There hasn’t been much change in the printers industry, but the world of technology around them has surely changed. Therefore, printers in the modern day are trying to keep up with technological advancement as much as they can. This is through wireless connectivity and mobile printing options. Additionally, there are those printer models that provide new technologies like Near Field Communication (NFC). This means that when buying a printer, you need to be careful in order to buy the best that is available. Consider the purpose of the printer, the budget and the user. Below is a complete guide for finding the best home/office printer.
Tips for selecting the best printer
1. Focus on the purpose
For a small business office
For office use, the best printer is that which can serve multiple purposes. This is for example, faxing invoices, printing colored brochures and scanning documents. In case your business utilizes multiple devices to run operations, a printer with mobile printing capabilities is the best when you are out of the office or on the go. For creating large-scale documents like flyers, posters and, spreadsheets the best printer for your business is one that can handle wide format printing.
For home
If you need a printer for home use, you should get a printer that can do everything from home. It should also have Wi-Fi capability and built-in memory card readers. These are amazing features for incredible sharing.
For student
If you are buying a new printer for a student to print thesis and term papers, an inkjet printer is the ideal one. It is designed to crisp text and detailed images as well as to crank out pages. The dedicated apps of an inkjet printer are most ideal for sending documents to your printer at home even when you are in a study session, library or class. A printer with Wi-Fi capability allows various people to share the same machine.
For photography
A dedicated photo printer is most ideal for printing studio quality photographs. Such printers give you a chance to print captions right from home regardless of where you are. This makes them convenient.
2. Be well informed about various printer types
Laser printers
These are work horses that are specifically designed to print huge volumes at a low cost and fast rate. They use toner and static electricity when printing just like copy machines. Some of the best things that you will love about this printer is that they feature high print speeds and they are cost effective. Laser printer is the best if you are looking for versatility and convenience all in one device.
Inkjet printers
This is a printer that generates detailed and rich graphics. It also produces crisp text documents. As a matter of fact, it prints by spraying small ink droplets on to the paper directly. The printer is ideal for producing a wide range of paper sizes and types. This includes business envelops, scrap booking paper and labels. It is the perfect printer for home or office use. An all in one inkjet printer is convenient for accessing multiple gadgets in a single space saving unit.
Photo printers
These are printers that are specifically designed for printing photographs. Such printers produce quality captions that rival the ones that are from studio. One strong point of a photo printer is that it allows the convenience of generating photos immediately.
Thermal Printers
Thermal printers are widely used for commercial purpose to printout receipts / invoices / bills etc. They only print in B&W and no color option is available.
Dot Matrix Printer
Dot matrix printers are slow but cost effective as they use a ribbon to print. They are only come with monochrome option. No color option available.
3D printers
These are printers that print documents in 3D. They use materials like powder, plastic and resin. This 3D device melts the material then releases it into layers. The thin layers are stack on top of each other resulting into a 3D document. This type of printer is now on high demand from average consumers to creative professionals.
3. Consider important features
Paper handling
Your printer should take more sheets than it can print in a day. A home printer should hold 100 to 150 paper sheets in a tray. An office printer on the other hand should hold at least 250 paper sheets. However, high end business printers accommodate 500 to 1000 sheets in standard/upgraded configurations.
Duplexing
This is the ability of a printer to print on both sides of the paper. It cuts down the paper cost in half and spares some trees as well. If you duplex all the time, get a printer that does this automatically as opposed to manually.
Display
Personal and business printers feature small displays on their control panels. This aids in communicating printer status and selecting menu options. Typical printer models have one or two character based message lines. High end models on the other hand feature full color LCD with touch capability. In any case, it is better to have a display as opposed to having blinking and inscrutable lights.
Other features to consider which depends on your use
- USB/PictBridge ports and Media-card slots
- Mobile printing
- Wireless printing Capabilities
- Network printing Capabilities
4. Consider its maintenance cost with Ink Refill / Cartridge cost
As the buying printer is a one time process but you need to refill or buy new cartridges frequently. So always consider this factor that how much will it cost to buy a new cartridge or to refill it.
With the above tips for buying a new printer for your home / office, selecting one should be fun and easy. Buying the best printer for your office/home should not be expensive or difficult. All the technologies available operate better or adequately. Therefore, it is very important to focus on capabilities and features that you need. The best printing device should fit your budget and need.
