Choosing Ink Jet Printer

It is true that color ink jet printers are inexpensive and easy to use these days. However, when it comes to selection, making the right choice is not easy. Not all "color printers" are the similar. The specifications may look the same, but print quality, performance, ink consumption; paper handling and overall ease of use are all important factors that interrelate in complicated ways. You would want to buy the one with latest technology, get the highest print quality, speed and see the purchase as an investment towards future needs.

You should evaluate the printer's text and color graphics output, and if possible, compare it with the output of other ink jets. You need to get a idea of their actual print speeds. You also have to consider long term ink and paper costs. Some printers use a lot more ink than others, and some produce decent output only on expensive coated ink jet paper. Here are some factors that you need to consider while choosing an inkjet printer.

1. Photo Quality

Photo printing exerts the highest demand from an inkjet printer. If it is good at photos, it will be good for everything else. Ask for print samples. Check how realistic is the colors reproduced. See if the tones look natural. Then look at the fine details like eyebrows, number plates on cars and texture of leaves. Always chose an inkjet that delivers true photo reproduction quality right from the start.

2. Highest Resolution

It is not true that you do not need a high resolution printer just because you are home or small business user. Print resolution measured in dots per inch (dpi) is one of the major indicators of print quality. Some lower level printers can not print color at a resolution higher than 300 dots per inch though others go all the way up to 1,440 by 720 dpi. Higher resolution means sharper text, the capability to use smaller fonts and better looking graphics. Other factors such as ink dot size, shape and placement also contribute to print quality along with powerful software and built in hardware features such as superior print head.

3. Print Speed

Time is precious and a fast printer means greater productivity and efficiency for everyone. The best color inkjets today can print at speeds of up to 12 pages per minute. However, be aware that some manufacturers are using black text or simplistic color test patterns to rate their color printing speed. Always ask to see the test samples used to produce a given print speed with colored photos of at least postcard or A4 size.

4 Ink Systems

You will not get top quality color output from the cheaper, three color printers that combine cyan, magenta, and yellow inks to create black in color documents. Get a printer that holds both color and black ink cartridges at the same time.

These four factors will help you to decide as which inkjet printer you need to choose.

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