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Ok, so you have decided to buy a new printer ! The old printer is getting "cranky" the print quality is down, and it is slow ! Here is what I would suggest that you do.

Sit down at the kitchen table or wherever with pen and paper or at the computer with notepad or a word processor.

Determine how many pages a day you will be printing. If the number is over 8 pages a day and we are talking everyday toss all printers priced below $100.00 , these are "home class" printers and they will wear out quickly.

The inkjet printer market , because of the volume that is bought is one of the most "price-driven" markets in the computer industry. There are many gimmicks used to lower the price of an inkjet printer, the two most prevalent

is durability and ink costs. The ink costs means you toss all HP and Lexmark printers.

HP and Lexmark both incorporate the print head into the cartridge. This allows both companies to "patent" the cartridge and that translates into high prices for ink cartridges. If you are the only "ballgame" in town you can charge what you want for your ink cartridges ! It's true you can refill their empty cartridges but it is somewhat messy, time consuming, and limited. It's limited because the empty cartridges can only be refilled so many times before the print quality starts going downhill and you have to purchase a new cartridge at $28.00 to $40.00 dollars a pop.

Concentrate on Canon and Epson. Both of these companies use a "tank system" for delivering ink. I rate Canon ahead of Epson. Epson puts a chip on each cartridge to prevent you from refilling (it was originally a design scheme to make you buy their cartridges like HP and Lexmark). Generic cartridge makers figured out a way around this but this also raises the price on generic cartridges since there is a cost to produce and attach a chip.

Ok, now we have determined printing volume, next figure out the uses, are we wanting to print out photo's ? If so the entry price for an inkjet printer is going to go up ! Many new inkjet printers feature 6 and 7 color printing by incorporating photo black, photo cyan, and photo magenta inks to improve "toning" on photo's. Don't get me wrong, you can print a "photo quality" picture from a 4 color inkjet but it will not have the quality that the 6,7 and now 8 color photo printers can produce.

Other features on photo printers is Pict-bridge (only a memory card from a camera is necessary to print) and large print formats up to 13X19.

Beware The "All In Ones" Ever heard the term "Jack of all trades and master of none" ? That is the way I would describe the multifunction printer/scanner/copiers/fax machines. If you need a fax/copier and you have a space consideration then fine a low end multifunction machine might be for you but don't expect it to be a fast printer and don't expect the photo quality to approach a dedicated photo printer.

More consumer info about electronics can be found at electronicz.com