by Frank Bolsom

Computers are used more than ever in offices around the world, but that doesn't mean that printing documents has become unnecessary. Printers and printing supplies are now in high demand, since frequent printing means frequent printer servicing. This applies to both home and business use.

Today's printers offer a lot of features - high resolution photo printing, multi-function printer/scanning/faxing, digital memory card readers and much more. But before you make a decision, there are some basic considerations that you need to think about.

First is the long-term cost of the printer. You can buy a very good color printer for well under $100 these days but the catch is most of these inexpensive models have costly ink cartridges.

Find out the price of ink replacement on any low priced printers before making a purchase. Consider options like generic cartridges and refilling cartridges.

Second, find out whether or not the printer you're considering includes full size ink cartridges. Many of today's printers come with "starter" inks that have much less ink in them than a standard cartridge.

The printer may not seem like such a good deal when you have to buy a new set of ink after printing 40 or 50 pages.

Next, consider the cost of the black cartridge. Most people print much more black and white than they do color. Some printers have considerably larger black cartridges than others, and if you do a lot of black printing the larger cartridges can save you a lot of money in the long run.

Fourth, consider what kind of things you'll be printing. If you want to be able to print your own digital photos you should look at one of the many photo printers on the market.

If you're not printing photos, however, photo printers generally cost more to operate than other options. You might be better off with a laser printer that has considerably lower operating costs than inkjet.

Something else to be considered is if extra features such as scanning, copying, and faxing are for you. While such features are nice, they often go unused by owners, and might not be necessary.

Finally, don't forget to review the costs of the above mentioned features. A local copy shop that makes copies for five or ten cents might be more cost efficient than a home printer that can copy pages for an average cost of fifty cents to a dollar.

About the Author:
Tired of paying through the nose for your printer ink? There are less expensive options, and in spite of what the printer companies tell you, they work just as well. Visit the Inketeria website at http://www.inketeria.com for reviews of the best websites for cheap printer ink.

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