Submitted by: Simon Daniels

We all need one from time to time but when purchasing a new printer for the home or office how we can make sure we get the best deal for our environment or situation.

Printer Types:

There are many types of printer available to purchase in stores or online. For the purposes of this article we are just going to focus on the most likely printers used in home or standard office environments.

Inkjet Printers:

These are the most common printers found around the home. They can vary in price dependant on the specifications, performance, features and final quality of the prints.

Inkjet printers usually consist of a set of ink cartridges and a print head which is made up of series of tiny holes through which the ink is applied to the paper to produce the final print.

The lower end inkjet printers tend to have two inkjet cartridges, one containing yellow, cyan and magenta colours. The other cartridge is a black one. The higher specification Inkjet printers may have separate cartridges for each of the colours making replacements more efficient. They may also have seven or more cartridges to increase colour ranges but this comes at a higher price.

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Inkjet printers can print images and text on a variety of media formats, plain paper, photo-paper, card and envelopes etc.

High quality photographic printing usually comes with a higher price tag especially when looking at A3 size inkjet photo printers.

Laser Printers

Most people have only come across a laser printer at work, but over the last few years manufacturers have been trying to make inroads into the home user market with cheaper models aimed at finding their into our homes.

A laser printer works by etching an image onto the paper with a laser which charges the areas over which the laser has passed. A fine dust more commonly known as toner is then blown over the surface of the paper. Due to the nature of the toner it sticks to the parts of the paper previously charged by the laser. After this process the paper passes through a hot roller which fixes the toner to paper to produce the final print.

A laser printer can be used for a variety of printing tasks but the majority of models available for home use are black and white printing only. There are colour models available but come at extra cost.

The most common use for a black and white laser printer would be for someone who wants to print letters, faxes, information or bank statements. As mentioned before colour laser printers come with extra costs but if you have one then graphics and even photos can be printed. It is important to note that there can be limitations on paper types and research may need to be carried out.

Multifunction Printers

There are a large amount of manufacturers producing multifunction printer devices for home use. These printers allow for a number of tasks to be completed using the device. Most allow photocopying, printing (Usually an inkjet printer), scanning documents to a computer and some allow faxing if a phone line is present. The quality of printing and scanning functions is usually dependant on price.

Also some multifunctional devices allow direct printing from menu cards and cameras without the need for a computer as do many Inkjet Printers on sale today.

What should you buy?

Well the final decision is ultimately yours so below are a few pointers to help with the decision making process.

– Write a list of all the tasks you would like to perform on your printer.

– Work out how often you print different types of media such as photographs, text pages, receipts etc as this will help determine what the primary roll of the printer will be.

– Confirm that the printer is compatible with your computers operating system and that you have the required USB ports for the printe

– Try to research the replacement Inkjet Cartridges or Laser Toner Cartridges to see how much you may be spending in the future when replacing inks or toner. This is one of the most important points to consider as this can be expensive.

– Research to see if your chosen printer comes with a supplied cable to connect it or maybe you would like a wireless printer.

As mentioned earlier in this article there are many types of printer and this article has only covered the basics of printing mechanisms but is a useful guide to anyone considering purchasing a new printer.

About the Author: The author has worked in IT Support and Development for a number of years for public and private bodies. He currently is employed by

ivoryegg.com

online consumer electronics store. They are an online retailer with a wide range of printers

ivoryegg.com/products/printers

Source:

isnare.com

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