In today’s world, when working and studying from home are not a novelty but a lifestyle, the demand for home printers has skyrocketed. Over the past ten years, these devices have not changed much from a technical point of view but the developers managed to improve the print quality.

So, when it comes to selecting a printer for your home, there is a need to start with a clear understanding of what you plan to use it for. Your primary goal will define the models you should pay attention to and help you set up the optimal budget that you will need to make a purchase. Below you will find several vital points that will help you make the right choice and choose a printer that will perform all the necessary tasks to fulfill your business and personal needs.

How to Choose the Right Printer for Home Office

Which manufacturers should you pay attention to? Today, this market segment offers many models. Among the most famous manufacturers are Canon, Epson, HP, Samsung, Brother, and Xerox. By the way, if you are considering buying a printer from Epson, then you can always turn to online experts to get quality help with any kind of Epson printer problems which still are very unlikely to happen.

For home use, users most often choose between the two printing technologies. We are talking about laser and inkjet printing technology. To understand which printer is better to buy for home use, you have to answer the next questions:

• For what needs the device will be used (printing photos, documents, and so on);
• How often your printer will be used (once a day, month, year);
• what kind of printing do you need – color or black and white;
• The budget to make a purchase;
• The maintenance cost;
• The possibility of having ink refill and, if necessary, restoring cartridges.

Important Features That Will Help You Choose the Right Printer

Before you choose a printer for home use, you need to answer some questions that will help you choose the right equipment. Here are some points that will help you to make the right choice.

Determine Which Files You Will Print

Figure out what you’ll be printing. Will it be only text documents or graphics and photos? Depending on your answer, it becomes clear that only color printing is required for the photo. And if you print only text without illustrations, then you can get by with black and white printing. If you plan to print photos at a professional level, then the choice of model should be made in this segment.

Determine How Often You Will Use the Printer

How often do you plan to use the printer? Ink in inkjet printers dries out quickly if you will not use them on a regular basis. So, the choice of your printer type will largely depend on this factor. Using an inkjet printer for printing once a month isn’t the best idea either. Also, each device has a recommended load, and daily and monthly performance. If it is exceeded, then the equipment will wear out faster. Therefore, this is an important point which you should pay attention to.

Pay Attention to Print Speed

How important is typing speed to you? If you are working with multi-page documents with a large volume, then this characteristic may be critical. But for the home, in most cases, even a speed of 10 sheets per minute will be enough. Therefore, if you need a printer that will be more efficient in the context of printing, then you should pay attention to models from the middle class that offer printing from 20 pages per minute.

Check Print Resolution

Depending on the purpose for which you plan to use the printer, you need to consider possible resolutions. It is important to understand that the higher the resolution, the slower the technique works and the clearer the image is. A resolution of 600 dpi will be sufficient for printing texts. For pictures taken on an amateur camera, 1200 dpi will be enough.

Determine the Printer Connection Method

You need to determine how your printer will be connected, as there are many different options today. For example, if you have a local network spot at home or want to connect the device directly to a router, then an Ethernet/LAN connection will be enough. If you plan to do without wires, then choose a Wi-Fi connection. If you need to connect it directly to a computer, you can use a regular USB cable (most of the models available support this feature, and usually, they are the budget-friendliest ones). However, if you are interested in a wireless connection, then you should definitely study the characteristics since this function may not be available in every printer model.

Consider Your Printer Size

One way or another, the printer will occupy a certain place on your desktop. Accordingly, you should think about the optimal size of the device in order to equip your workplace. If you have no problems with free space, then the issue of dimensions is the question of design.

Define Printing Technology

There are different types of printers on the market today. For example, you may consider printing documents using laser or inkjet printing technology. There is an opinion that inkjet devices are more environmentally friendly since they do not involve the use of toner. Also, these models are suitable for printing photos.

Laser printers have more economical consumables. However, they are not suitable for printing photos. Also, such models are in a more expensive price segment and consume more electricity.

Wrapping Up

So which printer to buy for home office use? For printing photos, choose inkjet ones; for printing a lot of documents it is optimal to pay attention to the laser printers. If the frequency of printing is episodic, it is worth giving preference to the laser model since in this case you will not encounter drying out of the toner, and the device will work properly.

Christine Tomas is a tech expert, consultant, and aspiring writer. She writes for
different news portals and thematic blogs for tech experts that helps her stay at the
heart of programming, technology news.