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Advice for Buying a Printer: Dos and Don’ts to Keep in Mind

June 8, 2015 by Jeeve Bangera Leave a Comment

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The printer technology is advancing at a very fast pace. The speed of technological advancement in the printer industry is such that it can become quite hard to follow unless you work in the industry itself. However, keeping a track of what is new in the market and which innovative features have been developed is crucial especially if you’re on the verge of buying a new printer.

If you have a natural affinity for technology, then you might be able to do this but if you’re not, then you might feel like a fish out of water when it comes to making that key decision. However, there is a way through which you can avoid this fate and that is by getting advice for buying a printer. Follow our dos and don’ts and you should be just fine.

Do Check Advice for Buying a Printer and Reviews before You Consider Any Printer Seriously

advice for buying a printerResearch is the backbone of any kind of purchase in the modern world. Because technology has advanced so much, there are now not only multiple manufacturers of a product in the market but also multiple options within a single product type.

For instance, when buying a printer, not only will you have to pick from multiple brands available but also multiple types of printers across those brands. You will have to choose from home printers, office printers, all in one printers, photo printers, and multifunction printers amongst others.

With so many options available, the only way a person can sift through them is through research. This is why our first advice for buying a printer is for you to go through as many reviews online as possible.

Don’t Buy a Printer Just Because It’s On Sale

The opposite of our first advice for buying a printer is for you to not get roped into a bad decision purely through dramatics and marketing gimmicks. Many stores online or offline put the less popular printers up for sale simply to get them sold.

There’s a reason that those printers are popular in the first place. It is simply the fact that they are not that suitable. This is why you should make sure that you don’t just buy a printer because it’s available on sale.

Do Check Cartridge Prices Before Buying a Printer

Cartridge pricesOne of the most common mistakes relating to buying a printer is just focusing on the printer. People buying printers tend to just focus on variables like the cost, the features, and the reputation of the printer. This method isn’t comprehensive because a lot of what a printer can do is defined by the kind of ink and toner it uses.

For instance, a printer may be available for $40 but its cartridges will be worth $50 and need to be replaced regularly. On the other hand, another printer may be worth $80 but its cartridges will be worth $30 and only need to be replaced intermittently.

Our advice for buying a printer is to check cartridge prices before making a purchase because you may end up buying a printer whose cartridge requirements are expensive!

Don’t just go For the Cheapest Printer thinking its A Steal

This advice for buying a printer is a corollary of the preceding one. Don’t get tempted by a huge discount when buying a printer. Many of these discounts have a hidden catch behind them like poor performance or inordinately expensive cartridges.

It’s always better to keep a calm head than to dive into something with dollar signs in your eyes. Learn to question good deals and see what the premise is behind the curtain.

Do Think About What You Need the Printer For

Every person has its own needs and requirements. If you are a bachelor and have no plans to marry, it doesn’t make sense for you to buy a big family car. A hatchback can serve you better in such a scenario. The equation behind buying a printer is the same.

You don’t want to buy a multifunction printer when you know that you’ll never bother scanning anything. Effectively, our advice for buying a printer to you is to seriously consider what you will be using the printer for. You should even think about scaling up or down in the future.

Don’t Buy the Most Features Loaded Printer

Printer optionsThe advancement of printing technology has opened up many new avenues for printer manufacturers. Now, there are printers that boast of many swanky features and capabilities. These features vary from one aspect to another and can be grouped into categories like connectivity, automation, and maintenance amongst others.

The big question you should be asking, though, is whether all these new features are all that useful for you. For example, will you really need an automatic document feeder? Or, is there any use of automatic duplexing for you?

There are many other features that you may not need. AirPrint is something that is only useful for Apple device owners. Are you even an Apple device user or are you happy with Windows and Android?

It’s understandable that you want only the best product in the market but the ‘best’ is different for different people. Our advice for buying a printer with regard to features is don’t go for the most loaded options and consider which features are useful and which aren’t.

Do Check If Compatible Cartridges Are Available For Your Chosen Model

The printing industry is now designed in a way that initial one time payments i.e. cost of printers, are extremely cheap but running costs i.e. cost of consumables, are extremely expensive. If you want to use a printer, then there’s no real way you can escape this trap except through the use of compatible cartridges.

Since Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) will always try to recoup the losses they incurred by selling you their printers at throwaway rates, genuine cartridges will always be expensive.

Compatible cartridges are basically similar types of cartridges that are made by independent manufacturers. They cost up 70 percent less than genuine cartridges because they’re free of printer machine outlays of the past and massive advertisement costs.

So, as far as advice for buying a printer goes, the best we can give you is to check if compatible cartridges are available for your chosen printer model before making a purchase.

Don’t Forget To Check the Output of the Cartridges Used In Your Chosen Printer

Every printer uses different types of cartridges. The capacities of those cartridges are different as well. Usually, the number of pages a printer can print depends on its cartridge design. This is why each cartridge box contains information on how many pages the cartridge can print.

The final advice for buying a printer that we can give you is to always check the output of the cartridges used in the printer you are about to buy. You should also remember that the capacity of ‘x’ number of pages listed on the cartridge box is relevant if all those pages have five percent coverage i.e. five percent of a page is covered with ink.

You need to do this not only for genuine cartridges but also compatible cartridges. Typically, compatible cartridges will always print more than genuine cartridges so keeping this option open may end up being useful for your pocket and business later.

Related articles:

  1. The Complete Printer Buying Guide
  2. Why Buying Compatible Ink Cartridges in Bulk Is a Good Idea
  3. How Much Ink Is There In Compatible Printer Cartridges?
  4. Leasing a Printer vs. Buying a Printer: How to Choose?
  5. Want To Buy A Printer? Consider Retail Price vs. Cost Per Page!

Filed Under: Buying Guides Tagged With: advice for buying a printer, buy printer, dos and don'ts

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