| Printers vary enormously in price from £50 for | | | | priced are not such a bargain when you factor in |
| a simple piece of equipment designed to do a few | | | | the cost of the ink. Using compatible ink cartridges |
| fairly basic jobs at home- school projects, printing | | | | can bring that cost way back down, but it is |
| maps and directions or recipes from the internet, | | | | always worth considering how cheaply you can |
| and maybe a little light photo printing now and | | | | source replacement ink cartridges for any printer |
| again, to massive industrial models worth | | | | you might think of buying. Remember to take into |
| thousands or tens of thousands. When choosing | | | | account the number of pages you get per |
| one for your home or the office, here are a few | | | | cartridge too. |
| things to consider: | | | | Print quality is usually measured in DPI or Dots Per |
| Print speed is not really important for home use, | | | | Inch. Anything over 600 or so will print photos at |
| but it is key in the office. Many larger businesses | | | | a decent quality. 300 is about what most daily |
| have a super-fast printer that only takes black ink | | | | newspapers use, and a 1200 DPI printer will |
| cartridges to use for most text printing jobs, and | | | | produce outstanding results. These days a high |
| a slower colour one for the really high quality | | | | DPI doesn't necessarily mean a high price, but do |
| work. This approach is a good way to save | | | | keep the ink cartridge cost in mind. For the office, |
| money on replacement ink cartridges too. | | | | look for a printer that will do double sided work. |
| Regardless of speed, modern laser and high-end | | | | That will save paper and therefore both trees and |
| inkjet printers are far more expensive to run. The | | | | money on draft print jobs. Some modern printers |
| ink cartridges may be a long way from cheap, | | | | can even staple copies together or fold letters, |
| and indeed some premium printers that look well | | | | but you will pay more for features like that. |