Inkjet Printers Buyers Guide
Getting the Right Prints
Printers have become indispensable not only in offices but also at home. From school assignments to birthday cards there are numerous things that you could print with the help of your printer. Most people these days opt for inkjet printers, as these printers provide good quality print-outs at low cost. However, buying an inkjet printer is not as easy as it seems. You will need to think over various factors and look through a range of variety before you buy the printer of your choice. Not all inkjet printers can cater to your personal requirements of printing.
The basic inkjet printer
Let us first take a look at the different kinds of inkjet printers available in the market. The first type of inkjet printer is the basic variety. This variety has a colored cartridge that uses a combination of cyan, magenta and yellow for colored prints. It also has the arrangement for a separate black cartridge for black and white prints. These printers suffice for regular printing requirements. Make sure you get a printer whose cartridges are easily available.
Photo printer
The special inkjet photo printer, as is clear from the name, is the variety that is specifically made for printing photos. Some of these printers are PictBridge enabled, may have docks for digital cameras or arrangements for media cards. They may also have a display unit for preview purposes. They have extra cartridges with light magenta and cyan ink.
Portable inkjet printer
The third variety of inkjet printers is the portable type. As they name suggests, these inkjet printers have convenient mobility and are excellent for people who wish to take prints of various documents and photographs when they are on the move. It is also good for those who use the same printer in office as well as at home.
All-in-one printer
You will also find a type of inkjet printer known as the multifunctional or the all-in-one inkjet printer. These units do the work of printing, scanning, faxing and copying in the same system. Your requirements would help you decide whether you at all need this type of inkjet printer or not. In case you do need to perform all these functions, it is extremely convenient to possess one of these.
Resolution
Like most other purchases, an inkjet printer is also something that needs some amount of consideration before you actually make the buy. Primarily you should consider the resolution of the print. In other words the quality of the print-outs matter the most. A text print would need a resolution of at least 600x600 dots per inch while an image would need at least 1200x600 dots per inch.
Speed
The speed with which you can take prints is also an important factor, especially when you have to take a whole lot of prints in a hurry. Colored prints would require more time to print in comparison to black and white prints.
Speed, or print time is usual displayed as ppm (pages per minute). Any printer with 10ppm or above is a fair speed for an inkjet printer.
Memory card
Most inkjet printers come with memory card slots these days. It is essential to find out what kind of memory card your printer supports. You might need to print from memory cards like Secure Digital, MultiMedia card, CompactFlash, etc. Hence, you need to verify whether your printer is compatible to the memory card or not.
Print media
Check the types of print media that the inkjet printer can print on, especially if you need to take prints on different media. There are printers that can print on envelopes, transparent sheets, labels, matte paper, glossy paper and even CDs and DVDs. Hence, check this feature according to your need.
Other factors
Other factors that you need to bear in mind are the cost, ink consumption, power consumption, etc. Check if you have all the connecting cables when you are purchasing the inkjet printer of your choice. Compare various models and makes such that you can make the best choice.
Key Features
| Key Features | | | Printer Type | | | Max Resolution (Color) | | | Color Print Speed |
| | With over 700 inkjet printers on the market, key features such as Printer Type, Max Resolution (Color) & Color Print Speed are important factors when buying. These features not only effect the performane and quality of the inkjet printer you choose, but also the price. Shown below are price guides for a selection of inkjet printers focusing on the key features: Printer Type, Max Resolution (Color) & Color Print Speed. |
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| Printer Type | | Digital Photo | £126.00 | | Personal | £189.00 | | Large-Format | £1,799.00 | | * | Digital Photo | £126.00 |
| | | Max Resolution (Color) | | 9600 x 2400 dpi | £126.00 | | 4800 x 1200 dpi | £189.00 | | 2400 x 1200 dpi | £1,799.00 | | * | 9600 x 2400 dpi | £126.00 |
| | | Color Print Speed | | 24 ppm | £126.00 | | 20 ppm | £189.00 | | 4 min/page | £1,799.00 | | * | 24 ppm | £126.00 |
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* Taking into account all current inkjet printers on the market the most desirable would be a inkjet printer with Digital Photo Printer Type, 9600 x 2400 dpi Max Resolution (Color) and 24 ppm Color Print Speed.
Price Guide
| Min | £3.79 | | Avg | £314.01 | | Max | £1,799.00 |
| | Inkjet Printers cost anywhere from £3.79 for a basic inkjet printer with few features to around £1,799.00 for a fully featured inkjet printer. |
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Brand Guide
| Popular Brands | | | EPSON | | | CANON | | | HP | | | LEXMARK | | | Hewlett Packard | | | BROTHER |
| | The most popular inkjet printers brand is EPSON. The most expensive inkjet printers brand is Hewlett Packard. If you're looking for a bargain then look out for BROTHER branded inkjet printers as generally they offer the cheapest inkjet printers. |
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