Pansolutions’ printer buying guide

Buying a printer for your home or office can often be a tedious task, especially considering the multitude of specifications, features and functions that are unique to each model. One is often left feeling discouraged and disheartened after sifting through the massive assortment of name brands and models in search of the ideal printer.

The following is a printer buying guide to assist you in choosing the most appropriate printer to suit your or your company’s requirements. Because inkjet and laser printers have become more affordable and increasingly full featured of late, it is not only beneficial, but vital that businesses and organisations employ quality printers in their production line. Before beginning your search for the ideal printer, read through the following helpful information in this printer buying guide. It is important to keep in mind your primary motives for purchasing a printer. Whether it is for home or office use, there are a number of makes and models to suit your every printing requirement. Pansolutions’ useful printer buying guide will point you in the right direction.

Inkjet versus laser printers

There are benefits to both inkjet and laser printers. Buyers must first establish what their printing requirements are and then buy accordingly.

• Printing text only: If you’re looking to buy a printer for printing text specifically, a laser printer is the best choice for fast, inexpensive, high-quality greyscale documents comprising text. A powerful inkjet printer can equal a laser printer’s print quality, but not its speediness or price.
• Printing text and graphics: An inkjet full-colour printer is ideal for printing graphics and text in black as well as colour. Inkjet colour printing results in costs lower than that of laser colour printer, with higher picture and text quality.
• Printing text, graphics and photos: Inkjets offer excellent print quality for photos and text, and accept a variety of paper types, including glossy paper. Many new inkjet printer models can print photos directly from a digital source, be it a digital camera or a USB flash drive. If its speed that you’re looking for, then a laser printer is perfect for text-based documents, but isn’t ideally suited for photo printing.

Standard versus multifunction printers

Depending on your requirements, choose an inkjet or laser model that is either a standard or a multifunction printer. Multifunction printers are able to print, copy, scan, and even fax, while standard machines are suited to a buyer with specific needs. Explore your options with our helpful printer buying guide.

• Printing exclusively: Standard inkjet printers are ideally suited for printing text as well as colour photos. Most standard inkjets are compatible with numerous types of paper and can print on a variety of different size folios from business card to poster size. Standard inkjets are affordable and easy to maintain, making them the perfect choice for buyers looking to print exclusively.
• Printing, copying and scanning text: Multifunction laser printers offer quality, speed and affordability for those looking to use their printer to perform tasks such as copying and faxing as well as printing. Most multifunction laser printers have a page feeder for multiple-page copying, making for ease-of-use and fast response time.
• Printing, copying and scanning graphics and photos: Multifunction inkjets printers are ideal for printing photos. If you’re in the creative industry or simply want to print your own high-quality photographs, a multifunction inkjet printer is the option for you. Multifunction inkjets turn out brilliant colour photos and text, and most can fax, copy and scan documents effectively.

Additional features

Now that you have a better idea of what type of printer and what kind of printing output would be most appropriate for your printing requirements, it is important to inspect the additional features and functionality that modern printers offer. Our handy printer buying guide has the information you need.

• Connections and compatibility: Most modern printers include a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port that allows them to connect to a computer; printers with additional USB ports enable storage or printing of documents directly from a flash drive or portable HDD. Certain innovative printers offer wired or wireless networking, allowing multiple computers that are connected over a LAN (Local Area Network) to share a single printer.
• Memory options: Inkjet printers utilise the RAM (Random Access Memory) from a computer to process documents, whereas laser printers include a sizeable amount of onboard memory. Laser printers are ideal for those looking for a printer that can produce high-quality documents on a network comprising multiple users. Speed and reduced downtime are significant benefits of a laser printer.
• Cartridge options: Inkjet printers have either single or separate colour cartridges. Those with a single colour cartridge usually have a separate black cartridge for text. It is important to consider cartridge options when choosing a printer, as it can considerably influence the cost of upholding the machine.

It is essential that you are well informed as to what printer output, type and features you require before purchasing a printer for your home or office. Contact Pansolutions today for more information or additional handy buying tips on printers.