Getting Started

Remember when everyone predicted the computer would eliminate the need for printed documents - boy, were they wrong! Paper is piling up as fast as ever. So you're entering the marketplace for a printer, the first thing on your mind has to be what am I going to use this printer for?

Everyday people need a printer for personal use or for their business/home office. The type of printer you choose depends on what you want to print -- be it text, graphics or photos in black & white or colour. If you know that text will make up the bulk of your printing then a monochrome printer will suit your needs. But for most graphics and photos you'll want colour which means an inkjet printer or possibly a colour laser.

In addition to personal printers, small business owners should investigate a multifunction printer, laser or portable printer for business on the go. Whatever your needs, there's a printer with your name on it, it just takes a little homework to find the perfect match.


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The Basics

If you have a difficult time choosing between paper and plastic or regular and decaf, then you may be totally flummoxed when it comes time to buy a printer. What may seem like a straightforward purchase actually requires making a number of decisions, and your target price range is often the least of them.

Printers are available in two basic types, laser and inkjet. Laser printers are further divided into monochrome and colour formats, while inkjet printers are available in standard models and dedicated photo models (any inkjet printer can print photos, but photo inkjets produce much higher-quality prints).

To further muddy the waters, multifunction printers (MFPs) are also available, in both laser and inkjet models. MFPs, which can perform two or more duties (such as scanning, faxing, copying, and printing), are discussed elsewhere on Consumer Guide.

Whether you should choose a laser or inkjet printer depends partly on your budget, but the decision mainly hinges on your printing requirements. If you plan to mostly print text documents with or without graphics (greyscale photos, line art, charts, etc.), then a laser printer is the right choice. Laser printers are capable of printing much higher-quality text and line art than inkjet printers, and they are usually good at rendering greyscale images, including photos. Laser printers are also faster than inkjet printers, and they offer lower per-page printing costs.

If you need to print colour documents (other than photos), and print quality is more important than upfront cost, consider a colour laser printer. Colour laser printers aren't as good at printing photos as inkjet printers, but they are much better with the text and graphics. They also offer higher print speeds, which may be a consideration if you do a high volume of printing, will be sharing the printer with others, often work on deadline, or just can't stand waiting for a print job to finish.

If you want to print colour photos, and print speeds and text output quality aren't at the top of your priority list, then an inkjet or photo inkjet printer is the better choice. Some inkjet printers have such a low price tag that you may find your budget can manage both a laser printer and an inkjet printer.

You may be surprised to find that a colour laser printer isn't totally out of the question, particularly if you run a home business or small business. Like most products that have been around for a while, colour laser printers have dropped considerably in price. A few years ago, colour laser printers were out of reach for almost everyone except graphics professionals and companies with deep pockets. Today's colour laser printers are still on the pricey side, but if you print colour documents on a regular basis, they may be worth a look. Prices start at well under £500, and some colour laser printers are available for £250 or less. Colour laser printers still can't match inkjet printers for photo quality, but that are constantly improving. However, be sure to factor the cost of consumables into your budget before making a final decision. As with inkjet printers, the cost of a set of toner cartridges for a colour laser printer can cost as much as the printer itself.


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How to shop for your printer

Before you hit the stores or start browsing online, decide whether you want an inkjet or laser printer. Otherwise, you might be easy prey for the siren song of a bargain-priced inkjet printer. Features and options to consider are networking capabilities, print speed, print quality, paper capacity, size, and weight.

If your printer will be shared over a home or business network, be sure that it supports a wired or wireless connection. Some printers are network-ready out of the box, while some are available in standalone and network-ready versions. Others can support a network add-on, but this can be an expensive option. A printer that includes network support may cost more initially, but it can save you money in the long run by allowing you to share it with other family members on a home network, or colleagues on an office network.

Take manufacturers' output speed claims with a grain of salt. The specifications for a printer's output speeds are a lot like gasoline mileage ratings for cars: They're based on ideal conditions, with a good tailwind. Although it's possible that the printer hit its mark at some point during the manufacturing and testing process, it's unlikely to ever hit it again. Still, although you won't see anything near a particular printer's rated speed, the specs are useful as an across-the-board comparison. A printer that's rated at up to 20 pages per minute (ppm) for monochrome is almost guaranteed to be faster than a printer that's rated at up to 12 ppm, even both neither will likely ever reach those speeds.

Print resolution is another area that can be misleading. Inkjet printers deliver resolutions that are usually off the charts compared to a laser printer, but because of the difference in technology, text or line art printed on an inkjet printer will never come close to matching the crispness of text or line art printed on a laser printer. Most current laser printers are capable of 600X600 dpi or 1,200X1,200 dpi output. However, be wary of printers that offer 1,200X1,200 dpi effective output, as these printers usually use some form of image enhancement technology to reach their boasted specs, and the output quality will not be as good as that of a printer that delivers true 1,200X1,200 dpi resolution

The cost of consumables (replacement toner or ink cartridges) can be a major factor in a printer decision. Per-page printing costs for almost any monochrome laser printer is far lower than that for an inkjet printer, but per-page printing costs vary between printers. Half a cent per page may not seem like much of a difference, but it can add up quickly if you do high-volume printing. Check a toner cartridge's rated output against its price to determine per-page printing costs.

Paper capacity can be an important factor. Many laser printers ship with a 250-sheet paper input tray, which sounds generous until it's time to refill it. If you do a lot of printing in a day, there's nothing more annoying than stopping frequently to refill the paper tray. If you will be sharing the printer or running a lot of high-volume print jobs, look for a laser printer that either ships with a more generous paper tray (such as a 500-sheet tray, or two 250-sheet trays) or one that at least allows you to expand paper capacity later.

Most laser printers can handle the same wide variety of paper stocks, including letter, legal, card stock, labels, envelopes, and transparencies. Some laser printers offer a straight-through paper path for printing envelopes and other heavier paper stocks without bending them. If you will be printing more than an occasional envelope or other non-standard stock, look for a printer that offers a multisheet, multipurpose feeder, rather than one that requires you to manually feed specialty stocks one envelope or sheet at a time.

Memory capacity may be a factor, particularly if you print graphics-heavy documents. Laser printers ship with enough memory to handle multiple print jobs, but if you print large or graphics-heavy documents, additional memory can free up your computer faster. Even if you can't afford to add memory now, look for a printer that offers an expandable memory option.

If you're shopping at a brick-and-mortar store, take advantage of any opportunity to print a test page from a printer, and then compare the output from several potential models.

Choosing the correct inks is very important

Probably the most important purchase of all will be the ink you use in your printer, this is the stuff that determines what quality prints you produce and more importantly, how long your printer will last.
Don't fall into the trap where a seller offers inks with the printer you are looking to buy; more often than not they will be cheap substandard compatible inks that will only be worth around £2.00 a set. These inks will contain the bare minimum chemical formulas required to keep your printers print head functioning correctly and could be very bad news for the lifespan of your printer. It's a bit like buying a car and the seller filling your tank up for the first time with free petrol you unknowingly contains acid, sand and water, its enough to get you off the forecourt but not long before your engine will blow up.
The best thing to do is buy your printer as a printer from a printer specialist and then choose your own ink brand and specialist ink supplier Stick to that brand and don't mix different manufacturers inks, ask the ink seller what warranty he gives on his inks if they mess up your print head, if he can't answer that question you have your answer! 
Blue Apple Trading provide a 3 page information leaflet with their inkjet printers, relaying advise from their experience with inks and printers to help you choose a good quality ink that will not shorten the life of your printer. If you want to play it very safe then use manufacturer OEM inks as they will be the exact formula for running their printer's print heads, although you will need deep pockets to maintain that type of running cost. In general there are alot of good high quality compatible inks out there, and Blue Apples 3 Page Guide dispatched with all their printers, goes along way to helping you choose them and get the maximum life possible from your inkjet printer.