Printer Buying Guide: All You Need to Know Before Buying a Printer

Buying a printer for an average Joe can be a daunting task. With so many brands and models available on the internet, it is very easy to get lost in all the features, claims, and qualities. But don’t worry; if you are looking for a printer that serves your purpose best, you may want to read this piece.

This article seeks to help you to choose the best printer on Amazon Business – a platform that serves all and serves best. So, to save the buyers from the paradox of choice here is the best printer buying guide for all.

An Increasing Demand - Need for Printers at Home & Offices

With more and more people working from home, printers have become a crucial equipment for home office. While offices generally have one printer for a team or a group of employees, this is not the case for employees working from home. In the latter scenario, one needs to have a printer for all his printing requirement.

While most printers can do the basic document printing, there are certain products that have special objectives. Some premium printers are designed for photo printing. A buyer needs to keep in mind his necessities while shopping for the best printer for home use.

With that said, it is recommended to go for the best printer for office use. It can perform every printing task you throw at it, no matter what requirements are.

Set your objective

 There are many types of printers available in the market at a varied price range. They have qualities that cater to segments of professional and personal needs. Therefore, it is crucial to determine your objective before buying a printer.

If you want to buy the best printers for home use, a printer with moderate printing speed may suffice. On the other hand, the best printers for office use should have a high page yield (number of prints per cartridge/ toner). Also, the quality of prints and the cost of printing play a crucial role in determining the best printers for home and office use.

Different Types of Printers

Based on operation, there are two types of printers available in the market – inkjet printers and laser printers.

Inkjet Printers

Inkjet printers come with in-built print heads that use a cartridge of color to print on paper. These printers spray microscopic droplets of color on the paper from the cartridge using the print head. These printers are cheap compared to laser printers, but have a relatively slower rate of printing.

Ink Tank Printer 

Ink tank printers are essentially inkjets, but with some stark differences. These printers use ink tanks or bottles instead of inkjets, enabling users to have a better print quality. Although ink tank printers cost higher, it has a lower printing cost compared to the inkjet printers. Besides, the ink tank printers use a tube to deliver the ink from the tank to the printhead. The chances of the ink drying up are considerably low as compared to inkjet printers.

 Laser Printers

As the name suggests, laser printers use laser to melt the toner powder and print. These types of printers are very efficient, but relatively expensive. Unlike inkjet printers, laser printers can produce large quantity of prints without any hiccup. Moreover, the laser printers may cost more money but in the long run, they are more profitable for the nominal printing cost. For people running small or medium-sized businesses, laser printer is the best printer for office use.

 Multifunctional Printers

Multifunctional printers are the ones that can scan and copy documents apart from just printing. These are also called all-in-one printers. Some of the multifunctional printers can also send and receive fax.

Best Printers for Home Use

Be it home or home office, if a printer is an essential part of your work, choosing the best one becomes imperative. To ease that process, here is a quick guide to all the best printers for home use. Take a look at their performance in the essential areas.

Now that you know how some printers perform in the key areas – running cost, printing speed, and functionalities – choosing the best printer for home use should become a straightforward process for you. Further, to make this an effortless task, Amazon Business brings all premium printers under one umbrella. Here you can make bulk purchases at highly competitive pricing.

Best Printers for Office Use

Choosing the best printer for office use is just as easy as choosing the best printer for home use. Just as you considered the key performance areas of the printers before, you need to repeat the process.

That was a comprehensive list of best printers for office use, and clearly, the names do not appear in any order. All of these printers are excellent performers in their respective domains. Some printers may excel at speed-printing, while others may lack that exceptional speed but provide remarkable high-resolution print quality. Therefore, you should choose the one that best serves your purpose.

Top Printer Brands to Consider for Home & Office Use

In case you do not want to go with the printers mentioned in this article and want to know about other models, we can help you with that as well. To cut the clutter of an endless list of printers and make the search a little less baffling for you, here is a list of top printer manufacturing brands.

• Epson
• HP
• Canon
• Brother

Experts root for these brands for the unfaltering quality of their products. You can rely on them for all your printing needs. For other requirements, consider checking out Amazon Business's electronics and accessories category.

Top Things to Consider while Purchasing Best Printer for Home & Office Use

Before setting out on a quest for the best printer for home use, one must know the parameters of a good printer. Similarly, there are certain pointers that one must consider while trying to finalize the best printer for office use. Here is a quick guide of what to look for in a printer –

Types of Connectivity

Gone are those days when having a USB connectivity was the key selling point of a printer. With the advancement of technology, the printers have drastically evolved. There is a host of connectivity options available in modern printers. So, when shortlisting the best printers for office use, you should see if the printers have the following connectivity options.

• USB & Network Printing – Having just a USB connection is not enough. A printer with network connectivity allows the user to print documents directly from his computer, and from a distance. The computer recognizes the printer connected to the ethernet and prints the documents.
• Wi-Fi Printing – Printers with WiFi printing option does not require an ethernet connection. It can take command directly from the computer or mobile devices connected to the same WiFi network.
• Mobile Printing Apps – Some OEMs have their mobile printing apps that enable users to print anything from anywhere using the app. The printer communicates with the mobile application that may run on android, windows, or iOS devices.
• Cloud Printing – This technology allows the users to print anything from mobile devices like smartphones, tablets, laptops, and even a desktop computer connected to a wireless network. For cloud printing, the printer must be connected to the internet through a wired or wireless connection.
• iOS Printing (AirPrint) – AirPrint is a technology invented by Apple and it  allows users to print any document using their iPhone, iMac, iPad, iPod, and MacBook. The AirPrint does not require the user to download any additional driver or software. Nonetheless, the printer needs to have the AirPrint support. Many printers like the HP Laserjet Pro M126nw are Apple AirPrint compatible, which will allow you to print directly from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac devices.

Stick to your budget

At this point, you know which are the best among printers and whether they will serve your purpose or not. Next, you need to find out if the printer will fit your budget. Different types of printers have different specialties; hence, they come in different price brackets.

*Auto-duplex feature allows the printer to print on both sides of the paper, without any outside intervention

Printers that are particularly made for basic printing cost less compared to big bulky, powerful printers that have exceptional speed and quality. Corporate offices opt for such powerful printers to cater to the need of hefty print jobs. Generally, inkjet or laser printers. On the other hand, a home office can happily settle for a printer that gets the job done yet doesn’t burn a hole in the pocket.

Must Have Printer Accessories

Now that you know how to find the best printer for home use or office use, it is recommended to keep some accessories handy. Here is a quick check list of must have printer accessories –

• Toner cartridges
• Laser toner cartridges
• Ink tank
• Printer ribbon

This is a comprehensive list, and the accessories depend on the product you use. For example, if you are using a laser printer, you don’t need to purchase ink tanks. You can find all these accessories on Amazon Business portal along with other office supplies.

Maintenance and Service Cost for Home & Office Printers

Maintenance and service cost of printers depend entirely on the brand and the model, and it is very subjective. Nonetheless, we can try to give you an idea of the running cost of different types of printers in the long run.

For instance, inkjet printers with ink cartridges cost relatively less but the printing cost is far higher than ink tank printers and laser printers. The ink cartridges, on the other hand, are easy to replace, whereas refilling the ink tanks requires skill and practice.

If you do not use the inkjet printers with ink cartridges, the ink on the print head tends to dry out. At the same time, inkjet printers with ink tanks use an air-tight tube to move them. The system eliminates any chances of the color drying out even after being idle for quite some time.

Talking about laser printers, they have a relatively lower running cost. But the toner used in the laser printers are relatively expensive and replacing or refilling them may cost a little more than inkjet printers.

Buy Best Printers from Amazon Business

You can visit multiple shopping sites to find the best printer for home use or office use, or you can visit Amazon Business to find the best options under one category. Finding everything that you need on a single platform is a great privilege, but this is not the only benefit of shopping from Amazon Business.

Amazon Business is arguably the largest online wholesale market with millions of happy customers across India. It offers premium products from reputed brands. Moreover, the price of all the products is highly competitive, giving the buyer an opportunity to save more as they buy more. Amazon Business offers cashback and discounts on bulk procurements. Not to mention, you can save a lot of money by shopping during the monthly sales.

In addition to that, on Amazon Business, all the products are sold with a GST invoice . It allows the business owners to save up to 28% on GST claim input tax credit. If you own a small business and don’t have a GST number yet, don’t worry. You can use your PAN to claim the spoils of GST input tax credit.

Purchasing from Amazon Business is very straightforward. You can browse the category of products and make bulk procurements using the Amazon app. You only need an Amazon Business account. If you don’t have it, open a free Amazon Business account now.

Printer Buying Guide: FAQs

1) Which is the most reliable printer brand?

There are a host of brands producing printers, but Epson, Canon, HP, and Brother are the most trusted brands among customers.

2) What all Paper Sizes Printers are available?

There are many sizes and dimensions of papers such as A4, A3 (legal), A5, B5, LTR, LGL, 4 x 6", 5 x 7", Envelopes (DL, COM10), Custom size pages. One must carefully read the description of the printer to find what types of papers it supports.

3) Which type of printer is best for home office use?

The best printer for home office use is the one that takes less space, conserve energy, and is cost-effective.

4) What is the difference between multifunction and single-function printers?

Single-function printers only print, whereas, multi-function printers can print, scan, copy and, in some cases, can fax too.

5) Which printer is better: an inkjet or laser for office use?

Inkjet printers are cheap compared to laser printers but have a higher running cost. In the long run, laser printers are more profitable. Moreover, laser printers can print more and print fast, compared to inkjet printers.

6) What type of printers are best for office use?                   

It completely depends on the purpose of the user or the business. For example, laser printers are a lot faster than inkjet printers and more cost-effective as well. However, to print photos, inkjets are superior compared to laser printers. Laser printers are expensive to buy but they print at a relatively lower cost.

Need to purchase in bulk for your business?

Write to us at: buybulk@amazon.com for assistance