Everything you need to know to buy a printer that doesn’t suck

If your existing printer suddenly gives up the ghost and can no longer be repaired, a replacement is usually needed quickly. After all, many people can’t manage without an output device — not in the family and certainly not in the home office or small office. It’s not a good idea to jump straight to the next best printer offer, no matter how attractive the price of the device may seem.

It is much better to ask yourself a few questions about your future printer model before making a purchase. The more precise your answers are, the better the output device will ultimately suit your application scenario.

It’s worth the effort when you consider that a well-chosen printer will usually serve you for several years without complaint.

The focus here is not so much on output quality. After all, there is no such thing as a really bad printer these days. The printing units in all printer classes are too sophisticated for that. Bad purchases are more likely to be caused by the wrong choice of printing technology, a lack of features or excessive follow-up costs.

What do you need: Printer or multifunctional device?

The first decision before buying a printer is simple:

Do you only want to print or should the new purchase also be able to make copies and scans?

In the first case, a pure printer (single function) will suffice. In the second case, you should focus on a multifunction device. Then ask yourself whether you need a fax or not. This allows you to quickly rule out certain device series.

Very inexpensive combination models usually only have a rudimentary control panel with small displays — as here on the HP Deskjet 2820e. They often prove to be impractical, as you have to perform most actions using buttons without labelling.

You need to be aware of this: A multifunction device gains in size the more functions are integrated. Almost all models with a fax function also have a built-in automatic document feeder (ADF), which increases the height of the device. If there is enough space at the planned installation site, you can of course also consider a model with an ADF but without a fax.

If you decide in favor of a multifunctional device, the control panel is an important point. Its importance is often underestimated. Wrongly so, as it makes numerous tasks besides copying — such as connecting to the WLAN or searching for problems — much easier.

On the other hand, a device with a very small display or pure button operation often turns out to be cumbersome and time-consuming to use. Over time, you will usually prefer to carry out certain monitoring and control activities via an app on the mobile device or using a driver or help tool on the PC.

On the other hand, large touch displays are reflected in a higher purchase price. That’s why entry-level multifunction devices only have text displays, from which you often can’t read much more than the number of copies.

Which is better: Inkjet or laser printing technology?

Whether a printer with inkjet or laser technology is best for you depends on the main purpose of use.

A printer for your workplace, which is essentially intended to print invoices on company paper or typesets, does not need to be able to display bright colors, but must be able to print texts very clearly and legibly. In this case, a black and white laser printer is the right choice. Small single-function devices are available from as little as $100 — such as the Pantum Laser Printer.

A monochrome printer is out of the question for a family printer. Color printing is a must here, as the tasks are too varied. After all, the device should be able to fulfil the printing needs of all users. Both a color laser model and an inkjet device can do this. As the document authenticity of a color laser printer is probably not important in the family, an inkjet printer is the best solution.

Pure black and white printers, such as the Brother HL-L2400DWE shown here, are ideal if color is not important but texts need to be crystal clear on paper. As compact workplace devices, they start at a good $100.

Brother

Once you have come this far in your decision-making process, you should also consider how high your throughput will be. This is not an easy question to answer — especially if your focus is on private printing.

If you expect or know that the printer will be in use several times a week and will have to produce multiple copies, this already speaks in favor of higher usage.

And the more potential users there are, the higher the expected number of printed pages. This increases the utilization of the device. Small entry-level printers are quickly overwhelmed here. It is best to choose a mid-range inkjet model.

For multifunction devices, the price gives a rough indication: An all-round cartridge model should cost over $100. If you’re looking for a multifunction printer with a tank system, you can expect to pay around double that amount.

While laser printers are the best at printing text, inkjet devices are unbeatably flexible when it comes to handling different print materials. In addition, only inkjet printers can print photos without borders.

IDG

In some respects, inkjet technology clearly beats laser printing: Only an inkjet device can print with more than the four standard print colors blue, red, yellow and black. With all-round devices, you will therefore often find the black cartridge in two versions — one as text black and one as photo black. The former increases the quality of text printing, while the latter benefits image printing.

In addition, only an inkjet printer can print a photo without borders. A laser printer always leaves a white border.

The inkjet printer is also ahead when it comes to the use of materials. For example, it can handle photo papers that imitate the classic photo print thanks to their multiple coating. When printed, these papers not only look like photos, but also feel like them.

How can follow-up costs be calculated in advance?

When it comes to price, buying the device is not enough, as every printout costs money. It is therefore useful to know the follow-up costs for ink or toner before you buy.

With a little research, you can at least roughly estimate the cost per page. This is because the manufacturers must specify a mileage in A4 pages for the ink cartridges and toner cartridges. In both cases, the range values are subject to ISO standards.

If you have now set your sights on a particular printer model, take the time to find the right replacement cartridges or toner cartridges. The text page is quickly calculated as you only need to divide the price (in cents) for the black color by the number of pages. Inexpensive devices should cost between 1 and 3 cents for a black and white page.

To estimate the color page price, calculate the sum of the cartridge prices of all available colors. In addition to blue, red, and yellow, this also includes any additional colors for inkjet printers. Divide these in turn by the page yields. However, the mileage can also differ depending on the color. You then need to calculate the values for each color individually and add the results together at the end to get an estimate of the color page price.

If the calculated result is less than 10 cents, the color page costs are low. Anything above this limit tends to be expensive.

Further reading: 6 printer tricks that solve problems and save energy

Notes: If you want to calculate the color page in a more practical way, add up the results of the black and white and color pages. Even with the color page, which is used for ISO ink measurement, there is a text component for which most printers use black ink.

We must also contradict the widespread opinion that the page prices of laser devices are always cheaper than those of inkjet printers. In addition to the toner cartridges, other consumable components can be added depending on the model — such as developer units or transfer ribbons. These are considerably more expensive than possible wearing parts on inkjet printers, such as the ink waste container. Not to mention the electricity costs, which are much higher for laser devices than for inkjet models.

Is an ink subscription worth it?

If you print and copy regularly but don’t want to deal with ink ranges and cartridge replacement, you can opt for an ink subscription model. This form of replenishment is particularly recommended if you want a low-cost printer and only have a low printing requirement.

With this combination, you can cleverly compensate for the disadvantage of small cartridges with little content and the resulting high follow-up costs.

HP is a pioneer in ink subscriptions with Instant Ink. Several printer manufacturers now offer a comparable service. Brother calls it Refresh, Canon Pixma Print Plan and Epson ReadyPrint .

What they have in common: They offer a subscription based on a certain number of printed pages. Unused pages can be carried over to the following month and additional printed pages cost extra.

Some of the offers differ in terms of quotas and tariffs. They also usually only apply to certain printer series. You should therefore check whether your desired device is included before making a purchase.

Which equipment is worthwhile in the long term?

Laser printers in particular — such as the HP Laserjet M234xx series — are available in different configurations. They are labelled with letters in the product name. If you need a WLAN connection, look out for a small “w”.

Some features only become particularly worthwhile over time. These include the automatic duplex printing unit. It allows you to save paper with every multi-page document. This is good for your wallet and also for the environment. With a multifunction device, make sure that the automatic duplex function can also be used for copying.

If you often handle several print formats or paper types, then a second paper feed is an investment that you will really appreciate after a while. Even frequent printers can increase the total supply with an additional tray and save frequent paper reloading.

Printers are not always in the ideal place. For this reason alone, a Wi-Fi connection is worthwhile. It is also automatically included with most inkjet models for the home or home office.

The situation is still different with laser printers. As these are often intended for office environments, the models are available in different versions. The Wi-Fi connection is usually labelled with a “w” in the product name, as is the case with the HP Laserjet M234dwe.

What should I know about print speed?

Even with ink tank printers, not every model is fast at processing print jobs, although the high ink supply might suggest this. Especially with compact entry-level devices for home use, such as the Epson Ecotank ET-2821, the speed in color is only half that of black and white printing.

Epson

For each printer model, you will find the speed specifications in A4 pages per minute in the technical data.

It is important to take a close look here: To compare the speed values of different devices, focus on the time measurements based on the ISO/IEC24734 standard. It specifies a fixed document set and standard resolution for the speed runs. On the other hand, you should be wary of specifications with the addition “up to.” As a rule, these are performance specifications for the lowest resolution level (design mode).

If you need a high throughput, a laser printer is often the right choice. Even inexpensive models can print up to 18 black and white ISO pages per minute. If the figure for color printing is just as high, the color laser printer has a built-in single-pass printing unit.

With inkjet printers, the throughput of black and white and color pages differs in the vast majority of cases due to the technology used. The following applies here: If the print speed in color drops by half compared to black and white performance or if it is significantly less than 10 pages per minute in black and white printing, you must expect that all color prints will become a real waiting game.

This article originally appeared on our sister publication PC-WELT and was translated and localized from German.

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