Issue 38.17
There are many types of printers on the market and the solution for you may be very different than for your neighbor or family member. It all depends on what you want it to do for you. The features offered on modern printers are many and varied. The price ranges, depending on your choices, are from around $50 to well over $10,000 (though that is not likely to be something you would need for a home or even small business situation). Here are a few of the things that you can look for if you decide you want them.
Color Printing – available on most non-laser printers and many lasers as well. Within this group are the everyday color printers and the ultra-high resolution photographic printers that professional photographers use for fine art quality prints.
High Speed Printing – Most printers produce from 5-20 black and white and 2-5 color pages per minute. They are usually rated at a faster pace when you look at the specs, but that is what you actually get from most normal home printers. High speed printers can often produce 100 black and white and 20 color pages a minute and are less dependent on content (how dense or how much color is on the page).
Laser Printing – Ink jet printers are the standard for most uses and require ink cartridges that you replace regularly. Laser printers cost more and use toner that still must be replaced but much less frequently. An advantage of laser printers is that the printed item won’t smear if it gets a little bit wet (raindrops, etc.)
Multi-input or networked printing – These print from your network instead of a USB cable and require some setup (possible from your computer expert)
High Capacity or multi paper tray printing. Many lower end printers have a photo paper tray and some of the mid-range printers can handle two or three trays of different types of paper if this is important or convenient for you.
Wide Carriage Printing – The normal printer only prints on 8.5 inch wide paper and is usually limited to 11 inch (letter) or possibly 14 inch (legal) paper. Wide carriage printers can usually print up to 11×17 inches and some can handle 13×19. Beyond that are banner and newspaper printers that most people do not need.
To determine what type of printer you need, you will want to consider what things you normally do and the cost effectiveness of buying a more expensive printer if you will only use it for the special purpose occasionally, There are many print shops that will do the large format printing for a reasonable price so you may find that a regular printer or the normal wide carriage type will do all you usually need. Another consideration is, the larger and higher speed your printer is, the more (and more expensive) maintenance and repair will likely be required.
I do not recommend any printer that has a suggested price tag of under $150 unless you plan on replacing it every year or two or buy the extended warranty so you can have the manufacturer or store you bought it from replace it regularly. They just don’t last all that well. For most people getting a good printer in the $150-$300 range (which may be on sale for $100-$200) is a good deal.
Check the reviews before you buy and as always – make sure you remember to protect your data, documents, pictures and your computer, phone and tablet by always backing up anything important.
Shaun McCausland has worked in the computer industry for over 34 years, 27 years of it locally with Bits ‘N’ Bytes and Musicomp and currently works as a computer consultant. If you have questions you can reach him at 435-668-7118 or mccausland.shaun54@gmail.com