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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Time to Replace That Printer! What You Need to Know

By John Pickering


If your printer is starting to slow down, malfunction, or is too old to work well with your computer, the time may have come to get a new printer altogether. Each year companies come out with new printers that have smoother functions, better printing abilities, and improvements all around.

But what should you look for when you go printer hunting? A lot of the specs you may see while browsing electronics stores might not make a lot of sense, so skip the really technical stuff and consider several main factors first in order to make your final decision a lot easier.

Functionality

First and foremost, what do you want your printer to be able to do? Printers these days don't just print documents. They print in color, on different materials, in various sizes, and can do more than actual printing as well. Printers can be multi-functional and perform jobs that used to be done by separate devices. You can easily find several all-in-one printers that fax, scan, and copy in addition to traditional printing.

If you need all these functions, then you can easily cut out every printer that does not fulfill your requirements. People who have jobs that require them to fax or email information and make copies will be interested in all-in-one printers. You will have all those abilities at your fingertips as you work on your computer. These types of printers are excellent for those who work in a home office.

If your past printer didn't do much and you don't need your new one to do anything extra either, then you are probably better off skipping the all-in-one printer and going with a traditional black and color printer. This way you can print documents you need or various color pages, but without all the extra bells and whistles to get in your way.

How big/small do you need it to be?

Size is something some people tend to forget about when hunting for a printer. They get too interested in what the printer can or can't do, or how much it costs, and forget that they only have a limited amount of space to work with. This may not be true for everyone, but if you don't want a big printer, then make sure to keep size in mind when you start comparison shopping.

Some printers are actually going smaller, making it so you can just print documents and then anything smaller than an 8x11" sheet of paper. It's all up to you and what you need to print. They're still very powerful and very fast and offer high quality results. Size can also reflect the price, which is the biggest factor when it comes to choosing a printer.

Price

Price is always going to be the final determining factor when it comes to making a purchase like a computer or a printer. If you know how much you are willing to spend, you can make your search easier by automatically ignoring printers out of your price range. Likewise, if you know what functions you want in a printer you can examine several different possibilities and then choose your final price based upon what you feel is the best option for your money. All-in-one printers are generally going to be more than a regular printer. Another thing to take into account is the cost of ink cartridges. While they are not as expensive as they once were, the fact that you must continue to purchase them over the life of the printer means you should at least take a quick look at how much each one will cost for the printers you are considering.

Put these three factors together with any other personal preferences you may have and you'll be ready to select a new printer in no time.




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