Purchase printer

Choosing the right printer is not necessarily easy. To help you make the right choice between a multifunction printer, a laser or inkjet printer, follow our Printer Print Guide ! Printing speed, resolution, front-line function, connectivity; Everything is explained to fully understand and make the right choice according to your needs. A printer comparison that sees a whole new way of thinking about printers with 3D printers arriving. Real revolution, the latter are no longer only reserved for professionals and are invited into our homes. Turned to the future and new technologies, we offer a selection of 3D printers, with 3D Systems and Makerbot, as well as their PLA and ABS cartridges for you to let your creative mind speak.

Multifunction printers

Choose the right inkjet or laser printer

Brother, Canon, Epson and HP. Four manufacturers share the market for multifunction printers, machines that allow both to print all kinds of documents and photos, but also to scan, to take photocopies and sometimes even send and receive fax. But between performance, services offered and costs, choosing among the many models on the market is not an easy task. We help you see more clearly.

• 1. Inkjet or laser printer printer ?
• 2. The print quality
• 3. Printing speed
• 4. The cost on the page
• 5. What are the connections available on a printer ?
• 6. What are the options to take into account on a printer ?
• 7. How to print cheaper ?
• 8. What is the lifespan of printers ?

→ TEST THAT CHOOSE: Multifunction printers comparison

In summary

• Inkjet printers are the most versatile, but lasers can be more suitable for certain uses.
• It can be complicated to choose the best printer without referring to independent tests.
• In addition to the purchase price, the costs of use are also to be taken into account because they can vary considerably.
• Print at home is expensive, but it is possible to lower the invoice.

Inkjet or laser printer printer ?

Inkjet printer

Inkjet printers are the most common. They work by projecting ink on a sheet through a print head made up of hundreds of tiny nozzles. They have the advantage of being inexpensive to buy and to be able to print quickly and well all kinds of documents. On the other hand, their cost to use can be high, especially in the event of occasional use. While some work with cartridges, others use tanks. The latter, more expensive to buy, make it possible to make substantial savings in use.

Laser printer

Lasers are especially suitable for those who print a lot of text, thanks to their high printing speed, but also to their toner and their large capacity paper tray that limits manipulations. These machines are more intended for office use and are not made to print photos. They are also quite bulky, somewhat noisy, more energy -consuming than ink jets and also more expensive to buy, even if their costs for use are low and stable.

Good to know. Some machines dedicated to printing photos in 10 x 15 format use the Thermal sublimation, A technology operating with thermal ribbon kits including ink and paper. The printing costs of these photo printers are therefore quite high, but controlled (between 30 and 50 cents per photo 10 x 15).

The print quality

Difficult to get in advance an idea of ​​the print quality of a machine as it depends on many criteria, such as the quality of ink, paper, internal software, components, settings , etc. The best is to trust the results of our printers test.

Good to know. The resolution of the print head, expressed in PPP (points per inch or DPI in English, for dot per inch), gives an indication of the density of ink points from the print head. However, high resolution does not guarantee better final quality.

Printing speed

It is to be taken into account, especially if you use your printer intensively. But beware: the data provided by the manufacturers is often based on pages print in rough and black and white mode. The number of pages published per minute may be less important in standard quality and color.

The cost on the page

It can be calculated by dividing the purchase price of the cartridges by the number of printed pages (when provided). However, this information will only be very approximate because the final cost depends on the type of printed document (the more texts or images, the higher it will be) and its habits. Indeed, the more we often print and the lower the cost on the page because the inkjet printers proceed, when they are used occasionally, to gourmet ink cleaning cycles which can swell costs.

→ Find the printing costs of each machine in our multifunction printers test

What are the connections available on a printer ?

Wi-Fi and Ethernet

If almost all printers can be connected directly to a computer by a USB cable, now most models are also connected to the Internet, by an Ethernet cable (the printer must then have an Ethernet port) or Wi-Fi. It is thus possible to print wireless documents from any device.

Good to know. Almost all printers now integrate the Wps (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) which allows, if the box is also equipped, to connect the printer to the network simply by pressing a button, without entering the Wi-Fi code.

Direct Wi-Fi

Wi-fi direct allows you to easily connect devices such as smartphones, tablets or computers directly to the printer without going through the Wi-Fi network of the box.

Apple Airprint

Apple AirPrint service allows you to easily print a document from its apple device (iPhone, iMac or iPad) on a printer compatible with the same local network. Manufacturers even attribute an email address to the printer to send him an email containing the documents to print.

NFC (Near Field Contact)

The NFC allows you to pair any device by approaching the printer. However, this feature is now very little present on the machines.

What are the options to take into account on a printer ?

Favor a model with a Large color touch screen. You will be able to preview the documents (especially the photos) before launching printing and navigating easily in the menus.

THE Automatic front can also be practical because it allows you to print on both sides of a leaf without having to return it manually.

If you scan or copy many pages, opt for a model with a Document charger.

And for those who print photos, think of memory card reader. Some models also integrate digitization to A USB key or the cloud, of the Specific paper tanks (for 10 x 15 photo paper, for example), printing at A3 format, etc.

How to print cheaper ?

Turn to compatible cartridges

Pelikan, France Toner, Uprint, Peach, Owa Armor. There are many brands of compatible cartridges likely to replace the original models recommended by manufacturers. It may happen that installing a compatible cartridge leads to the appearance of an alert message, but more often than not, it is enough to get over that the printer works. Be careful, however, because if they save money, all these inks do not offer the same print quality.

Use XL cartridges

These models of cartridges of the same dimensions but containing more ink are supposed to reduce printing costs.

Opt for a tanker printer

They are called Ecotank at Epson, Megatank at Canon or Smarttank at HP. These printers have the distinction of being provided with tanks that the user can simply fill. Ink, sold in bottles, comes back much cheaper than cartridges. In addition, our tests show that the quality is there and the waste is reduced.

Subscribe to a subscription

Manufacturers each offer an automatic home cartridge reception service (Inst Ink Instant at HP, Ready Print at Epson, Pixma Print Plan at Canon and Ecopro at Brother). To do this, it is necessary to have a compatible machine connected to the Internet (essential for the manufacturer to monitor ink levels and trigger the shipment at the right time) and subscribe to the service. The amount of the monthly payment varies according to the number of pages printed each month. It is therefore better to have a fairly regular use and print well -filled pages so that the service is profitable. Epson offers another formula including the loan of an ECOTANK (Ready Print Ecotank) printer).

Change your printing habits

Favor printers offering separate color cartridges, print in rough mode, choose a more economical ink print font (Garamond instead of New Roman Times, for example), delete unnecessary images, reduce the size of the documents, use the front-sided… all these small everyday actions allow to save money.

For those who are only published from time to time photos or reports, it may even be possible to do without a personal printer and occasionally call on remote printing services, photo terminals or local printing shops. We can finally try to print less. Whether it is transport tickets, concert tickets or administrative forms, more and more documents are accessible in dematerialized version.

What is the lifespan of printers ?

A survey carried out in September 2021 with 49,885 European consumers indicates that the average life expectancy of a printer is 6 years and that the first breakdowns appear after 4 years of use. However, there are differences between brands.

Printer and environment

Plastic machines made on the other side of the world and which remain connected 24 hours a day … ecologically speaking, printing at home is an aberration. The problem also comes from the economic model that pushes manufacturers to build low -end printers and to simplify their production processes as much as possible, in particular by sticking the different parts of the machine between them. Result: printers put on the market tend to break down quickly and to be difficult to reporable. However, it is possible to print more responsibly by adopting some good reflexes:

• Opt for tanks, Certainly more expensive to buy, but profitable for use and more ecological.
• Fill your cartridges yourself. Kits to put ink back in your cartridges are on sale. Websites and stores with a storefront also offer this service.
• Recycle your cartridges. Once empty, don’t throw them away. Bring them in store or recycling center, where boxes allowing them to be recovered before retreating them are installed.
• Have your printer repaired. If your machine fails, contact the manufacturer. In some cases, the repair is simple and affordable. You can also call on an independent repairer, go to a coffee repair near you (1) or try to repair it yourself. Websites (Ifixit and others) sell and provide repair kits.
• Print less. This is by far the best solution to limit your impact on the environment. At least, favor the recto-verso printing and the rough mode.

Printer

Find all the choice and quality of service LDLC.com in this space dedicated to personal or professional printing solutions. From the multifunction printer to the laser printer, without forgetting the latest 3D printers who revolutionize homemade printing, all the big brands are waiting for you: HP, Canon, Epson or Brother. You are looking for a cartridge or a toner ? Our assistant allows you to quickly find consumables compatible with your printer. The world of printing is constantly evolving. From now on, it is possible to print from any smartphone or connected mobile device, and no longer just from a computer or

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Choosing the right printer is not necessarily easy. To help you make the right choice between a multifunction printer, a laser or inkjet printer, follow our Printer Print Guide ! Printing speed, resolution, front-line function, connectivity; Everything is explained to fully understand and make the right choice according to your needs. A printer comparison that sees a whole new way of thinking about printers with 3D printers arriving. Real revolution, the latter are no longer only reserved for professionals and are invited into our homes. Turned to the future and new technologies, we offer a selection of 3D printers, with 3D Systems and Makerbot, as well as their PLA and ABS cartridges for you to let your creative mind speak.

On LDLC.com, we put many tools at your disposal and support you from A to Z in the purchase of your next printer: detailed technical sheets, customer reviews, test, purchasing guide printer purchase guide. And as we offer equipment that adapts to all budgets, from the cheap printer to the high -end printer, there is necessarily one for you. Need more and more ? Also consult our labeling or title selection for printing small labels with the biggest formats !