10th September 2002
Question: I'm looking for a good color personal printer to replace my Canon BJC-250, what type of specifications should I be looking for?
Answer: I know every computer technician has heard the question at least once; the infamous "what printer to buy" question. I actually like getting these questions from time to time, because it forces me to look at color inkjet printers. I use a black and white laser printer for most tasks, but I too have to occasionally break out the old Canon 4300. Every printer manufacturer will have some quirk that supposedly makes their printer better than the others, but in most cases they are all pretty similar. When looking for a printer, you need to ask yourself, "what am I wanting to print in color?" If you are printing out some color web sites and don't want just black and white then you probably can get by with a low-end/cheap color printer.
On the other hand, if you are looking more into printing photos and making little desktop projects, like greeting cards, then there are a few things you should look for in a printer. Some printers use a color print cartridge that holds the three inks needed to print in color (cyan, magenta, and yellow) in the same cartridge. This means that if you run out of yellow only, then you will still have to replace the whole ink cartridge. You can, however, buy a printer that uses separate cartridges for each ink color. Resolution can also be a deciding factor, if you want to print out images. But remember, once you go above 600 dpi on your printouts, you need to use glossy paper.
Personally, I like to recommend printers that have both a parallel and USB connector. This makes sure you can always connect your printer to virtually any machine. Some people also have mixed computer households, meaning that they have one PC and one Macintosh. If your printer has both parallel and USB connectors then you could connect the USB connector to the Macintosh and the parallel to the PC. This way, you don't have to worry about printer sharing issues.
If you are stuck between two printers, a good deciding factor could be the print speed. A fast print speed, while nice, is not a necessity, but it is the perfect tie-breaker. One other factor in printers that frequently gets overlooked is the printer supplies after the purchase. You could buy the cheapest printer but if the ink cartridges only hold 22 milliliters and cost 60 dollars a piece, you are better off going with the more expensive printer that has cartridges that hold 44 milliliters and cost 50 dollars. There are always new technologies in printers that can sway your purchasing opinion but hopefully this will give you a good grasp of the basics to look for.