Choosing the Right Printer

Choosing the Right Printer

Points to consider when buying a new printer – what’s best for you? Laser or Inkjet?...

Buying a new printer can be a real headache can’t it? With so many different options to choose from just where do you start? The first thing to think about is what you actually need the printer for and what do you need it to do? Let’s have a look at a few scenarios:

The Small Home Business
Maybe you run a small business from your spare bedroom or perhaps just need something to print off the kids homework, take care of the bills, shopping lists, Christmas card lists, etc. So you don’t do a lot of printing but need something that is versatile, affordable and can print off everything from coupons to documents to photos. The best printer for you would be a Colour Inkjet Printer. This would be a cost-effective versatile option. A basic Multi-function Inkjet Printer which also offers scanning and copying could also be a consideration.

Try: Canon Pixma iP2702 @ £39.95 OR HP Officejet 6000 @ £59.95

The Writer
Are you a budding author? Perhaps working on your first novel? If so you will need a printer that can churn out dozens of pages fast and efficiently. Colour won’t be a priority but reliability, speed and good quality will be. Double sided printing (duplex) would also be helpful. In this instance a Laser Printer would be your best option. Whilst the initial up-front cost would be higher than an inkjet printer, it would offer you much better print quality along with speed and duplex printing.

Try: Brother HL-2270DW @ £145.00 OR HP P2055D @ £169.00

The Work-from-home Boss
Your printer is the one thing you rely on. It needs to print, scan, copy & fax to keep you in touch with the head office and at the same time be durable, hard-working, dependable and easy to use. Think Multi-function here (MFP) or an All-in-One. These are big inkjet printers at an affordable price.

Try: HP Officejet G510G @ £64.95 OR HP Officejet 6500A @ £84.95

The Traveller
You’re on the move all the time by road or air. You need something small and portable to carry around in your laptop case. It needs to be able to print out your contracts and quotes. Solution - a Mobile Inkjet Printer. A lot of printer in a small package! It can print in colour, run off batteries and connect wirelessly to your laptop.

Try: HP Officejet 100 @ £210.00 OR Canon iP100 @ £230.00

The Photo Enthusiast
You fill your spare time by roaming around the streets and countryside with digital camera in hand, taking photos of the world around you. Your ideal printer would offer you high quality colour printing with clear sharp images reproduced on photographic glossy paper. You need a Photo Printer to give you first-class prints in a range of sizes. Many connect directly to your camera making printing even easier.

Try: Lexmark P315 @ £76.50 OR Canon CP800 @ £81.50

For the Office
Office requirements are a little bit different, for a start you most likely need something which can be networked and shared between many people. You may or may not need to print in colour or duplex to save paper. You may just want a small workhorse which sits quietly in the corner printing out simple black and white text in seconds or you may need a big multi-function unit which can scan, fax and e-mail your documents as well as printing in A4/ A3.
Here we'd recommend giving us a call to discuss your requirements. We can help understand the options available and if you're thinking of upgrading your printer estate then we can install software to monitor your current usage and provide real information back to show how much you could save with various different options.

Please Note: Prices exclude VAT

For further details please contact:

Jill Anderson
Print and Consumables Specialist
Tel: 01752 786 000
Mail: jill.anderson@zantragroup.co.uk

Twitter: @ZantraJAD