We all know the perils of buying items that are too cheap. They seem like a great bargain to begin with, but after a short period of time, they start playing up and not working properly. It doesn’t always happen like this, but cheap items – no matter what category they fall into – are often not as long-lasting as more expensive and better quality ones. The same applies to printers, as we all know here at A1 Digital Solutions
Cheap ones can last a long time, but you do get more for your money if you are prepared to spend a bit more initially. This is where the idea of the all in one printer can really be of use. A basic printer with no other functions could well be cheaper than one which also gives you a scanner and a copier rolled into one. But does that make it a better buy?
Here is a challenge for you that illustrates the potential problem.
Let’s say you see an all in one printer advertised for £150. You have also seen a very basic printer without the scanner and copier aspects for £75. You don’t think you will need the scanner or the copier anyway, so you decide to save yourself £75 and buy the basic printer.
But there are two potential pitfalls here.
First, you need to look at the cost of the inks that each model requires. Some are available much more cheaply than others. Obviously, you need to bear this cost in mind because you will be spending a lot of money on ink cartridges over a longer period of time. You also need to be aware that some printers take an all in one cartridge, while others take individual cartridges for all the colours and the black ink. What you need to bear in mind is that if you go with just the one ‘all in’ cartridge, you will have to change it every time one colour or the black runs out.
So you could use up all the black ink and still have it full up with colour ink – and you would still have to go and buy another cartridge. Furthermore, you might find later on that you actually do need to have a scanner or copier for some reason. And if your current printer doesn’t have that function you will end up having to go out and buy a new one – or a separate scanner or copier – for even more money.
So it pays to think about the ‘whole price’, if you like, and not just the price of the printer itself. Once you start adding up all those costs for ink – especially over the course of a few months – you will soon see that paying a bit more initially really does make a big difference in the long run.
It depends on what you need and how often you use your printer of course. But make sure you think about all the options before you buy.