The Best Printer – your choices
If you are searching for a printer for your office or home, you could find yourself overwhelmed by the massive range of choices available. They may well be current but with CoVid producing stock shortages this will limit availability
Here is a brief guide to the basic steps involved in selecting a printer.
Printer categories
Printers can be categorized in terms of the intended use (home or office), their purpose (general or special) and the technology which they possess (the two most common technologies are laser and inkjet).
Most printers are general-purpose printers which are designed for printing text, graphics or photos. Special-purpose printers are designed for creating professional graphics or use by publishing organizations include portable printers, dedicated and near-dedicated photo printers, impact printers, and label printers.
To decide which printer you best suit your needs you should ask yourself three questions:
1. Do I need the printer for the home or office?
You need to decide whether the printer is required for the office, at home or both. You should also consider whether it will be used for a large number of people in an office or just a few.
2. What do I need to use the printer for?
You should consider whether the printer will be used mostly for printing out word documents and spreadsheets or to print out glossy marketing brochures and presentation with lots of images. You should also work out whether you will need to print in colour a lot of the time or if black and white prints will suffice.
3. What is my budget?
You should decide how much you are prepared to spend, both on the printer and the ink or toner cartridges on an ongoing basis.
Once you work out the answers to these questions you can then go about selecting the right kind of printer to satisfy your needs and budget.
Laser vs inkjet printers
Laser and inkjet printers have a lot of capabilities in common, but there are some key differences. The most important difference is that all laser printers (and laser-class printers such as solid ink and LED-based printers) print higher-quality text than any inkjet, and almost any inkjet prints higher-quality photos than the majority of laser printers. If photos are more important to you than printing text than you will most likely want to invest in an inkjet printer. If you intend to be printing mostly text-based document, a laser printer is most likely the best option.
Multi-function printers
If you work in a small office and require a printer, photocopier, fax machine and a scanner, you could purchase just a multi-function printer that combines all of these functions in the one machine.
Multi-function devices can be extremely cost-effective as the cost of the multi-function printer is often much lower than the combined cost of the separate units. You also save floor and desk space and you only have the one device to install.
The above printer is a Brother MFC-L3745CDW Multifunction Printer which is extremely popular thanks to its wireless networking capabilities. This is an all-in-one colour laser printer also functions as a scanner, photocopier and fax/PC Fax.
Other popular features of this printer include the 3.7″ colour TouchScreen display and duplex (double sided) scanning and printing. This device is capable of printing and copying documents up to 22 pages a minute.
When deciding whether a multi-function printer like the Brother MFC-L3745CDW is right for your needs, you also need to consider that a multi-function printer may not deliver the same performance available from the separate units (e.g. printer, scanner, photocopier, fax machine). If for some reason the device malfunctions, you are left without all of those individual functions at the same time.
However, if you are looking for a reliable, affordable and compact laser printer for a small business workspace, then this type of printer is ideal.
Wireless connectivity
A key feature which may influence your choice of printer is wireless connectivity. This is a feature which gives you a lot more flexibility in terms of where you can position your printer at home or work and means that you end up with fewer unsightly cables cluttering up your workspace. Many of the latest Wi-Fi printers offer mobile printing support. The MFC-L3745CDW is a wireless printer not only in the office but from mobile devices through AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, Brother iPrint & Scan, Cortado Workplace and Wi-Fi Direct.
At Tonerink we have an extensive range of printers for the home or office. Once you have decided what you need to use the printer for and in which environment the printer will be used, we can assist you in choosing the best printer to suit your requirements. Contact our team of printing specialists today on 1300 738 194 and for expert advice on all kinds of printers and printer cartridges.