Choosing The Right Ink-Jet Printer

By Cecilie Blaber


If you are in the market for a printer, you are already aware of the incredible variety of printers available. With so many options to choose from you may be overwhelmed trying to decide between a laser model and an ink-jet printer. Some are multifunctional while others produce only black and white documents. Additional things to consider include wireless capabilities, printing capacity and price. If you need help with this decision, this guide should help you choose a printer that meets all your requirements.

Consider The Following Before Spending Money

Are print quality, quantity and speed important to you?

How much can you afford to pay for ink?

*Are you going to use it for personal or office use? Wireless or wired?

*Are you going to use it for printing alone? Or multifunctional?

The major printing technologies that exist today are inkjet, laser and solid ink printer. Most people will either choose inkjet or laser printer, depending on what they need.

Choosing Between Laser and Ink-jet

Inkjet Printers are known for high quality printing performance, which makes it a good option for professional photographers. It will allow you to print on coated inkjet, photo paper or even on CDs and DVDs. However, inkjet printers' speed is slightly slower than of the laser printers and its ink cartridges are more pricey than laser printers' toner cartridges.

Laser printers are more cost effective because they are faster and more efficient. The downside is print quality when producing images, graphics and photos. Laser printers are more suitable for businesses that need to print reports, documents and in-house informational material in large volumes.

Monochrome Laser Printer

Monochrome laser printer may be the most affordable option for basic printing. It could print documents extremely fast but, when it comes to delivering acceptable printing quality, it becomes very slow. This is best for those who want to save the most.

Terms You Need To Know When Choosing A Printer

Dots Per Inch

DPI stands for Dots Per Inch. This number indicates how many pixels per inch a device will produce. Printers with lower DPI deliver output with less detail. Those with higher DPI produce images that are crisper and clearer. The lower the DPI, the less ink the device uses. Most printers support a range of DPI settings.

Pages Per Minute

The PPM will determine how fast the printer can produce in one minute. It normally varies in monochrome and colored pages from the printing result.

Memory Card Slots, PictBridge and TFT

Many printers nowadays offer direct photo printing by simply inserting your media card into memory card slots provided. PictBridge port allows you to connect your digital devices like cameras through a cable wire, directly to the printer. While TFT is the flat screen on the printer where you can edit (adjust, rotate and crop) images and preview them before printing.

Ethernet port, Wireless and Bluetooth/Infrared

Businesses that need capabilities for individuals to share files have several options. An Ethernet port allows sharing among several computers using cables. Bluetooth, infrared and wireless systems permit sharing with multiple users without the need for cables.

Multiple Input Trays

The input trays can be selected manually or automatically, depending on the printer settings.

Before choosing a printer, you should learn the terminology and decide which functions are most suited to your needs. Doing the proper research will help you make the right choice.




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