A Guide To Buying A Consumer Printer On A Budget

Today, printers have become one of the most important peripheral devices for offices, libraries, universities, etc. Nowadays people prefer saving their documents on the clouds so they can access them anywhere. But still, the hardcopy of various documents is a must. You can find a variety of printers on the market. But before buying the printer, you need to check various features and aspects to get the best printer on your budget.

Set the Budget

The price of your printer ranges usually between $100 to $400. But buying a costly printer is not always the best. You need to set a fixed budget that much you can spend on your printer. After fixing the budget, check for all the printers which you can buy.

Inkjet or Laser

People often get confused about choosing between inkjet and laser printers. You should choose the printer according to your type of need. If you need high-quality printouts and colored photos then you should get an inkjet printer. But if you want a printer to take simple documents (black and white text files) then a laser printer is preferable. The laser can also print colored documents but the quality is not good as compared to the inkjet. You can’t get the glossy look like an inkjet on the laser printer. But for simple documents lasers can print way faster than inkjet. Another drawback of lasers is that they can’t work in unusual sizes. If we talk about printing cost, the inkjet printouts cost way more than lasers. Laser printers are best for libraries and universities as they usually print documents. For home use, inkjet is a better choice so you can take every type of printout with good quality.

Device robustness and platform dependency

Before purchasing the printer, don’t forget to check the ratings and reviews. Every hardware device has a smooth working phase for like 2–3 years. After that, they started showing issues like Epson error code 0x97. Getting errors on printers is common, but you should go for the printer which has better robustness. If you want to take printouts from your various devices then get a platform-independent device. You can connect the platform-independent printer on Windows, Mac, and phone devices.

Printer connection

Nowadays most of the printers provide print from anywhere service. You can easily take the printouts from PC, network as well as the web. These printers are a bit expensive but provide better services.

Share without USB cables: The wireless printers allow the user to take the printouts with the help of Wi-Fi. Connect the PC or phone to the printer via Wi-Fi and take the printouts reliably.

Printing without PC: Various printers also provides print and download options where you can directly get the photos from the camera. You don’t have to transfer the photos to your phone or PC for printing. PictBridge/Wi-Fi direct allows you to take printouts directly from digital cameras.

Network printing: Network printing allows the user to take a printout from anywhere. You only have to connect the printer to your access point (router) and then give the print command from all the devices which are connected to that network.

Ink and cartridge cost

People often forget to check the ink and cartridge costs while purchasing the printer. Some printers are cheaper and provide good services but their ink costs a lot. Many printers don’t allow third-party cartridges as you can only install an original cartridge or refill the ink. Original cartridges cost a lot! Refilling the ink is a better option. While purchasing the printer, make sure its cartridges and ink costs are convenient. After checking all the factors, get a good and reliable printer on your budget.