Sara Ziemendorf

People often ask me for Printer Recommendations.

I will not recommend inkjet printers. I believe that they have a shorter life than laserjet printers, and the ink cartridge is prone to drying up from lack of use. (Especially if you only print occasionally.)

One way to go is for your department to invest in a networked printer. These are handy because you only have to replace toner for ONE printer instead of one in each department, resulting in a LARGE cost savings. They are connected to the internet and the internet allows whomever is configured to use them. They are generally not regulated in terms of who can and who cannot use them. Of course, if the internet goes down, so goes your printing capabilities.

However, if you are looking for a printer for your own personal office, there are a few things to look for.

1. Toner Cartridge capacity. HP's sells a very nice $99 model (P1006) but it's toner capacity is only 1500 pages. Dell sells a similar $96 model (1110) and that toner capacity is 3000 pages, with an additional toner available at a higher capacity of 6000 pages. Over the life of the printer, you'll save more money with Dell because you won't have to buy as many toner cartridges.

2. Cost. If you are the only person using it, there is no need to go for a deluxe scanning/fax model, which just takes up room on your desk. Generally, the basic sub-$200 printers will do what you need.

3. Black and White vs. Color. The cost of consumables for color printers is very high. This is because there is a color cartridge for magenta, yellow, cyan and black and they each are very expensive and don't last very long. There is also a drum which needs replacement on some color printers from time to time. Unless you absolutely need a color printer, I'd suggest going B&W.

4. Type of drivers. Especially if you are using a Mac, you need to investigate if there are Mac drivers available for your printer. Most printers come by default with PC drivers. If you are using Linux, you need to check both the manufacturer and what is out in the open source community, as some people might have written their own drivers and made them available.

5. Cables. Most printers today, especially the personal printer variety, come without cables. Most are USB, and you'll need a USB cable to use them. Knowing where the printer will sit on your desk is helpful too, because you can then buy a cable at the right length. USB cables cannot exceed 15 feet without special extenders.

6. Other things to consider:

• speed of printing (expressed by Pages Per Minute (ppm))
• cost of consumables (how much will a new toner cartridge run? Is it more expensive than the cost of a brand new printer?)
• warranty (are you especially rough on your printers?)
• portability (do you want a laptop version of a printer so it is easy to tote with you?)
• how is this reviewed? Have others reviewed it badly? What issues are others saying are troublesome?