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Digitization and the greater presence of devices such as smartphones and tablets may have reduced the prominence of home printing, but there are still many who bet on the paper format of a lifetime. Beyond the business like sell photography and professional niche, the offer of home printers is very varied in terms of features and cost. How to find the best printer for infrequent use in 2020.
In this home printer buying guide, we help you choose the one that best suits your needs and budget.
Contents
Choosing the best home printer
Although many of us get carried away by the offer – and that is that there are truly affordable models that make us think if it is more worthwhile to renew the printer or buy the consumable – the key factors when choosing the best printer 2020 are the printing technology that uses, print speed, additional features or cost per page. However, factors such as connectivity or the size we have are also important.when you use occasionally something or we must focus on quality printer so our focus will be on quality best printer for infrequent use.
Printing technology
Printing technology is decisive in terms of costs, both for printing and for the acquisition of the peripheral in question.
Inkjet
It is the most popular technology in this sector, although the laser is gaining ground. The prices of these printers in their simplest versions are usually quite cheap, allowing us not only to print in color but also to access models that also scan or photocopy. Here we will look at the included cartridges, their capacity and price.
Also, it is worth looking at whether there are compatible consumables that make the investment cheaper. Be careful because with this type of printer it is important to consider how much we print: if we are going to use it intensively, the cost per page will be higher than with other technologies. But if we are going to print little, we run the risk that the cartridges dry.
Laser printers
Laser printers use a toner (powdered pigments) instead of cartridges, offering a generally lower cost per page than ink printing. The single-color models for this sector are relatively affordable, so they are especially attractive if you are going to print documents in black and white, whether you are going to use them intensively or if the idea is to print from time to time.
Ink tank printers
Ink tank printers are the latest to arrive and are slowly gaining ground. These are inkjet printers but with tanks or tanks instead of cartridges, something that translates into a lower cost per copy, since you only need to recharge the ink and not replace the cartridge.
They are positioned right in the middle of the previous ones, for those users who need inkjet technology but want to print a high workload. In general, they are more expensive and bulky than the standard ones.
Always with “ink”: initial packs and subscription services
Who has not had a time when their printer runs out of ink at the most inopportune moment (especially the day before they have to deliver a job)?
To alleviate this unpleasant unforeseen and hand in hand with the connectivity that these printers include , continuous supply services have emerged that ensure that we print the quantity we print – yes, the price will vary – we always have ink. These are some of the plans of the main manufacturers on a domestic scale:
- HP offers HP ENVY or Deskjet families of HP Instant Ink, a subscription service based on our printing needs. So when the printer runs out of ink, HP receives a notice and sends it to us. From 2.99 euros per month for 50 pages per month (15 pages per month are free)
- At EPSON there is a plan for EcoTank printers with a ” card without limits “, which offers coverage for two years. Another option is ReadyInk for Expression, in this case, the printer notifies when the ink level is low and the ink is sent, making the payment at that time.
- Brother has the All in Box plan, which includes a three-year warranty and consumables included in the initial price on single-color laser models (according to the manufacturer, calculated according to a monthly volume of 138 pages). In this sense, it is not a continuous supply service, but it is an interesting pack to save if we move in those printing volumes
Printer types by functionality
As we have seen, intensity and application determine which technology to opt for, although we can also go further with additional functions.
The starting point is the basic printer, for documents of all kinds, but we will also find multifunction models that solve such useful tasks as photocopies or scanning – at the business level, there are still faxes. One of the strengths of these multifunction models is that we can find ourselves in the most affordable ranges and in a fairly compact format, making that for almost the same price, we can gain in functionality.
Of course, if the idea is that it is not sporadic use but that we are going to use this multifunction frequently, eye to the resolution of the scanner (dpi) and consumption.
If we want it to print photographs , we will also find families that support photo paper, higher quality pigment inks, higher resolution and more refined printing technology.
How is it controlled?
Although we will always have the cable to connect the printer to the computer, there are other ways of managing the best printer 2020 that can be very useful depending on the location of the printer and where we are going to send the files.
For example, Wi-Fi, something that opens the doors not only to use it wirelessly – with the convenience of not having to have both devices physically close – but also of being able to send files from the tablet or smartphone. However, there are also Bluetooth and NFC, which simplify the procedure with mobile devices.
Within Wi-Fi, it is interesting to bet on those with Wi-Fi Direct, a direct communication protocol between devices that prevents us from access points, although some manufacturers have similar technologies for direct connection.
If it is a very complete or multifunction model, it is also useful that it has a screen that speeds up use and allows us to put it into action autonomously, without the need for a PC or other device.
Other aspects
From the choice of the type of printer we want and the connectivity we want, there are another series of extras to consider buying the best printer 2020.
- The automatic paper loading is very practical if we are to much print, store enabling role in another repository
- Another very useful feature is the automatic double-sided printing , which will avoid us having to be pending to do it manually, saving paper and time (because if we have to do it ourselves we will surely be lazy)
- Within domestic printers, the format is A4, but the quality of the supported paper (maximum grammage) does vary , especially if the idea is to print on photographic paper or cardboard.
- Some manufacturers offer the yield of pages by cartridges , a data based on test standards that although it serves as an approximation, is far from the actual use
- Although it is not decisive, it does not hurt to take a look at the printing speed of each page (both in single color and in color, if allowed)
This was the guide for buying the best printer 2020. No that you know what to look for in a printer. We will recommend some of our top notch printing choices in the 2nd part of this article.
