If there's one piece of personal computer peripheral equipment that is considered most necessary by a lot of people, it's got to be the printer. If you only use your computer for games, video, and chatting online, then a printer may not be a big deal. But if you do any work with documents of any kind, then a printer is absolutely indispensable. If you don't have a printer, or if you are thinking of getting a new one, then this article is for you. I'll go over some basic decisions you'll need to make before you go out and purchase one.
To begin with, it helps to understand that printers fall into two general categories. All in one printers, which have a variety of functions and capabilities, such as printing, scanning, and faxing, and standalone printers, which basically just print. So depending on how you plan on using your printer, this will help you to make a proper buying decision. It's no use paying extra money for a scanner and a fax machine if you are never going to use it.
The simplest kind of printing is black and white documents without any photos. These only use a single printer cartridge of black ink. If this is your primary need for printing, then you may decide to buy a printer only, and focus on getting one with the fastest printing rate. Also, if you occasionally print color documents, then you can still focus on getting a printer that basically just prints.
If you plan on printing large photographs and pictures, then you'll need to focus on the printer's resolution, measured in DPI. The more DPI you get, the cleaner and clearer your pictures and photos will be. Of course, higher DPI means more money, so make sure you really are going to be printing out plenty of pictures.
If you need additional features, like a fax machine and a scanner, then you should consider getting an all in one printer. These are generally more expensive, as they have to pack more features into roughly he same size printer. If you plan to do plenty of faxing or scanning, be sure to check each respective feature's functionality before purchasing. Scanners, as with printing, have various levels of resolution. The higher the resolution, the cleaner and clearer the item being scanned, and of course the more expensive it will be.
So depending on your printing, scanning, and faxing needs, you can choose the best printer for you. If you need to scan and print pictures, and want to retain the resolution, then a high quality all in one printer is for you. If, on the other hand, you will only need to be print black and white or color documents, then a standalone printer will be fine.