Purchasing a Printer

When purchasing a printer, the criteria are:

• ·         Features
• ·         Reliability, Quality
• ·         Cost of ink (per page)
• ·         Cost of printer

Features

• In general, I like the All in One, which provides scanner, copy, fax, and print.  Of these, fax may be optional.

• I like two sided print- saves cost; but the two-sided feature has to be reliable.

• Speed is important to me, especially black and white (gray-scale).

• Many printer manufacturers, and I’m thinking of HP here, burden your computer with so much software that the performance of even the faster computers is impacted.  The capabilities of the software bundled with the printer are important.  I like a printer that delivers a single software interface on my computer to manage all the capabilities of the computer; no hunting for separate applications per feature, etc.  It would be nice if it were configurable.  An example of an excellent interface is the one provided by Canon:  

That’s it, everything is available from this simple interface.  The Scan-x’s are configurable to whatever you want.  I configured one to create a PDF with my favorite PDF writer,  PrimoPDF. 

• For photos, it is a waste of money to have photo features on a printer.  Such features are so hard to use that most people don’t use them.  It’s better to import your pictures directly to your computer using a program like Picasa, and manage them from there. 

• I don't see a need to print pictures using my printer.  They are way too expensive.  It is much better to use one of the online picture services where you can submit photo images and pick up the pictures later, such as Costco or Walmart, or just go to a drug store like CVS and print the pictures you want. So too, the printer doesn't need to have all those ports for reading different kinds of flash media.  

Reliability, Quality

To make this short and sweet, I rely on my own experience with hundreds of printers I’ve serviced plus the ratings of PC World and CNET:

·         Canon and Brother come out on top

·         Consider Lexmark, Dell (made by Lexmark),  Epson, and Samsung

·         Stay away from HP, the cheaper Lexmarks, and Kodak

My experience with HP all around- computers and printers- has been bad.  Their support is awful.  The quality is pitiful… Stay away.   I didn’t have this opinion a few years ago, but I have found that they have exported both manufacturing and support offshore, and the result is a disaster.  If you have invested in HP, get rid of the stock.  They may be selling a lot of computers and printers, but eventually their shoddy quality will catch up to them. 

Networking:  I’ve found Wifi is a waste of money.  When you communicate with a printer using  Wifi, you are still using the router and you are overwhelming the router with printer data.  Everyone on the network suffers when you submit a print via Wifi.  Therefore, get a network printer- one that has an Ethernet connection in the back.  Physically lay out your network so that the printer can be connected to the router or a network extender via Ethernet.  With respect to a USB connection- that’s where you plug a USB connector into a USB port on the computer- if you don’t have Wifi, then go that way.  But if you share a printer, try to use the Ethernet option. 

Cost of Ink

Cost of ink should be measured in cost/page.  The ink cartridges of ink jet printers are really expensive.  Not only are they expensive to begin with, but you can’t get them easily refilled.   I remember that one manufacturer has changed its pricing model to make ink cheaper- but I can’t remember which one.  Regardless, my experience is to go with the Laser printers that use toner.  Skip color.  If you must have color, then get a cheap printer that can be used only when you must have a color print. 

To get a bottom line on cost of ink, go to this page.  Pick the cartridges that goes with the printers you are considering by checking the boxes and clicking the compare button near the top of the page.  For each, divide the cost by the number of printed pages number to get a cost per page.  Compare.

Lexmark is now offering a $4.99 black cartridge cost, with about a $30 cost for the three color cartridges.  However, you need to read this commentary.

Bottom Line

Get a Canon or Brother black toner All in One.  If you want color, keep a cheap inkjet around.  Wait for sales and you can get a terrific value.  Oh, use Cartridge World or some similar company to refill the toner cartridge.  The cartridges can be used over and over again.  Each refill of my Canon cartridge is about $60, but it lasts for well over 2000 pages, or 3 cents a page.  (I set my printer to “draft mode”, which is fine for most printing. )

Also, with the All in One scan function, perhaps half of what would normally be printed I don’t print at all.  Instead, I create a PDF and save it as a soft copy.  You can install a PDF printer by typing "cnet pdf printer" in your search engine.  The one I recommend is PrimoPDF.