KNOW ABOUT BUY A NEW PRINTER

 HOW TO BUY A NEW PRINTER? HOW TO CHEAK IT 

Efficiency, productivity cost, and longevity – one needs to keep these factors in mind before buying printers. However, selecting th best printer isn’t going to be an easy task unless you do thorough research.

It’s difficult to find the right printer that doeseverything without you shelling out too much from your pocket. there are so many cryptic terms used to explain a printer’s features. Although, all the printers may serve the same purpose, they operate differently.You should understand the differences first and then consider multiple other factors such as usage. We’ve put together a list of the essential terms that you keep in mind before buying a printer.

Single or Multi-function?

this question is not only relevant for individual users but for a business. there are multi- function network printers available that will allow users to not only print but also copy, scan, email and fax.

                A few can argue about having a separate scanner, which can offer OCR and other scanning capabilities.Modern MFPs also comes with such features andfunctions with a similaror higher scan resolutionof 1200 dpi. Choosing anMFP not only be a cost-effective choice as wellas you can avoid troubleto manage different devices.

Laser or Inkjet?

For office use, lasersare the preferred choice over inkjets, especially if youneed to do volume monochrome printing. Althoughthe initial investment in buying a laser printer ishigh compared to an inkjet, the overall running cost throughout its life is much lesser. so, unless youare purchasing a printer for image or photograph printing, lasers are ideal for you.

                           there’s a new class of inkjets available nowadays that come with ink-tank technology. their cost-per- page is much lower than traditional inkjets. Plus, they allow wireless connectivity, meaning you can fire aprint from anywhere. And if you need colour in the office without the added high printing cost, then these devices are also worth exploring.

Technology – A laser printer uses a non-impactphotocopier technology, in which keys don’t strikethe paper. A laser beam reproduces the image andprints it on the drum. this laser light runs side to side over the drum and the negatively charged toner (cylindrical component) that allows the laser to pickup ink in a powder form through static electricity. then toner and paper meet to leave a permanent impression.While Inkjet printers spray tiny ink droplets onto the paper,in this, the printer employs a moving print head, filled with colour and black ink. this head goes side to side and spray the ink bubbles onto the documents being printed.While most of the functions will be similar in both inkjet and laser printers, the two different printtechnologies achieve printing results in very different ways.

CostPer Page – the upfront cost can be amajor factor in choosing the printer. Inkjet printersare less expensive compared to laser ones, asinkjet technology is less complex thus the cost ofmanufacturing is also lower.

                                                                                                                   On the other hand, the printing cost of inkjet ishigher than the laser. the refilling and replacing costof the toner on a laser printer is lesser than that ofa cartridge refill in an inkjet. Plus, as compared toinkjets, you can print more pages with a laser. Youcan calculate the cost per page using the formula –cartridge price /page yield = cost per page.

                                      Depending on the nature of your business, youcan print multiple documents on a daily basis. thecost per page of a laser printer will be less expensive compare to inkjet.

Print Quality and Speed – Laser printers produce fine quality text and graphics, making it an ideal choice for document printing.Photograph output is of moderate quality withlaser, while, inkjets produce sharp and vivid images. Inkjet printers outshine when you want to print on a wide variety of media like vinyl, plastic, cloth, etc. Compared to a laser printer, inkjet is slow when it comes to printing black and white text pages. Laser printers can print up to 120 pages per minutes. Inkjets are slower with around 25 pages per minute. this is one of the main reasons to choose a laser printer over inkjets for business.

Image Quality

there are many terms that determine a printer’s image quality. Knowing them can help you decide which printer would be right for your needs.

Resolution – Printers can print at different resolutions, which determines the level of detailing inyour print-outs. Print resolution is measured in dpi orthe number of dots a printer is able to print in a lineacross an inch. the more dots it can place, the higher theresolution, and therefore, the better the print quality.For monochrome text-based print-outs, a resolutionof 300-600 dpi is good enough, but for graphicsprinting, you obviously need higher resolutions. sodon’t go for anything less than 1200 dpi.

Ink Configuration – Professional colour prinnter come with more than the four basic cartridges (CMYK) found in traditional printers. these can rangefrom 6, 8, and 12 colour cartridges; where morecartridges imply a wider gamut of colours in your prints. It will also more closely match the colours yousee on the screen.though the printout will never be an exactreplication of what you see on the screen, but thewider gamut of colours will ensure richer imagequality. this, along with colour calibration usingsoftware will ensure a more accurate print output.

Ink Droplet ze –Si this is typically measured in picoliters (pl), where the lower number means a sharper image. When choosing a printer for great quality photo prints, look for the minimum droplet size. the typical range is from 4-12 pl.

Media Handling

Printers can print on a wide variety of media types.Paper alone has a lot of variety—glossy photo paper,matte photo paper, high-resolution paper, semi-glossphoto paper, greeting cards, envelopes, and thelist goes on. Besides paper, there are so many othermedia types that a printer can print on—t-shirts,photo stickers, Iron-on transfers for colour fabric, etc.If your need is to take print-outs on more than

plain A4-sized sheets, then it’s important to checkwhich media types are supported by your printer.usually, printer manufacturers have a complete mediacompatibility chart for their various models.Besides media type, it’s also important to look for media capacity, or the number of sheets of paper a printer can support in its input as well as the output tray. A heavy-duty printer will be able to support a

higher number of sheets of paper, which means that you won’t have to keep rushing back to refill paper inyour printer. A high-capacity output tray means evenif you need to take volume prints, then they won’tspill out of the tray and spread all over the floor.

Duplex Printing

this means having the ability to print on bothsides of the paper. Duplex printing can be automaticor manual. As the name implies, in automatic duplex printing, you don’t have to do anything. the printer

will automatically print on both sides of the paper. In the manual, it will print on one side of the paper. You’ll then have to re-feed the paper into the printerto print on the other side.

Ease of Use

While this is not a technical term, it’s nevertheless an important aspect to consider while buying aIf you lose your printer’s drivers in thefuture, or your system becomes corrupt and requires reinstallation, how easily will you be able to set up the printer on it?

Duty Cycle

there are many other terms you should consider before buying a printer besides the ones we’ve just explained. the duty cycle for instance is another important term to keep in mind and look out for it ina printer’s specifications before buying. Duty cycle isthe number of pages that can be printed by a printerper month at its rated print quality, without any kindof deterioration.the duty cycle is usually arrived at by the printermanufacturer after a lot of stress testing. Printer drumis another term to be familiar with. It’s found in laserprinters and is an electrically charged cylinder thatfuses the toner powder onto the paper to create theprintouts. the drum is consumable, so it’s importantto know its life and replacement cost while buying alaser printer.

Wireless and Network Printer

For home use or low print volumes, a printer with usB and Wi-Fi connectivity would be better choice. Itwill be connected directly to a users’ PC or mobile viaa usB cable or Wi-Fi connection.For a business with multiple users, a networkprinter is useful, implying high printing volumes.In such a case, networked printers are ideal choice,because they’re sharable by multiple users. theadvantage is that they’re accessible to whoever you’dlike no matter where they’re sitting in the office.

                 Nowadays, along with LAN connectivity, business printers also come with Wi-Fi support and allow usersto fire prints even from their smartphones and other mobile devices. even in Wi-Fi, printers nowadays support Dual-Band Wi-Fi, which basically allows them to connect to two different frequencies—2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. this allows for a more stable connection and higher speed connectivity.this can be a great feature to have if you need to keep your printer in a location where there’s no LAN port.

Conclusion

For business, the laser printer is a clear choice and inkjets for home users or small business. there are many suitable printers for both home and business, so look for the features you need from what all we just covered and then look for the right one for your need.printer. How easy is it to load and unload media from the printer? How intuitive is the printer’s control panel? Is it easy to navigate and customize the print settings? ease of handling consumables is also important. How easily can you pull out and replace the toner in case of a laser printer, or re-fill/replace the ink cartridges in case of an inkjet printer? Can you, for instance, easily clear a paper jam should it occur?

Availability of universal drivers is also important.

THERE ARE SOME BASIC PRINTERS BELOW THEM-

Canon Pixma MG2577s All-in-One

Price: `2,849

this is an affordable all-in-one printer basedon inkjet technology. You can print,scan and copy documents as well as images using this multi-function device. It supports usB connectivity, has a print speed of up to 8 pages per minute and supports different paper sizes, including A4, A5, B5, legal, envelope among others.

HP DeskJet 2723 All-in-One Colour Printer

Price: `4,999

the inkjet technology-based all-in-one printeris capableof printingup to 7.5ppm at aneconomical cost of Rs 6(Black), Rs 8(Color) per page, as per IsO standards. Print, scan and copy documents and papers with your voice as it comes with voice-activated printing through Alexa and Google Home.

HP Smart Tank 500 All-in-One Ink Tank Color Printer

Price: `11,999

Ideal for home and small businesses,this multi-function printer offers up to22 ppm back and up to 16 ppm colour prints. the printer is perfect to scan document at 1200 DPI and print on different page sizes including A4, B5, A6, DL envelope, legal, letter etc.

Canon Pixma G2012 All-in-OneInk Tank Colour Printer

Price: `10,799

the all-in-one printer comes with an ink tank,enabling you to easily refill theink and enjoy thebest quality but low-cost printing.It comes with usB connectivity and a 1.2 inch LCD on the printer that allows you to interact with the printer directly. With a speed of up to 8.8 PPM, the cost per page is 9 paise (Black & White) and 32 paise (Colour), as per IsO standards.

Epson Eco Tank L3101 All-in-One Ink Tank Printer

Price: `10,899

the Ink tank Printerlets you print, scanand copy. It offers a high page yield of 4,500 black and white pages and 7,500 colour pages. the compact machine can easily fit in a corner. this epson printer comes with a micro piezo printhead that allows you to print up to 33 pages per minute. the per-page print cost of the printer is as low as 7 paise (Black & White) and 18 paise (Colour) as per IsO standards.