by Alan Marks

Created on: October 15, 2008

Let's start from the beginning of an inkjet relationship. Buying an inkjet printer. Inkjet printers are typically much cheaper to buy than their laser counterparts, and you can get a more than reasonable one for less than 100, whereas you will be looking at much more than that as an entry level laser printer.

The cartridges which feed the printer are also much lower in price. I would strongly recommend buying compatible cartridges rather than branded ones. Compatible cartridges are ink cartridges which work as well as branded cartridges, but are not made by the same manufacturer.

It is common practice by printer manufacturers to make a printer and sell it for, say, 30.00, or sometimes even give the printer away, and then sell ink cartridges for 15.00 each. This is because the printer makers know that the money they make comes from the ink that they sell. Some manufacturers even use scare tactics saying that your printer may not work, will not be as efficient, may catch on fire, will change all text to "I am a fish" etc. if you use any other cartridge other than a branded one. In my experience, there is no difference in quality, but definitely a difference in price.

The main super duper advantage of an inkjet printer is one of colour. Pretty much all inkjets use two cartridges, one black and white, and one colour. This means as standard, most inkjet printers can print colour documents. This advantage means that you can print small leaflets out on your home printer, pictures, and things like web pages in their full glory.

There are other inkjet printers which specialise in printing photo quality prints, and these can print an image which is about the same quality as a commercial photo developer such as Boots the chemist photo lab. Not bad for a small box in the corner. This sort of printer does tend to require special photo quality paper, but it is worth it for the effect.

One small problem with inkjet printers is that they have e tendency to dry up if not used for a couple of weeks. This means that you have to lovingly tend to your printer every now and again and make sure that you print something with it so that it doesn't feel left out and start sulking.

In my opinion, one of the best kinds of inkjet printer is the 3-or-4 in one printers. These are inkjet printers with the ability to print (obviously), scan, copy, and sometimes, fax. For a small office, or multi use home environment, this type of printer is ideal. If it is a small office, you don't really want to have to have several boxed around one for the printer, one for a scanner, a fax, and a photocopier. A 4-in-1 does it all.

Inkjets are a cheaper alternative to the laser printer, with a much lower entry cost, but if you are doing a lot of printing, they can work out more expensive. Overall then, if I put my male chauvinist hat on for a moment, inkjets are like a wife; if treated well, can be an attractive and loyal companion in fun and work, if treated badly, can cost a lot, require lots of maintenance, and make your work untidy.

How will you treat yours?

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