Saturday, May 25th, 2013
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Despite what some will tell you, printing is not dead. In fact, it is far from it. In the previous few months, studies have been releases by companies showing that a)many Americans still prefer to read off a piece of paper b)printer sales have turned around and gained some since the recession, and c)mobile printing presents the next great opportunity for OEM manufacturers like HP, Dell, Lexmark, etc.
If you are in the market for a new printer, there are some things that you should keep in mind:
Business or Home
The difference between these two categories is not as large as it used to be. Many “personal” lasers have come so far down in price that you can get a solid, monochrome laser with wireless connectivity for your home for around $100. By the same token, inkjets have improved their print quality so much that businesses can turn to them instead of purchasing a laser printer.
Laser or Inkjet
Laser printers are great. They are built-to-last and produce crisp, highly-readable text. However, where many laser printers fall short is on images, and, depending on the printer, on graphics as well. Laser printers are definitely more expensive to buy initially, but printing from them has a lower cost-per-page. Inkjet printers, unlike lasers, do very well with graphics and photos, but not quite as well on text. That said, inkjet printers have come a long, long way with text printing and some could be said to print laser-quality text. They are also less expensive to buy initially, but the ink can be more costly over the long run compared to toner.
Single-Function or MFP/AIO
Once you have figured out what type of printer you want to buy, then you need to figure out if you need it to do more than just print. Multifunctions and All-in-ones are very convenient because you have the ability to print, scan, copy, and sometimes to fax in just one machine. There are both single-function and multi-function devices in every price range these days, so there are plenty of options from which to choose.
I’ll leave it at that for now, but check back for other tips and tricks later.
