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Tips for buying an all-in-one printer

by Bob Johnson

Created on: April 06, 2009   Last Updated: April 07, 2009

All-in-one printers, as most of the technology of today is, are a rapidly growing economy. With a flourishing economy of any electronic comes your chose of brand, quality, and capabilities. Here are some easy tips on how to find the all-in-one for you.

1. First, think about what you already have; if you have open memory on computer there is no need to get a hard drive built into your all-in-one. If you already have a nice scanner that you use every day, then there is no need to buy one built into your all-in-one, unless you feel the need for bragging rights.

2. Next, always remember to plan for the future. If you plan on having to print hundreds of color copies using your all-in-one, then you probably don't want to buy a laser jet printer because of the extremely high cartridge prices. Always buy a printer with wireless or blue tooth capabilities. Whether you have a computer with wireless now or not, wireless will eventually replace cords, and it will most likely be sooner than later.

3. ALWAYS CHECK THE WARRANTY! As with all electronics, there's always that dream printer that's completely loaded with everything you could ever need and more at a reasonable price. This is rarely true. Check the reviews of that company on the web and the warranty. Don't ever check the reviews on the website owned by the company though, because they can be very misleading. Look for the text or sticker that says five year warranty or if you want to put a little more trust in the company, two year extended warranty.

4. If you can get some basic storage built in, a simple two to four gigabytes of storage on your all-in-one can eliminate the hassle of doing multiple transfers to print your images and documents. This will also save you the money you would have spent on a flash drive for transfer. Instead of connecting your camera to your computer, which then burns to a flash drive to plug into your printer, a simple camera to printer is possible and your pictures are saved for later use.

5. Check the quality of the printer. Some companies will skimp on the software and printer so they can add more features. Check the ink cartridge, the larger the number of pigments and mixes there are, the more variety of colors the computer can use. Also check the pixels at which it prints at. A good printer should print at least four mega pixels. Finally, look for tracing software. A truly high quality printer will have this. It smooths out pixelation to make everything you print smoother.

These are my tips, hope they help!

Learn more about this author, Bob Johnson.
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