Do you want to purchase a new printer? There are different models on the market. That makes it difficult to know what to look for and find one that suits your needs. Also, you can purchase laser printers that use the toner rather than ink. The good thing about a portable laser printer is that they produce crisper images and sharper edges as compared to their inkjet counterparts. To make the right choice; the following are some of the things to look for before you hit the shops.
Stay in Budget
You should note that the cost of printers varies a lot. Ideally, you should not spend more than you can afford when buying a new device. It is quite important to budget accordingly and take into account other aspects than the upfront cost. For instance, you have to consider the ongoing price of the replacement ink. It is quite common for the cheapest printers to have the most expensive ink. Therefore, before you go for the cheapest printer, do some research online.
Type of Ink
The common types of ink cartridge configurations include:
- Inkwells – Instead of using the cartridges, this type of printer draws the ink from large, refillable wells.
- Four ink cartridges – In this case, you have a black cartridge and separate cartridges for magenta, yellow, and cyan.
- Two ink cartridges – You get a black cartridge and all-in-one color cartridge
Of the above three, inkwells is the cheapest option.
Print Quality
Although laser printers are known to deliver the best quality, they are quite expensive to purchase and have higher running costs. For a home user, an inkjet can suffice. However, the quality of printout varies among the inkjet printers. There are different things that can affect your print quality, including design of the print head.
Print Speed
Maybe you have sat impatiently waiting for a printer to create a document at a snail’s pace. That can be quite frustrating. If you print a lot, particularly printing documents with many pages, print speed is an important factor to consider. The printer’s speed is measured in PPM (pages per minute). However, the speed will be different for pages of images and pages of text.
Wireless Connectivity
This is another important thing to look out for when purchasing a new printer. To establish the connections you need, you have to determine where you are going to print from and the devices you will print from. All printers on the market provide wired connectivity. That means they can connect to your computer through a USB port.