cameras can send images wireless to the printer, and PictBridge cameras can be plugged into the printer with the same USB cable you might use to connect to a PC. Just don’t overestimate the usefulness of these convenience features: You’ll probably need to transfer your photos over to a computer to empty the memory card anyway, and most photographers will want to examine their prints on a bigger screen before printing them.
