How to choose a printer for home and work

A printer is an indispensable device for both a schoolchild at home and a busy adult in the office. You need to print out documents, tickets, abstracts very often, and it is inconvenient to use the services of the corresponding services constantly, and in the long run it is not very profitable. That is why most users prefer to buy a device, but at the same time they are faced with questions about which printer is better to buy for home use or office and what characteristics it should have.

Finding a suitable model today is not as easy as it might seem, because the choice on the digital printing press market is quite large. However, there are a number of rules on how to choose the right printer for home or work, adhering to which everyone can buy the best device for themselves.

Types of printers

There are several types of printers depending on the printing method. Each of them differs in the quality of drawing symbols on the paper, its tempo, pressing force and many other parameters. Devices differ in cost, since the use of modern technologies in the field of electronics always increases the price of one or another device.

Inkjet

The most inexpensive and unpretentious type today is inkjet printers. Symbols are applied using a matrix that prints with liquid dyes stored in special cartridges. The advantage of this type of device is the high quality of the halftone images and the relatively low cost. The main disadvantage of inkjet devices is precisely the presence of impractical outdated cartridges that need to be changed or refilled too often. This procedure is not cheap, therefore, besides, the paint can smear, harden, become too thick or liquid.

Laser or LED

Many buyers believe that laser and LED printers are completely different. In fact, there is only one difference between them: one uses a laser beam for printing, and the other uses an LED beam. These sources, one might say, “burn out” symbols and images on paper, due to which printing is obtained as high-quality and fast as possible. Laser printers have a comparatively lower speed than LED printers, but their cost is slightly lower. If you think about which printer is better to choose, inkjet or laser, then you need to start from the budget first of all. When there are enough funds, it is worth taking a laser device without hesitation, since it is more economical and much less hassle with it. If the budget does not allow, it is better to take a good inkjet printer than a cheap laser one, since such a device will even surpass the budget competitor in quality.

Thermal printers

Printers with so-called thermal printing have been around for a long time, but they are mainly used in the trade. To understand what kind of devices we are talking about, it is enough to remember the receipts from the store: they are printed using this technology.The principle of operation is based on a thermal head, which, due to heating, applies characters to heat-sensitive paper. The quality of such a print is quite good, but the characters do not last long, which can be checked by typical cash register receipts.

Sublimation

This type of printing apparatus is quite rare and is often referred to by experts as a type of thermal printer. They are based on sublimation, which allows you to apply paint immediately in solid form, that is, without the use of liquid dyes inherent in inkjet printing. For perception, special thermal paper is required, which is pulled inside the device. After transferring to this medium, the ink evaporates due to heating. Printing is carried out in three similar procedures. The advantage of this type is the amazing image and text quality, as well as their reliability and durability. However, there are also serious disadvantages: printing is very slow (it will take almost 2 minutes to create a 10x15 cm photo), and besides, the cost of such devices is quite high.

MFP (All-in-One)

Multifunctional devices are the most popular printing machines among buyers. They allow not only classic printing, but also scanning and photocopying. Versatility is the most attractive feature of such devices. They can be both laser and inkjet. The functionality, depending on the price, can be supplemented with a color photocopy, photo printing or scanning directly to a memory card. Of course, what type of printer will be the best for you anyway, but if there are not so many funds, it is better to take a good machine with one function than a poor quality multifunctional device.

Criteria for choosing a good printer

Choosing a good and reliable device needs to be done competently. To be more precise, you need to know the criteria by which you should look for a printer. It is important to remember that price is not a quality indicator. A functional device must have a set of appropriate technical characteristics, on which the print quality, practicality of use of the device and its economy depend.

Number of print colors

The first criterion you will need when choosing a color printer is, of course, the number of print colors. It is almost impossible to find black and white devices today, so even those who do not plan to print images should pay attention to this parameter. The average printer uses 4 cartridges, each filled with ink of the same color. However, you can choose a good inkjet printer with 5-6 colors, but such devices are still less common. The minimum number of cartridges usually reaches 3, so lovers of monochrome grays should not overpay to support high-quality color printing.

Print format and resolution

Print size is measured by the size of paper that the product can handle. The most common are A3 and A4 printers as they fit together perfectly. Naturally, such devices are capable of working with smaller sizes (A5 and below). In addition, you need to pay attention when buying a permit. It changes in pixels per inch (you can often find the international designation dpi). The starting point should be the exact quality of 600x600 dpi, which is typical for inexpensive inkjet devices. For printing documents (as well as images), mainly of high resolution, it is better to buy a laser or LED printer, since they have much greater potential for such purposes (from 1024x720 dpi and higher).

Performance (print speed)

The following criterion is especially important if the printer is chosen for the office. High print productivity means not only the time it takes for the finished document to leave the device, but also the preservation of its quality.High speed with high-quality printing is characteristic of laser and LED models, as well as mainly expensive inkjet machines. Sublimation devices have the slowest speed, but their excellent print quality is beyond comparison.

When buying a device for the office or for printing a large number of photos, it is better to give your preference to inkjet models!

Resource and cost of cartridges

The economy of the printer depends on this parameter. Highest quality printers always have long-lasting, slow-flow ink carriers. But most often, manufacturers equip their devices with promotional cartridges, which are generally not inferior to conventional ones in terms of characteristics and quality, but have a lower resource, since the paint in them runs out 2-3 times faster.

The standard for measuring this parameter is 5 percent of filling an A4 sheet. For an inkjet printer cartridge, the volume of which is designed for 300 sheets, the resource will be from 100 to 110 with black dye and from 40 to 60 with color. All other things being equal, the optimal value of the cartridge yield for a laser printer is 1100-1200 for color ink and 1300-1400 for black.

As for the cost, here the inkjet cartridge will definitely cost less (in some situations you can simply refill it, and not buy a new one), for laser devices the cost of this consumable can reach half the cost of the device itself, or even more.

It is worth considering the fact that if you print more black and white documents, then it is more profitable to buy a laser version, the cost of one copy will be cheaper than that of an inkjet printer.

Photo print support

Many buyers want to have a printer for printing photographs at home, since it is not always pleasant to take pictures close to their hearts to strangers. The presence of a special option allows you to print on special photo paper in original quality. If you try to transfer a photo to such a medium using a conventional printer, you get a rather funny parody of the photo, since a special technology is needed to work with a glossy surface.

We recommend watching an interesting video about which printer is better to buy for printing photos, or follow the link where we reviewed the most popular models https://intop.techinfus.com/en/reitingi/elektronika-reitingi/luchshie-printery-dlya-pechati-fotografij.html

Noise level

The intensity and volume of the printed sound is an important criterion for both home and office devices. To decide which printer is better to choose with the most quiet operation, you need to pay attention to the number of decibels that determine the noise. If this value is less than 20 dB, the device will operate very quietly, no louder than a fan. With an increase of every 6 dB, the noise level increases by 1.5-2 times, therefore, by simple calculations, you can determine how the device will make noise. Loud printers are those whose noise exceeds 38-44 dB.

In what cases is it necessary to have a CISS

To decide whether you need a CISS or not, you should figure out what it is all about. The abbreviation stands for Continuous Ink Supply System and refers to a technology that transfers dyes to the printhead from refillable tanks connected to cartridges.

It is rather difficult to say exactly how economical such a system is, but from user reviews it can be concluded that ink with this type of printing in cartridges lasts up to 20, or even 30 times longer. However, not everyone will need CISS: if printing is needed a little, then buying such devices is not at all necessary, since the savings will not be noticeable. But in the office, a device with such a system will be very useful.

Useful functions

• Availability of Wi-Fi - Recently, users have begun to give preference to models with a built-in Wi-Fi module. This technology allows you to place the device in any convenient part of the apartment, and not necessarily next to the computer. In addition, such printers are practical for those who use laptops.All files that need to be printed are transferred to the device via Wi-Fi, while cords and direct connection to a PC are not required.
• Printing from memory cards - The classical scheme of printing is based on the scheme “connecting the media to the PC - transferring the file to the hard disk of the PC - starting printing”. Modern manufacturers have decided to significantly shorten this chain. In some models there is a function of printing directly from memory cards: for this you just need to connect the media, select the file and put it in the queue.
• CD or DVD printing function - Standard laser discs usually have a simple silver design. Regular users do not pay attention to this, but various printers, large firms and some other organizations need to personalize their own media for both distribution and organization. For this purpose, some printers have the function of printing to CD or DVD. The surface of the plastic disc has a specific coating that allows players and personal computers to read information. That is why a special technology is used for printing, which does not damage the surface of the substrate.
• Borderless printing - Most printers with photo printing function create images with borders even when you need to create a full-size image. This is quite inconvenient, since most often users require sheets completely covered with an image in such cases. Cutting margins is not always convenient, and besides, they rarely turn out to be even, therefore, borderless printing technology is being introduced into modern printers, which allows you to get paper without a single white margin. By the way, this is convenient not only for images, but sometimes for text as well. In addition, large-sized images cannot be printed entirely with the printer. Printing in "poster" or "poster" mode most often involves creating images with uniform white margins on the sides, on which you want to superimpose other parts of the whole. Using borderless printing technology will help create a kind of mosaic that can be conveniently applied to various surfaces.

Which company to buy a printer?

There are not as many manufacturers of digital printing devices today as, for example, smartphones, but there is still competition in this segment. You can determine the best company specializing in printers by the favorite parameter of the experts in the world of electronics - the price-quality ratio of the representatives of the model range of a particular company. The leaders according to this criterion are, of course, Xerox, HP (Hewlett-Packard) and Canonthat have been delighting customers with their products for more than 20 years. In case you want to purchase an inexpensive, but good printer, you can pay attention to companies such as Brother, Toshiba and Epson... Based on the number of reviews, the breadth of the model range and the number of orders for various models of a particular company, our experts have compiled a rating of the best color and black and white models, which looks like this:

The best black and white models for home and office

1. Xerox Phaser 3020BI
2. Brother HL-L2340DWR
3. Ricoh SP 150w
4. Kyocera ECOSYS P2135d
5. Xerox Phaser 3020BI

The best color models for price and quality

1. Epson Stylus Photo 1500W
2. Canon PIXMA G1400
3. Brother HL-3170CDW
4. OKI C301dn
5. Canon PIXMA iX6840

Conclusion

A lot of parameters, criteria, functions, on the one hand, look confusing and difficult for a simple buyer to understand. However, a careful study of this information allows you to once and for all answer the questions of how to choose a printer yourself, and which model is best for home or office. Careful selection of digital printing devices will allow you to buy a reliable, high-quality and functional device that will not require a lot of costs for changing or refilling cartridges and constant repairs. That is why you need to take the choice seriously, otherwise saving time will respond with a large cost of money and nerves.