Inkjet Printers
Inkjet printers are meant for either the home or the office, no matter if your office is at home (or vice versa). They are the most common printers out there because of their following advantages:
- They are inexpensive.
- For those of you who aren't tech-savvy, inkjet printers are the most user-friendly option out there since the primary and basic use is simply printing!
- For such a low cost, they are put out a high-quality print job.
- Compared to dot-matrix printers
, inkjet printers are less noisy.
- These printers are mostly efficient for office printing because they are the most efficient for black and white documents.
- They are lighter than their counterparts and more space-efficient too, so they are good for smaller offices or a dorm room if you're a student.
However, (inkjet) multifunction printers are catching up in popularity. Though inkjet printers are the standard, they do have several drawbacks that all-in-one and laser printers have improved on:
- Inkjet cartridges are expensive. Though the printer body itself is cheap, refilling cartridges gets to be expensive, especially since ink runs out fast.
- The cartridges are also prone to clogging print heads, which can be a hassle, and in the worst of cases this can get pricey if you have to replace the print head.
- Compared to all-in-ones and laser printers , inkjets are dramatically slow and noisy.
- If you're a huge photo lover and want to print beautiful images, an inkjet won't do. Though they do a good job with color images, they won't give you the kind of high-quality you're expecting from your photograph.
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Features to Look For
- Check out our Printers Buying Guide for more detailed information.
- Multiple Color Cartridges: A printer that uses more cartridges for different colors is more cost-effective.
- Not all colors are used at the same rate, so replacements are only necessary on the ones you use most.
- The more individual colors a printer has, the better chance it has of accurately reproducing different shades of grey.
- Double check that the ink cartridges you buy match your printer's model.
- Memory Card Slots: If you want to bypass the computer and print directly from your camera, look for a model with memory card or compact flash slots, depending on what type of memory media your camera uses.
- LCD Screen: This is another feature that lets you bypass using a computer.
- With an LCD screen (this usually folds) you can easily see what you are going to print, and sometimes this allows you to edit directly from the screen through a series of menus or quick buttons.
- USB and Firewire Ports: This is yet another feature that will help you print directly from your camera. It is also helpful to hook up other products to the printer.
- PictBridge Support: This is a feature that allows you to connect directly from your camera to your printer without using a computer. Make sure your camera has this feature too.
- Borderless Photos: It is surprising to think that this option doesn't come standard on all printers, but it doesn't, so always double-check the model to make sure that this is available.
Long-Term Costs
- Don't be fooled by initial purchase prices. Often two models sitting side by side are not really as inexpensive as they look.
- You have to consider that you will be buying photo paper , standard paper, and ink cartridges.
- The more you use your printer, the more cost-effective it will be.
- It's still not cheap.
- If you spend $100 to buy a printer, you can easily spend double that in a few years just on consumables.
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