Laser printers have been around for a long time but now, when the shelves are packed with a huge range of laser printers, it’s not an easy task to find the right one. There are varied types of printing technologies to choose from, with each and everyone made especially for diverse needs. If you are in the market for a laser printer for your business, office, or home, the very first thing that should be clear in your mind is - “What you exactly need and what are the technologies available?”
Here are a few tips that might help you to buy the right photo printer.
A few questions worth consideration
Choosing the right printer is indeed a tough task. There are a lot of things, which should be taken into account before you step into the market with your hard-earned money to buy a printer. Some of the most important questions that need to be addressed are described below in detail.
Laser printer or laser MFD?
We know very well that inkjet-bases MFDs (multifunction device) have scored well over the inkjet printers. So, the same question arises when it comes to laser printers. For somewhere around US $450, you could buy an entry-level mono laser based MFD, which comes complete with a scanner, a digital laser copier, PC fax, and a telephone handset. You could even use a sophisticated laser based MFD as an organization’s communication hub.
So, a laser MFD seems to be the best solution but it doesn’t mean, by any means, that you should swap your laser printer with a laser based MFD. Different organizations have different needs so they might need one device and not the other. The answer to the question of opting for a laser printer or laser MFD lies in ‘your or your organization’s needs’ itself.
Color laser or Color inkjet?
It might come as a surprise to you that most of the color laser printers we have on the shelves are not suited to the graphic designers. They are simply meant for bringing color into the work and they are not meant for graphics rigorous color printing. The color inkjets are good at this and the baffling notion can be backed up by the fact that cost per printed page for the laser printer is higher than that of an inkjet.
But, there is a problem with inkjets that the ink costs a lot of money. You can surely opt for a color inkjet if you have to take prints occasionally but if you are looking for a device for daily printing, better stick to a color laser printer.
Color or monochrome laser?
This is small yet important thing if you are the owner of an office. Just look around and see how many color inkjets you have in your office and how much you spend monthly for the accessories and maintenance. Now, think the same with color laser. Although we all know that cost per printed page is low in case of color lasers, you won’t want your every employee to have the facility. All you need to do in this case is to check for color control capabilities in color lasers to cut down the monthly costs.
Well, we are witnessing so many developments in printing technologies at a swift pace. Sizing up your requirements is a key factor when you are on hunt for the right printer. There are lot many other things to consider too. Let’s discuss about them.
Going for the right specifications:
You need to look at speed, paper printing size, and many other important features. The two most important thins to look at are the printer’s print resolution and print speed. A compact photo printer will do the job if you just need nice 4″x6″ images but if you want full 8″x10″ prints then you should opt for standard full-sized printer.
A large paper printer should be the choice when you are eyeing imposing prints in big sizes. Here, the concept of dpi (Dots per Inch) comes into the light. Higher the resolution, higher the quality of the image. If you are looking for large photo prints, do make sure that the printer has at least 4800 dpi option.
When it comes to print speed, you need to take into account the printer’s PPM (Pages per Minute) capability. PPM is normally the average time taken per page for printing multiple copies of the same page. Keep in mind that a printer takes a little more time to print the very first page. So, you need to ckeck the time taken by the machine to print the very first page.
Upgrades and Preferences
Memory: When we talk about upgrades with context to printers, we are usually talking about memory. Your printer’s memory might not be sufficient enough to hold your large files. The upshot of this will be slower printing as your printer will have to refer to your computer for more data when it uses up its cache. All you can do in this case is upgrade the printer’s RAM (Random Access Memory) to increase the overall performance.
For your info, the cost of RAM is surprisingly high so you must check in advance the supported memory of the printer you are going to buy. Some color lasers ship with hard disks too that can be utilized to store print jobs.
Cartridges: Let’s not forget to talk about printer cartridges. They are the consumable components of an inkjet printer or toner (powder used in photocopiers or laser printers) that contains the ink for the printer. You need to be very cautious while buying the cartridges as they come quite expensive. I would suggest you to buy the original ink cartridge/toner.
Anyway, refilling is also not a bad idea but do consult some knowledgeable person for refill ink cartridges. If the refill ink and the cartridges are of bad quality then the printer will blot faster.
TIP: If you are in rut for which cartridges to buy for your printer, better note you’re your printer brand and model and take help from some sales representative.
Auto-Duplexer: Another thing you should take care of is the auto-duplexer unit, which lets you print on the both sides of the paper in chorus. This could save you with both time and money if you have an office.
Tray capacity: When you go for some printer, always check the tray capacity for input and output. If you have to work with lot of print jobs, you should go for the printer with high tray capacity. Do check the media support too. Also check whether you laser printer can support a range of paper types such as labels and envelopes.
Warm-up time: Usually, the warm-up time for most of the laser printers falls somewhere from 10 and 30 seconds. It’s quite a less span but you might be the one who wants everything instantly. So, do check for the warm-up time but remember that this facility can cost you some more bucks.
Connectivity to other peripherals: Currently, most laser printers have the PictBridge support that hels them connect to the camera and cellphones directly. Others connect to the computer via an USB cable.
Now, we have discussed many of the important facts that should be kept in mind before choosing the right type of printer. Let’s take a look at some of the best printers we have on the shelves.
• Brother MFC-8860DN Laser Multifunction Printer (Price: $329 to $713)
This is one of the best multifunction printers available in the market that offers a blend of speed, convenience and great print quality. The specs include duplex printing, built-in networking, 32MB memory, a full-featured fax (with PC fax capability), a 9600 dpi resolution color flatbed scanner, a 50 page automatic document feeder, and speeds of up to 30 PPM.
• Lexmark X342n All-In-One Printer (Price: $255 to $532)
The printer comes complete with a network-ready copier, laser printer, color scanner and fax. The specs include up to 27 PPM, 600×600 dpi, first page-out time of less than 10 seconds, high yield toner cartridge offering a 6,000 page yield, 250 sheet paper tray, a 50 sheet automatic document feeder, a 150MHz processor and 64MB RAM.
• Brother HL-2700CN Laser Printer (Price: $379 to $1,299)
I am totally impressed with almost everything this printer has to offer. The HL-2700CN touts up to 31 PPM in black and 8 PPM in color. Other salient specs inlude 2400 x 600 dpi, switching between PCL 5C, PCL6, BR-Script 3, IBM Proprinter, Epson FX and HP-GL emulations, flexible connectivity, versatile paper handling for 250 sheets at a time, optional paper trays with the paper capacity to 780 sheets, and an optional duplex unit
• Dell 3000cn laser printer (Price: $271 to $410)
The Dell Color Laser Printer 3000cn delivers up to 25 PPM in black and white and 5 PPM color at a maximum resolution of 600×600 dpi with 2400 image quality. Dell Color Track can bring down your total cost of printing by offering a separate monochrome print driver that allows you to designate color or black and white printing on an individual or workgroup basis. Other specs include 900 sheets capacity, optional 250 sheet legal paper drawer, 250 sheet A4 paper drawer, 500 sheet A4 drawer and duplexer.
• Lexmark C510 laser printer (Price: $281 to $400)
This is yet another printer worth a pick. The quality color laser printer is the best pick for price-sensitive business users. The salient specs include print speeds of up to 30 ppm in black and up to 8 ppm in color, a 500 MHz processor and 64MB of memory, 2400 Image Quality printing, small footprint, large paper capacity and a duplex option.
