Choosing a Home Printer

How much do you actually print?

1You need to ask yourself how many pages you print each month.

The more you print, the more you should invest in the printer because generally, the more expensive the printer, the cheaper the running costs.

2Remember, the cost of a printer is a once-off expense, but the cost of the ink is something you have to live with for years.

You get what you pay for!

3The 4 main manufacturers of home printers are;

• HP
• Canon
• Brother
• Epson

They all have printers at every level.

They all have cheap lightweight printers at the lower end and high-power robust devices at the higher end.

4You generally get what you pay for.

If a printer costs less than €60, you can expect;

• very slow printing
• very expensive running costs
• very basic functionality
• an unpleasant user experience

5Generally, it’s best to choose a mid-range model in the €100 – €150 price range, which takes high capacity cartridges that offer a low cost per page. 

Features

1Ask yourself whether you just need the standard functions that come with pretty much all home printers.

2You may require something specific (e.g. 2 sided printing) that you’d be willing to pay that bit extra for.

3Most home printers come with:

• A4 Colour
• Wifi all-in-one Print
• Scan
• Copy (flatbed scanner for single page scanning/copying)

4Other features which you may find useful but may only be available on the more expensive models include;

• Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) for multi-page copy/scanning
• 2-sided printing and or copying
• Fax
• A3 printing