If you have a home network, this should be
thought of when you decide to buy a new printer. Though any printer can be used
via network after PC’s connection and Windows sharing is set up. It is not an
ideal situation because PC and attached printer will need unlocking for other
devices to gain access to them. However, for printer with the ability of automatically
setting up network will be available for any PC thus no matter what computer you
are printing from, you can gain access to it.
With a device named USB wireless printer
server, you can connect standard USB printer with network but that is a
complicated process and not what we will suggest for people who aren’t used to
network. Instead, it’s better that you should buy printer with installed
wireless connectivity, such as Pixma MG8270 from Canon though well-known brands
are all able to connected with install wireless network on, at least, some of
their product series. Most of them provide models with touch-sensitive screen that
has control over the printer. They are user-friendly and some even give ability
of cropping or processing image before printing.
It’s
better that you should buy printer with installed wireless connectivity, such
as Pixma MG8270 from Canon.
Ink and paper
For inkjet printing, you need to choose
specific types of ink. Modern printers use dye or pigment inks. Dye ink
penetrates directly through the paper while pigment ink lies on the paper’s
surface. Look carefully the sheet printed with dye ink, you can easily
recognize very faded stains near characters’ sides where the paper penetrates
them. Because they are applied as a layer on the paper, this doesn’t happen
with pigment ink. Texts and graphics on pigment-based printout can maintain
color and vividness longer dye-based one and they are even water-proof.
If you want best quality from the printer, it
is important to use the appropriate type of paper for a work and to ensure that
the printer know which paper it is printing. Most modern printers are able to
detect paper’s type automatically but for printer without this ability, you
must assign it in Printer Properties page during printing. For instance, when photos
are being printed, it requires thick paper sheet, especially for dye-based
printers. This method enables the printer to compress many drops into the paper
without dirtying it. Normally, dye ink delivers best quality on glossy paper.
On the other hand, pigment-based printout still looks nice, but the ink lies on
the page, so its glitter is considerable.
It is also a good idea to find out whether your
printer combines all color inks into one cartridge or uses separate cartridges.
One mixed color cartridge is more easily replaced but when ink is run out, you
have to replace the entire cartridge and in case one color is used up while
others are still available, you will waste your cartridge. Choosing printer with
separate cartridges means that you need to buy many cartridges for different
colors, yet you only have to replace each color ink that is run out, which is
economical.
One amazing attempt of Canon to advertise
publication is the CREATIVE PARK website at www.canon.com/c-park. This is an
online collection of resource for publications which is freely downloaded. The
website has many materials for making a variety of products. You can create
cards (for particular occasions), timetable, nostalgic notebooks, 3D models
(made of paper parts) and other interesting products. While this resource is
opened for all people, PIXMA owners who are using Canon’s genuine inks would
gain access to Creative Park Premium website which exclusively includes more
designs in categories as well as copyrighted works of famous artists.
Make a right decision
With such many printers available, it’s
essential to comprehend what you will use the printer for before buying it. Thing
seems a good compromise at the store will turn out to be costly option in
long-term use.
And, don’t get attracted by figures
advertised by the manufacturer, such as amazing printing speed. Instead, just
need to what you really want and pay close attention the cost of replaceable
inks.
How long will ink cartridges last?
How
long will ink cartridges last?
Early, manufacturers used different method
to measure how many pages their cartridges would create. This meant that you
had to believe the manufacturers were using practical tests and comparing the
longevity of cartridge some each manufacturer was impossible.
Fortunately, things have changed in recent
years and now all big manufacturers all use ISO 24711 standard test to judge
the cartridge’s longevity. This ISO test includes using similar samples to
assist you to compare cartridges’ longevity from manufacturers.
Though the test appears useful as a guide,
number of images that are printable depends on what you are printing. For
instance, making many colored A4 printouts at highest setting will use up ink
soon. However, creating short documents means that ink cartridge lasts longer.
All printers has Draft mode to minimize the
amount of used ink. Printing quality is also considerably decreased but this is
an economical way ideal for document needing reading once before recycled. Draft
option is often available by enter Properties from Print window.
Options for cheap inks
Regarding the fact that ink is too
expensive, cheap ink cartridges and refilling them, provided by third-party
companies, seem appealing.
There are mainly two types of unofficial
inks: compatible and recyclable. Compatible ink is made to imitate official one
while recyclable version use empty cartridge (from the official manufacturer)
then it is refilled with alternated ink.
Normally, manufacturers don’t encourage user
to use third-part ink – because, at least, this reduce their profit. However, they
confirmed that recycling cartridge not only leads to poor performance but also damage
the printer.
Although you often have best results in
quality by using authorized ink, low cost of third-party ink may be appealing. For
printing whose quality is not the first priority, unauthorized can be good
value – parents having children interested in printing pictures will prefer
this way. Just remember that if your printer is out of order and the
manufacturer blames for third-party ink, you preparation won’t be included in
warranty.
The final option that you can see is “continuous
ink system” – external cartridges use flexible pipes to supply ink. This system
faces some separate issues, such as ink leak and there are few devices designed
to use external cartridges. We don’t recommend “continuous ink system” for home
use as using it surely disables your printer’s warranty.
