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Top tips to consider when buying a new printer

So you’ve decided to invest in a new printer but you don’t know where to start. The sheer choice of printers available today can be confusing and daunting for most of us. There are several different types of printers to choose from, each suited to individual needs. Printers these days come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and prices range from budget inkjet printers to expensive laser printers. Don’t worry; we have compiled the top most important things to consider when buying your new printer!

What are you going to be using the printer for?

Firstly, you need to know what your individual printing needs are. If you require a printer with one particular function, for example a scanner or a photo printer, you can immediately narrow down your options. You will then need to look at your own personal printer usage. Do you use your printer every day? Once a month? Do you mainly print photographs? Is the printer at home or in an office?

If you only use your printer occasionally at home to print basic documents, maps or a few photos here and there, you are best off buying a basic entry level inkjet printer. If you print more photographs than text you should consider an entry to medium level photo printer, depending on the quality of the prints and your budget.  If you are going to be printing large quantities of professional leaflets or brochures, you should invest in a medium to high end colour laser printer. If you regularly use your printer at home or in a small office to print a large number of mainly black text pages but no coloured text, then you could consider a mid range black laser printer. In general, if your print volume is high, it may be best to consider a laser printer for long term cost savings. For example, an average inkjet printer has a page yield of 450, where as your average toner cartridge will have a page yield of 3500.

What is your budget?

You can begin your search by firstly coming up with a realistic budget and then try to get the best printer that fits your needs in that price range. Also, ensure you consider the cost of the ink cartridges into your budget as they will be a recurring expense. If you prefer to purchase remanufactured or compatible ink cartridges, be sure to check they are available for your chosen printer model.

What kind of paper do I use?

If you regularly print greetings card on cardboard, you should think about buying a slightly higher end printer, as some inexpensive printers cannot handle the thickness of the card.

What do professionals and consumers think?

Before buying your chosen printer, you should read some recent reviews about it. There might be something you haven’t thought of or a common fault.

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This entry was posted on Friday, January 29th, 2010 at 15:29 and is filed under Things to consider when buying a new printer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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