Back in the 1980’s when I was a child, a printer was something only ever seen in an office or a school. Back then it was a very large bulky machine that took up a lot of space. The print outs were hit and miss and usually on the old style dot matrix paper. They were also very expensive.
Fast forward a decade to the 1990’s and the printers started appearing in more homes, however it was considered a luxury item. The price was still high and I certainly never had one in my teenage home.
These days most homes have a printer of some sort. It is no longer considered a luxury item. They are now much smaller, compact and do a whole lot more than the ones from decades ago. They are also much more affordable, with a basic printer costing around £25.00. Printers are quickly becoming a part of the furniture and in fact a necessity in most homes.
We now need a printer for much more than we used to. Many people work from home and need to print off invoices, receipts or relevant paperwork. Most school homework requires print outs or neatly typed work. Tickets are often sent via email these days and need printing out. There are so many reasons why we need a printer at home. But with so many printers out there; which one do we choose?
Home printers come in many shapes, colours and sizes and each with different functions. Gone are the days when printers just printed what they were told to or made copies of existing print. These days we can copy, scan, edit photos, print via wi-fi or Bluetooth. There are many brands of printers too with the main four being – Epson, Brother, HP and Canon. I’ve had printers from all of these brands and currently have a Canon all in one printer.
When deciding on which printer is best for you it’s a good idea to consider these factors.
• Your printing needs – Is the printer for general use – i.e occasional printing when needed, homework etc? Or is it for business use which will be used more often?
• What features do you want – Do you want to beable to print wirelessly or even remotely when your not home? Do you require a scanner to scan images and documents. Do you want noise free printing, double sided printing etc.
• Cost – Most printers can be purchased at a very inexpensive price. The majority will come with ink cartridges, however once these run out you may find that the cost of replacement ink is more than the actual cost of the printer. It’s a good idea to weigh up ink costs before deciding on a machine.
Each printer will require its own brand of ink. The printer will have its own unique number and code which corresponds to the matching ink. The ink cartridges come in different sizes to fit that type of printer. Buying from the printer brand direct can be expensive. Their are many places which sell printer inks for much less such as Printerinks.com who for example sell Canon cartridges for less than £10 each. Most printers will require two cartridges one colour and one black ink. If you use your printer regularly then the cost of ink may quickly mount up over the year, therefore it’s best to shop around rather than paying up to £30 per cartridge each time.
I have had a home printer for many years. I purchase new ink as soon as my printer informs me that one of the cartridges is running low. We use our printer for many things, homework, tax receipts, invoices, postage labels, tickets, letters and much more and I would find it hard to manage without one now.
