Five Things to Know When Buying a New Printer | Computers

By FrankBolsom
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In spite of the "paperless office" that was supposed to be ushered in by the common use of computers, there is more printing done today than ever before. And that means that printers and their supplies have to be replaced on a fairly regular basis, whether you're printing at home or in a business.

Modern printers boast a plethora of functions. Printers can read digital memory cards and print high resolution photos. Some multi-function printers can print, scan, and fax. It is important to consider your options before deciding on which is best for you to purchase.

Think about the expenses that will be involved in the extended use of the printer. Color printers can commonly be purchased for less than $100. Keep in mind, however, that the same low priced printers require the frequent purchase of expensive ink cartridges.

Find out the price of ink replacement on any low priced printers before making a purchase. Consider options like generic cartridges and refilling cartridges.

Many printers are sold with ink straight out of the box, but the cartridges might be smaller than normal. It is important to think about this when deciding which printer is for you.

If the starter ink cartridges that come with the printer are only going to last for forty or fifty pages, a low price might not really be so low after all since you'll need to buy new ink so quickly.

Black and white printing is more common than color printing, so check on the price of the black print cartridge. On some printer models, larger black cartridges are available and buying those could help save money over the life of the printer.

Fourth, consider what kind of things you'll be printing. If you want to be able to print your own digital photos you should look at one of the many photo printers on the market.

If you're not printing photos, however, photo printers generally cost more to operate than other options. You might be better off with a laser printer that has considerably lower operating costs than inkjet.

Something else to be considered is if extra features such as scanning, copying, and faxing are for you. While such features are nice, they often go unused by owners, and might not be necessary.

Finally, don't forget to review the costs of the above mentioned features. A local copy shop that makes copies for five or ten cents might be more cost efficient than a home printer that can copy pages for an average cost of fifty cents to a dollar.

About the Author

Tired of paying through the nose for your printer ink? There are cheaper alternatives, and in spite of what the printer manufacturers tell you, they work just as well. Visit the Inketeria website at http://www.inketeria.com for reviews of the best websites for cheap printer ink.

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