Laser Printers: Four Tips To Finding The Right Match

Laser printers have become the norm these days at home and in the office with their efficient output and low-per page cost. However, before you pick one of the Internets or from a showroom, better evaluate what your needs are. Some laser printers are fantastic products but they wouldn’t really suit you while others may be cheap but just prove to be useless for your requirement. Here are four tips for choosing the right printer match for yourself.

- Purpose: Will you be using your printer just for home stuff like after a vacation for pictures or heavy daily printing in an office? Do you really need color prints or black and white ones will do? You don’t really need to saddle yourself with a color printer and have its cartridge waste out while all you do is print black and white letters. Some of the best monochrome printers in the market include the HP LaserJet P2015D with a 26ppm, 1200x1200dpi specification. It’s compact, fast and reliable with minimal tray extension for $198.26. Slightly expensive is the $258.21 HP LaserJet P2035N 30ppm 1200 dpi Network Laser Printer (Refurbished) with Mac connectivity option and 30 ppm. Also giving you 30 ppm is the Samsung ML-2851ND Laser Printer for monochrome needs at 1200x1200 dpi. It includes a TonerSave mode for some rough printing that can increase the cartridge life by up to 40%. However, if you need a printer that should also scan, copy and fax, you will need to look beyond laser printers.

- Purse pulse: The thing about laser printers it that you can buy for one as less as $140 or one as expensive as Budget $6300! The idea is to arrive at a balance between your needs and the cost of the printer. Think of a cut-off price that suits you then check out capabilities of printers in that range. Often, you will find that you have overestimated or underestimated your budget according to what printers are giving you.

So, you can simply tweak the purse-range accordingly. Also, several sites on the Internet allow you to compare products in a particular price range. Simply use the search-compare tools on these sites. However, when thinking up a budget doesn’t forget that you need to look beyond the listed price by adding the cost of printer ink cartridges!

For example, the Xerox Phaser 7760GX Laser Printer Government Compliant is an awesome buy at $6,000 plus giving a speed of 45ppm max mono print but then, if need to tuck your printer into the bookcase and use it for black and white prints every other day then, why not pick up the Lexmark T640n at $600 plus which still gives you a dpi of 1200x1200 though a speed of 35ppm? Incidentally, the Lexmark gives you optional application solutions for encrypted data printing too.

- Quality: Sometimes you just need to be printing letters where quality will not be that important. In that case, a regular low-budget under $200 laser printer from Samsung, HP, Lexmark or Brother will do just fine. But, if you’re looking at photo prints maybe you need a laser printer in the $500 plus range. For this, check out the cartridge yield and cartridge brands available for your printer. Don’t go for a model that is low-priced but not all that popular in the market because you may end up being saddled with a cartridge you cannot replace easily without compromising on quality. Using a cheaper generic-quality cartridge from the market affects the results.

-Popularity: Try and zero in on laser printers that has been reviewed online and tried by users you know. Often, when manufacturer’s venture into a new product niche, they may not be offering technology at its best. Sticking to a well-known brand with laser printers is more apt unless you come up with something really attractive in your market survey.