With too many options available, finding a
perfect printer is not always easy but our professional instructions are going
to explain everything.
Choosing a printer seems like a
discouraging task. Should you buy a cheap model or a pricey one for long term? Laser
printer or inkjet printer? Single-task or multi-task? You considered list keeping
being lengthened. However, as long as you know what you are looking for, picking
a printer is not difficult and through this article, we will give you
everything needed. We are going to include various printer, their pros and cons
as well as different types of ink. You will be able to understand specs and
avoid common mistakes.
Laser printer or inkjet printer?
Laser
printer or inkjet printer?
Before browsing online or get into the
store to find your printer, it’s best to know what kind of printing you are
doing. Completing this first step will considerably narrow down your finding and
allow you to focus on models that best suit your demand.
We are considering different types of
printer but your first decision is about whether laser model or inkjet model. Inkjet
model, hitherto, has been most popular among home users thanks to its cheap
price and versatility. It is mainly capable of creating documents and colored
printouts in high quality. Though, it may be expensive during operation. Conventionally,
laser printer has been connected to business yet it is becoming more popular at
home. Although initial investment for it is often higher than that for inkjet
printer and its toner cartridge for laser printer is often cheaper than inkjet cartridge.
This means that cost per page is more budget and initial investment, which is
costlier, can compensate for long-term use.
Obviously, there are some disadvantages with
laser printer. We can see that it is not suitable for photo printing. Charts
and other simple pictures may be fine but laser technology doesn’t suit high-detail
colored photos. Though it is a good value, toner cartridge must be bought in
bulk, which means that replaced cartridge is costly. For example, laser
cartridge for LBP2900B (Canon’s laser printer) can print 2,000 pages (which is
much more than pages that inkjet printer can deal with) yet it cost $125. We
will consider carefully the ways laser printer and inkjet printer work.
Inkjet
printer can create good printout for photo. It is most popular with home user
(Canon PIXMA MP287)
Budget printing
With low cost, cheap printer, of course, has
its own charm. For inkjet model costing less than $47, it is great for user who
is looking for printer whose productivity is low and simple.
One for everything?
With installed scanner, all-in-one printer
can process multi-tasks instantly aside from simple printing function,
including scanning documents to PC, working as a photocopy machine and sending
plus receiving fax (on some models).
Scanning unit is often big but it is still economical
when compared with separate printer and scanner. Due to its cheapness, most
people prefer it to standard single-task printer; despite that they won’t use extra
features much.
Most of all-in-one printers come with features
such as Pictbridge USB ports and card reader, allowing you to print the image
directly from digital camera or memory card. Some own small LCD screens for
previewing photos and even carrying some basic adjustment, such as red-eye
removal before printing.
Print photos
If you want to create printout similar to that
from professional studios, you will need a specialized camera. PIXMA iP4970
from Canon is an example – it has 6 separate ink cartridges for making
impressive images.
PIXMA
iP4970 from Canon has 6 separate ink cartridges for making impressive images.
Initial cost for a specialized camera is
quite high, and if you tend to print a lot of photos, operating cost will increase.
You have to think carefully before buying such a printer.
Another option is compact camera. Pixma
MG8270 of Canon is an example.
Work from home
If you have a great amount of documents
needing printing, you should consider laser printer. While inkjet printer
operates by shooting separate droplets onto the page, laser model uses
completely different method in which laser beam carves pictures onto imaging
drum. Toner (similar to printing in the form of dried powder) is, then, spread onto
imaging drum and transferred into the page. Temperature is used to glue toner
on the paper, which is the reason why brand-new printouts from laser printer feel
warm.
Laser printer is also much faster than inkjet
printer. Waiting for some minutes to print one single page in inkjet printer is
not much longer than that in laser model but when a great number of pages is
due to be printed, saved time appears considerable. For example, for 100
printouts, a typical laser printer will finish its task a few minutes faster
than inkjet printer. In recent years, laser printer’s price has fallen, models
such as LBP 2900B is available with $114.
However, home user shouldn’t underestimate inkjet
printer in making black-white or colored copies. PIXMA MG8270 of Canon, which is
able to print texts when using black-white high-power cartridge, is cheaper
than laser printer.
Those who are considering how to scan or
copy multi-page document should consider buying printer with ADF, a small
device (lying in scanning unit) that is able to loaded together with a lot of
paper sheets. It allows the device to scan or copy them automatically. Another common
feature is auto two-side printing.
It should be remembered that most laser
printers, especially cheap ones, come with basic toner cartridges. You may buy
new toners sooner than expected.
Printing speed
Price of the ink surely leads the first
position of most annoying problem yet the second one is the difference between printing
speed advertised by the manufacturer and the real one. Advertised speed for
laser printer is often accurate though the manufacturer neglected time lost for
printing the first page – this starting time takes 15-30 seconds. Once the
first page appears, average printing speed is all about how fast printouts
would come, so though you are printing some lines or full page of texts, both allot
the same amount of time.
Inkjet printer is different. Speed is directly
related to what is on the page thus short document will be finished faster than
long ones. When draft mode is used, your printout will appear much faster.
It’s no surprise that most manufacturers all
announce expected speed can be reached when few texts are printed in draft
mode. The final result is that advertised printing speed can be incorrect. The
best way to check real speed is to read an independent review or to experience
it yourself.
