Quality

For most of what you print, laser will provide excellent quality prints (this flyer is printed using a laser printer) but for photograph quality you will need inkjet. Colour or black & white.
The basic laser printers are usually black and white but there are plenty available for a bit more money that offer full colour features. Nearly all inkjet printers will be colour.

Ink

It’s worth checking how much it will cost you to replace the ink in your printer (or toner in a laser printer). Often printer prices are so low now that the cost of replacing all the ink can be more than you paid for the printer. With the printer, the ink cartridges you get are usually low yield, so will only print 30 – 50% of the number of pages that a replacement one will. Some ink cartridges can be refilled which is much better value. You can get kits to do this yourself, but it's much easier to drop them off at any of the numerous shops that offer this service.

Wired or wireless

Wired. Really. If you need wireless because of where you want your printer to go and for ease of use then wireless is great. However wireless printers do tend to have significantly more problems than wired. With wireless, your printer can lose the connection (if this happens, restart your router and then restart your printer to fix it). With wired (usually USB) you just plug it in and it goes. It’s also much easier to set up the first time than installing wireless drivers.

Multifunction

If you need a scanner as well, then why not get an all in one? This turns your printer into a photocopier and scanner, and some will also add fax. They work well and give excellent results.

So, which printer?

It depends on your needs. Start with a basic USB inket printer (USB means there is a cable from the printer to your computer). For most home users this is the best option.

If you will be printing more than just occasionally, then you should get a laser printer instead. It will be faster and cheaper in the long run. If you will also need to print photos you may need to consider having both, an inkjet for the photos and a laser for everything else. Inkjets are inexpensive, they can be as low as $5 when you are buying a computer.

If you think you’ll want a photocopier then just get a multifunction, it works well and you can also ask for fax.

And lastly, if you need to have the printer away from you consider a networked printer, preferably wired (if it will be close to your router) or wireless if needed.

As always you can ask your Tek guys, give Gerry, Ursula or Erik a call on 778.294.2917 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . We’ll be glad to help.