Friday 4 November 2011

Basic Tips On Shopping For Printers For Laptops

You can increase your laptop's functionality by getting a printer that goes with it. There are so many printers for laptops available nowadays, for sure there's a specific model out there that can meet your needs. However, the challenging part is looking for that specific unit. Worry not because below are some simple guidelines on buying one.

Going for a reliable brand is a good idea. It may not be the cheapest one around, but you know it's going to be of service for you for a long time. Besides, in case you need to purchase accessories or parts, you won't have a hard time finding them. Purchasing something that's from a cheap brand might only get broken easily.

Go for something that equals the portability of the laptop you own. Some models may have compact sizes but they may be on the heavy side. It's also possible for a large model to be light. Find a unit that's both compact and lightweight so you may lug it around hassle-free. There are models with such specifications, especially designed for people who are on the go always.

However, when picking a model that's compact, see to it that it can work on standard media sizes like letter, legal or executive. There are units out there that are limited when it comes to media sizes handled. That's why you should point out the size of documents you commonly print. For flexibility, choose a model which can also work on different media types.

Because of size discrepancies, all the ports you can find on a desktop computer may not be found on a laptop, especially a small one. For this reason, the printer you're eyeing should have a hi-speed USB 2.0 interface for easy hooking up with a laptop. Purchasing a printer that only sports a parallel port may not be a good idea at all.

A monochrome one is usually cheaper than something which can churn out both monochrome and color prints. Point out what your everyday printing needs are to be able to decide which of them to pick. It's also important to consider the resolution. This is measured in terms of dpi (dots per inch). If what you need to print are documents containing plain text, something that has a 600 x 600 dpi resolution is okay. A higher resolution is better for printing graphics.

The ppm, or short for pages per minute, will show you how fast the unit works. By and large, a printer is capable of producing more pages a minute when doing black-and-white tasks. You should also check out of the first-page-out time on the specifications list. This indicates how long will it take for the document to be printed from the time the data is transmitted to the printer.

Take a look as several different printers for laptops available out there. Go online and compare their features and prices. Read review by experts or drop by forum sites where the model you're considering to buy is being talked about.

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