Printer Expert Buyer's

You can quickly copy, print, scan, and even fax without visiting a print shop when you have an affordable yet reliable multifunction printer. Many people find a printer an indispensable tool in the home office, small business office, and classroom. Whether for printing out invoices or school reports, many use a printer daily for jobs large and small, professional and personal. Having a printer in your home office or on your desk can save you a great deal of time versus running out to the office supply shop or library every time you need to make a print, scan an important document, or make multiple copies of handouts. And since print shop copies can get expensive, you’ll save money with an at-home printer that lasts many years.

In the home, a compact, low-cost multifunction printer comes in handy when you need to make copies of important papers, scan in signed documents, or print out online materials like articles, recipes, and creative projects. And it’s essential for students who often have to print typed reports and instructional materials. Many printers have excellent color quality and resolution, so you can print photos from your camera or phone without relying on a professional print service. Multi-function printers are also necessary for small businesses and office environments. You can print out marketing materials like brochures and business cards on various paper sizes or quickly generate multiple copies of reports.

A printer conveniently fulfills many needs in the home, office, or classroom. Whether it’s a compact desktop printer or a freestanding multifunction unit, your chosen printer will depend on your printing needs. For occasional home use, a simple, economical printer-scanner-copier offers all you need. But you’ll want something more robust with a gamut of functionality features for an office, business, or school setting. In this article, we’ll help you decide which is the best choice for your situation. We’ll address a printer’s functionality and features like resolution, output, printing capacities, and compatible operating systems.

Considerations

Functionality

Functionality describes what a printer can do. Gone are the days when a printer simply printed. Now, even the most minimal printers can print, scan, and copy. These are called all-in-one (AIO) printers, and they can cover nearly every home or office workload. Some printers also have fax features ideal for office and small business settings. But if you’re looking for a simple workhorse that only prints, you can find one with increased efficiency to handle big jobs. Let’s look at the standard features that many printers offer:

• Print: A printer produces paper documents that display text or images delivered from your computer or other device. Depending on the type of printer, printing can be done in black and white or in color and on various paper types. In the home, some commonly printed materials are photos, school materials, forms, craft projects, and online documents. In the business world, commonly printed materials include reports, invoices, business cards, brochures, banners, labels, and more.
• Copy: A copier is used to recreate documents on blank sheets of paper. It uses the same mechanism as the print function but prints from a physical document rather than one sent digitally from the computer. The copy function on a printer is especially helpful in classroom and office settings when you need to print out multiple copies of a document, such as classroom or meeting handouts or duplicate copies of a signed form for a client.
• Scan: A scanner on an AIO printer converts the image on a paper document into digital information that can be stored on a computer, memory card, or USB device. The scanning head on the printer uses sensors to capture the image and send it to your device. A scanner can be valuable if you often need to email, edit, or share documents online. This includes things like signed forms, photos, and real objects for art and craft projects.
• Fax: If your printer has a fax function, it uses the scanner bed to scan and encode documents before transmitting them to the recipient through a telephone network. You will need a dedicated phone line or an online fax service to fax from a printer. A fax function is often not necessary for home printers, but it can be essential for offices and small businesses.
• Sublimation: Sublimation is the printing process of transferring designs onto various materials with ink vapors. It is often used in commercial or craft applications to transfer graphics to items like tee shirts and mugs. Usually, you will need a special sublimation printer for this job, but some multifunction printers are capable of it, such as those that contain a Micro Piezo printing head. You will need special sublimation ink for these printers. ## Resolution Printer resolution is often referred to as DPI, dots per inch. It measures the maximum number of droplets of ink deposited in one square inch of paper space. DPI is not the same thing as PPI (pixels per square inch) of a digital image, but having a high number of both can promise you the best possible image printout. A higher DPI gives you a better-quality printed image, whether black text or a color photo. It means clearer, more crisp, and legible documents. Printed images will be sharper and more detailed with a higher DPI.

Generally, 300 DPI is considered decent for text printing, and 600 DPI is considered high resolution. But you will need a much higher resolution for photo printing, which is why many printer manufacturers list their resolution in two directional values signifying the dots per row and dots from top to bottom. For example, most all-in-one home printers have a 4800 x 1200 DPI resolution. This is an acceptable resolution for most home and office applications. However, if you plan to print professional photos and graphics, such as for a business or artwork, choose a printer with a higher resolution, like 5760 x 1440.

Output

Printers are output devices that print data, information, or images on paper. The output type determines if your printer can print in color or just back and white. Today most printers are capable of color, although some high-efficiency models designed to print only may only have black and white as an option. Some color printers have individual color ink cartridges, so you only have to replace the color that runs out. Others have only a black and a color cartridge. Most printers are either laser or inkjet.

• Inkjet: Inkjet printers are often ideal for home use and those who are mainly printing text. These use liquid ink stored in cartridges. The ink is sprayed onto the page as the printer prints. Inkjet printers are the least expensive, are usually more compact and lightweight than laser printers, and need very little startup time to get going. They can produce bright colors and sharp images, so they’re ideal for photo printing. However, the ink can dry out or clog up if left unused for long periods, causing you to run a cleaning cycle that wastes ink.
• Laser: Laser printers use a laser beam to reproduce images on paper. They use powdered ink, also called toner. Laser printers are excellent for printing clear, sharp text and can quickly print many pages at a time. Many print quietly, are highly durable, and can hold hundreds of pages simultaneously, so they’re ideal for office, school, and business use. With a laser printer, you never have to worry about ink drying up; however, they can take up more desk space because of the large toner cartridges. ## Print Speed Print speed refers to how many pages a printer can print in a minute (ppm). Image-focused printers may measure speeds in images per minute (ipm). The speed will differ from color to black and white and depends on the volume of print on the paper and image resolution, but in general, how fast a printer can output pages depends on the type of printer and its features. Generally, laser jet printers are faster than inkjet. They average around 20-30 ppm, while inkjet average around 5-20. An auto document feeder can increase the printer’s speed.

You will usually find lower average ppm speeds on AIO printers that are designed for home use. If you only print a few pages a month and aren’t interested in printing in volume, anything from 5-20 ppm will do. However, businesses should seek a higher ppm depending on the number of pages they usually print out each month. For example, if you are printing out 3,000 pages per month or fewer, a 25 ppm printer is a good choice. For anything above 10,000 pages per month, you’ll want a printer capable of 40 ppm or more.

Two-Sided Printing

Many AIO printers offer two-sided printing, also called duplex printing. It is printing on two sides of the paper and can be helpful for large printing jobs. It reduces costs by using less paper, saves energy, and saves space because you use half the amount of paper. Two-sided printing may be automatic or manual. Some printers offer auto duplex printing that allows you to print on both sides of the paper automatically. With a double-engine duplexer, both sides of the document are printed simultaneously. Other printers, often older models, have manual two-sided printing, meaning you must manually remove the pages and reinsert them to print the second side. Double-sided printing is handy, especially in office and classroom settings, but it can also be helpful at home. For example, printing homework assignments from online classroom systems or online documents. It can also be useful for printing advertising materials like brochures and postcards.

Max Paper Size

The maximum paper size is how large a piece of paper can be to fit in the printer’s document feeder and output tray. On most home and office printers, the max paper size is either letter, 8.5” x 11”, A4, 83.” x 11.7”, or legal, 8.5” x 14”. You’re most likely to use these formats in ordinary home, school, and business applications. 8.5” x 11” paper is the standard size used for a wide range of documents in the US, while 8.5” x 11” is often used for legal documents.

Many printers also have the capability of feeding smaller paper sizes. The international paper size standard (ISO 216) categorizes paper in an A series from A0-A10. Some printers have presets for A-series sizes, like A4 or A5. Others include commonly used sizes like 4” x 6” or 5” x 7” that are often used for printing photos. Using these presets lets you get accurate, professional-looking prints without wasting paper.

When choosing your printer, also consider the type of paper it will accept. Some can only handle standard printer or copy paper, while others can print on various thicknesses and textures. For example, double-sided photo paper, matte and glossy photo paper, magnetic photo paper, cardstock, and envelopes. Most standard desktop printers can handle any paper thicker than 200gsm.

Document Feeder

A document feeder is the part of a printer that takes in the documents to be scanned, copied, or faxed. Document feeders may be manual or automatic. With a manual document feeder, you must place each individual page in the machine. Often desktop AIO printers have a flatbed scanner where you place the document facedown and it is scanned to your computer. You must then replace it with the next document you wish to scan. This is a relatively simple process if you only scan, copy, or fax one or two documents. However, if you often process large volumes of documents, look for a printer with an automatic document feeder (ADF) function. The auto doc feeder enables you to copy and scan multi-page documents without manually changing the page each time. And if you frequently scan double-sided documents, a printer with a dual-scan document feeder can save you lots of time. While ADF printers are most commonly used in office environments, the additional cost of this upgraded feature is so negligible that it’s worth anyone looking into.

Input/Output Capacity

A printer's input/output capacity refers to how many sheets of paper the printer can hold at one time and how many it can print at once. On average, a personal desktop printer will hold 100-150 sheets of paper in its input tray. A business model will hold around 250 minimum, while the higher-end models can hold 1000 or more. Large-capacity input increases efficiency because you don’t have to repeatedly refill the tray for large jobs, making these printers ideal for business environments. If possible, choose a printer with an input capacity about three times more than the average number of pages you print daily. This way, you won’t have to bother with paper-filling tasks each day, and your printer is ready to go when needed. Some printers also have special features like a multipurpose tray or manual feed slot to feed small quantities of thicker media like envelopes or cardstock. A two-way paper feed function enables the printer to use plain and photo paper simultaneously so that you don’t need to remove paper or swap trays, making print jobs more simple and more convenient.

Operating Systems

An operating system is the software that manages a computer system’s hardware, including the printer. It communicates with the printer to convert digital images into paper copy. All printers, whether they’re simple desktop models or the heavy-duty machines used by busy offices, work on the standard PC platform. Most modern ones also work with the Mac OS; some can function with Linux. Many are also compatible with iOS and Android, so you can use them with your smartphone or tablet. When choosing your new printer, ensure it is compatible with your computer’s operating system.

Also, consider the printer’s connectivity. Many modern printers have built-in WiFi, so you can print, scan, and copy without having a physical connection to your printer. This includes remote printing that lets you print from your smartphone, laptop, or tablet from another room or from miles away. Many printers have their own mobile apps or can function with popular smartphone apps like Apple AirPrint™ and Mopria Print Service. Get creative and edit photos right from your smartphone. Some printers even have hands-free, voice-activated printing. And if you have a dedicated computer, you can always connect locally via a USB A/B cable.

FAQS

What is the difference between a multifunction and an all-in-one printer? In printers, the difference between multifunction (MFP) and all-in-one (AIO) is generally a matter of size. Both have the same print, scan, and copy functions and may be inkjet or laser, but AIO printers are typically smaller. Marketed for use in the home or small businesses, AIO printers are often small enough to fit on a desk or countertop. They usually have smaller input capacities and limited paper size but are perfect for someone who wants a printer for his home office. MFPs are typically marketed to medium- to large-sized businesses. They are often free-standing models with high input/output capacities. They may have additional add-on tools that improve productivity or monitor access.

How long does a printer last? The average lifespan of an at-home printer is around 3-5 years under normal use. The lifetime may be shorter for printers used in a business setting. And, of course, low-dollar models won’t last as long as the higher-quality ones. However, some machines can last longer with proper maintenance and upkeep. If your printer is more than seven years old, you may want to consider an upgrade. Older printers often do not support advanced and ever-changing technology.

Is it better to replace or repair a printer? When deciding whether to replace or repair your printer, there are several factors to take into account. First, consider the age of your printer. It may be time to replace it if it is over three years old or a model that came out years before you purchased it. If the printer is outdated or nearing its expiration date, investing in a newer model is usually more cost-effective. Next, consider the cost of your printer. If it’s a compact desktop model that costs less than $100, chances are it will be more expensive to repair than to simply replace it with another. However, repair may be a more economical option for high-end office models that cost upward of $1000.