How to Choose the Right Printer

Inkjet or laserjet?

Laserjet printers are typically much faster than Inkjet. On the other hand, the cost of a laserjet is usually significantly higher. In addition, toners for laserjets are not cheap either. If you require high efficiency for your printing job, a laserjet will provide lots of convinience and save you time. Otherwise, a standard inkjet printer will be adequate for your daily needs at a lower price.

B&W or colored?

First of all, color printers are compatible with black and white functionalities. On a black & white printer, colors will be converted to grayscale, which might not be easy to read or recognize. If you print a lot of photos and colored objects, definitely go for a colored printer. If you maily print b&w text documents, a cheap b&w printer will get the job done.

Does it support double-sided printing?

Printers with double-sided printing funcionality can provide massive utility. If your printer doesn’t have this feature, you would have to printer on one side of the paper, then manually put the paper back in to print on the other side. If you print lots of documents, double-sided printing is essential for your work flow.

Does it support borderless printing?

Borderless printing is an often overlooked feature. In fact, most printers don’t support it and must leave a certain blank space on the edges of the paper. If you need to print photoes, documents with background colors or images, or comprehensive watermarks, make sure your printer support borderless printing.

Does it support scanning?

Today most household printers are all-in-ones with scanning and copying functionalities. However, there are still machines on the market that can only print. If the printer doesn’t support scanning, it normally can’t copy eigher. There are tons of affordable all-in-one printers, and the extra funcionalities could be helpful even for occasional needs.

Ink refilling, continuous supply, or cartridge replacement?

• Ink refilling. It means that the ink cartridge has an opening to directly inject the bottled ink. The advantage is that the cost of the ink cartridge is eliminated, and the ink is generally relatively cheap. The disadvantage is that the capacity of the ink cartridge is small, and the ink needs to be manually refilled frequently.
• Continuous supply. It means that the ink cartridge can be connected to an external high-capacity ink cartridge with a pipe. The advantage is that it reduces the frequency of ink refilling. The external ink cartridge can be provided with an opening for ink refilling. It is not easy to dirty hands and is more elegant. Of course, there is no cost of replacing the ink cartridge. However, this type of printers often have the problem of hydraulic pressure difference, and the machine can be easily damaged if the ink is overfilled.
• Cartridge replacement. Even the ink cartridges are disposable and can only be replaced as a whole. This is the most elegant and convenient method without dirtying your hands. The disadvantage is that the ink cartridges are more expensive and generate more plastic waste which is not environmental friendly.