How to Buy the Right Printer - Printer Buying Guide

Finding the right printer for your home can be a difficult decision. You have to take into account all the different things you will need the printer for.

If you have a number of people under your roof, can go from tricky to almost impossible.

However, here at Internet ink we have broken down the key factors you need to consider when buying a new printer for your home.

This should help in finding the most appropriate printer for you and your family a little bit easier.

How Much Do You Want To Spend?

This is probably the most important factor when you are deciding what type of printer you need.

Decent home printers can start at as little as £20-£150 and go into the thousands.

However, you need to weigh up the cost vs benefits.

Cheaper machines have the advantage of taking less out of your bank account, which may be the only thing that matters.

But they are likely to not last as long, have as many features and may ending up costing your more in terms of buying ink for your printer in the long run.

This is where you have a tough choice to make, pay for a more expensive unit that will last for a number of years or buy a cheaper version that may not last as long.

What is a Good Printer For Home Use?

Check out some of the best printers to run at the moment on our blog post about printers with the cheapest cartridges.

Do You Want An All-In-One?

Firstly what is an all in one? Simply put it combines scanning, copying & printing into one machine. Some machines will also add in faxing. It will tell you on the printer specifications.

Whether or not you want an all-in-one printer will also impact how much you spend.

For many households they combine everything you need into one compact machine.

This reduces the amount of space that you need to reserve for it and will also save you money in the long run, as an all-in-one is generally cheaper than buying a separate scanner, fax machine and printer.

However, it's important to consider the needs of your family and not just be drawn into the marketing.

Many families need a scanner and printer for documents and photos, but do you really need a fax machine or photocopier?

By analysing and determining what you really need from a printer you can decide whether extra features are worth the bumped up cost.

How Much Will You Need To Print In Colour?

For home users, having a colour printer is necessary but you need to think about how much you will use it.

You can then weigh up the costs of high-end printers, which bring more expensive ink cartridges than their cheaper alternative.

For many home users you don't need the priciest version on the market and something more affordable will be decent enough to print your family photos off.

Golden rule is look for a printer with 4 or more individual slots. Any less than 4 will end up costing you money.

What Printer Features Do You Need?

Mobile printing is big in the printer world right now, but if you are going to mainly use your printer at home is it something that you really need?

This is important as it can rapidly reduce the amount you have to pay out for a quality printer.

Although many machines come with it, it means that you don't have to fork out extra money to have it included if you don't really need it.

Other features may include a usb slot for memory card photo's or printing of data, or even a WiFi wireless printer.

What Size Printer Do You Want?

Size is also another factor you need to consider when selecting your ideal printer.

Make sure you check the dimensions, as having a machine arrive that is either far smaller or larger than you expected, is far from ideal.

Many home users want a compact printer with a plain, usually black, colour scheme.

It may not seem like a big deal, but having a machine that sticks out like a sore thumb will have you wanting to buy a new one almost as soon as you have installed it.

How Fast Do You Need Your Printer To Be?

A faster page per minute will also bump up the price of your printer so it's important to consider whether or not you need a speedy machine.

Most home users don't need a unit with an incredibly fast print speed, as a draft version of a page usually gives you fast enough speeds if you are in a rush.

We don’t recommend specific printers the entire choice of what your printer will be is up to you. We supply both genuine cartridges and compatible ink cartridges again the choice of what you use, is entirely yours we find some of the printers with the cheapest ink cartridges and do some price comparisons. See previous articles on the internet-ink blog or do your research before purchasing your printer.

Don't forget you can save 10% on your compatible ink purchases by shopping with Internet-ink ! Our loyal customers get the lowest prices for printing ink, making us one of the best online!