Color Printer Buying Guide
Do I Need a Color Printer?
For individuals or businesses that print black and white documents, a color printer is a waste of money. However, if an individual or business is printing graphics, artwork, or photographs, then choosing a color printer is a wise investment.
Inkjet Printers or Laser Printers – What’s Ideal?
A buyer’s next decision is deciding between an inkjet printer or a laser printer. While nothing beats the high quality and speed of a color laser printer, choosing a laser printer is the most expensive route. Typically, a color inkjet printer can provide buyer’s with reasonably good quality at a more reasonable price.
What Color Printer Speed Do I need?
If speed is important, potential buyers should remove lower-end inkjet color printers from the consideration list. Typically, mid-range color inkjet printers will print text pages at a rate of 14-17 ppm. Laser color printers on the other hand typically print color at 26 pages per minute with a first page printing in less than 10 seconds. At the end of the day, the faster the print speed, the more a buyer will be paying.
What Color Printer Resolution is Best?
When selecting a printer, check the printer’s specifications to determine the resolution or dpi (dots per inch) – traditionally, the higher a printer’s dpi, the higher the image quality. For the most part, a printer resolution of 600 x 600 will be more than adequate for most printing jobs. Photo printing quality however requires a dpi of 1200 x 1200 or greater. Additionally, it’s important to ensure the color printer offers a range of resolutions so that users can select alternative resolutions based on the particular printer job needs.
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Should I Consider the Color Printer Toner Cartridges Costs?
To achieve the highest quality prints, attaining a true black color within the print is key. Arriving at this color requires that inkjet printers use a separate black cartridge. As one might expect, better colorization of prints within inkjet color printers can be gained through the use of a separate inkjet cartridge for each color.
When compared to inkjet printers, changing a laser printer toner cartridge is much more expensive. Typically, laser printer toner cartridges utilize four independent toner cartridges containing magenta toner, yellow toner, cyan toner, and black toner. Although laser toner cartridges are more expensive to replace, the overall costs per page are typically less.
In the end, careful consideration must be given to the volume of printing that required. Through an evaluation of the potential supplies costs, one can get a better understanding the long-term printer ownership costs.
Are Color Printers Reliable?
Unfortunately, given the recent trend towards the bundling of PCs and “give-a-way” printers, the low-end color printer segment consists mainly of disposable printers that are very unreliable. Read more about printer reliability.
For this reason, it is typically more economical to spend $500 on a high quality printer that will be used over a longer lifespan than spend purchase a new printer each year. Prior to purchase, examine the color printer’s construction and build quality. A well constructed machine will have a print head that is separate from its cartridge. Additionally, a well articulated warranty from a reputable brand name printer company will provide confidence in the machine’s ability to last over years of intense usage.
Is Testing A Color Printer Before Purchase Wise?
Typically, it’s highly recommended that one test a printer in the store prior to purchasing it. Buyers should evaluate how the color printer prints varying types of page content (text, artwork, photos, etc.). In the end, it comes down to the buyers’ needs and the subsequent quality of the prints observed across the products under consideration.
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