The Basics: Printers

If you have a difficult time choosing between paper and plastic or regular and decaf, then you may be totally flummoxed when it comes time to buy a printer. What may seem like a straightforward purchase actually requires making a number of decisions, and your target price range is often the least of them.

Printers are available in two basic types, laser and inkjet. Laser printers are further divided into monochrome and color formats, while inkjet printers are available in standard models and dedicated photo models (any inkjet printer can print photos, but photo inkjets produce much higher-quality prints).

To further muddy the waters, multifunction printers (MFPs) are also available, in both laser and inkjet models. MFPs, which can perform two or more duties (such as scanning, faxing, copying, and printing), are discussed elsewhere on Consumer Guide.

Whether you should choose a laser or inkjet printer depends partly on your budget, but the decision mainly hinges on your printing requirements. If you plan to print mostly text documents with or without graphics (grayscale photos, line art, charts, etc.), then a laser printer is the right choice. Laser printers are capable of printing much higher-quality text and line art than inkjet printers, and they are usually good at rendering grayscale images, including photos. Laser printers are also faster than inkjet printers, and they offer lower per-page printing costs.

If you need to print color documents (other than photos), and print quality is more important than upfront cost, consider a color laser printer. Color laser printers aren't as good at printing photos as inkjet printers, but they are much better with the text and graphics. They also offer higher print speeds, which may be a consideration if you do a high volume of printing, will be sharing the printer with others, often work on deadline or just can't stand waiting for a print job to finish.

If you want to print color photos, and print speeds and text output quality aren't at the top of your priority list, then an inkjet or photo inkjet printer is the better choice. Some inkjet printers have such a low price tag that you may find your budget can manage both a laser printer and an inkjet printer.

You may be surprised to find that a color laser printer isn't totally out of the question, particularly if you run a home business or small business. Like most products that have been around for a while, color laser printers have dropped considerably in price. A few years ago, color laser printers were out of reach for almost everyone except graphics professionals and companies with deep pockets. Today's color laser printers are still on the pricey side, but if you print color documents on a regular basis, they may be worth a look. Prices start at well under $1,000, and some color laser printers are available for $500 or less. Color laser printers still can't match inkjet printers for photo quality, but that are constantly improving. However, be sure to factor the cost of consumables into your budget before making a final decision. As with inkjet printers, the cost of a set of toner cartridges for a color laser printer can cost as much as the printer itself.

How To Shop

Before you hit the stores or start browsing online, decide whether you want an inkjet or laser printer. Otherwise, you might be easy prey for the siren song of a bargain-priced inkjet printer. Features and options to consider are networking capabilities, print speed, print quality, paper capacity, size, and weight.

If your printer will be shared over a home or business network, be sure that it supports a wired or wireless connection. Some printers are network-ready out of the box, while some are available in standalone and network-ready versions. Others can support a network add-on, but this can be an expensive option. A printer that includes network support may cost more initially, but it can save you money in the long run by allowing you to share it with other family members on a home network, or colleagues on an office network.

Take manufacturers' output speed claims with a grain of salt. The specifications for a printer's output speeds are a lot like gasoline mileage ratings for cars: They're based on ideal conditions, with a good tailwind. Although it's possible that the printer hit its mark at some point during the manufacturing and testing process, it's unlikely to ever hit it again. Still, although you won't see anything near a particular printer's rated speed, the specs are useful as an across-the-board comparison. A printer that's rated at up to 20 pages per minute (ppm) for monochrome is almost guaranteed to be faster than a printer that's rated at up to 12 ppm, even both neither will likely ever reach those speeds.

Print resolution is another area that can be misleading. Inkjet printers deliver resolutions that are usually off the charts compared to a laser printer, but because of the difference in technology, text or line art printed on an inkjet printer will never come close to matching the crispness of text or line art printed on a laser printer. Most current laser printers are capable of 600X600 dpi or 1,200X1,200 dpi output. However, be wary of printers that offer 1,200X1,200 dpi effective output, as these printers usually use some form of image enhancement technology to reach their boasted specs, and the output quality will not be as good as that of a printer that delivers true 1,200X1,200 dpi resolution

The cost of consumables (replacement toner or ink cartridges) can be a major factor in a printer decision. Per-page printing costs for almost any monochrome laser printer is far lower than that for an inkjet printer, but per-page printing costs vary between printers. Half a cent per page may not seem like much of a difference, but it can add up quickly if you do high-volume printing. Check a toner cartridge's rated output against its price to determine per-page printing costs.

Paper capacity can be an important factor. Many laser printers ship with a 250-sheet paper input tray, which sounds generous until it's time to refill it. If you do a lot of printing in a day, there's nothing more annoying than stopping frequently to refill the paper tray. If you will be sharing the printer or running a lot of high-volume print jobs, look for a laser printer that either ships with a more generous paper tray (such as a 500-sheet tray, or two 250-sheet trays) or one that at least allows you to expand paper capacity later.

Most laser printers can handle the same wide variety of paper stocks, including letter, legal, card stock, labels, envelopes and transparencies. Some laser printers offer a straight-through paper path for printing envelopes and other heavier paper stocks without bending them. If you will be printing more than an occasional envelope or other non-standard stock, look for a printer that offers a multisheet, multipurpose feeder, rather than one that requires you to manually feed specialty stocks one envelope or sheet at a time.

Memory capacity may be a factor, particularly if you print graphics-heavy documents. Laser printers ship with enough memory to handle multiple print jobs, but if you print large or graphics-heavy documents, additional memory can free up your computer faster. Even if you can't afford to add memory now, look for a printer that offers an expandable memory option.

If you're shopping at a brick-and-mortar store, take advantage of any opportunity to print a test page from a printer, and then compare the output from several potential models.