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How To Buy a Color Printer
- By Matthew Ferrara
- Published May 27, 2005
- Buying Guides
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"Mid Range" Color Printer Specifications
Color printers are excellent ways to produce high quality in-house marketing materials. Keep in mind some of these important tips when selecting a color printer:
- Check out the INK CARTRIDGE prices before selecting a model; often cheaper printers have higher-cost supplies later which you cannot avoid!
- Make sure your printer uses the USB 2.0 cable standard, for faster printouts and performance
- Color printers with built in memory or expandable memory slots make it easier to send a print job to the printer and free-up your computer for other tasks while it prints
- Color printers can be very slow – especially cheaper models – so a few more dollars spent on a faster model up front can save time (which is money!) every day
- The “higher resolution” settings of some color printers can be misleading; oftentimes these high-res qualities can only be seen with expensive, specialty paper or extra-cost ink. In general, 1200 dpi printing is more than enough for everyday marketing pieces.
Great Performance Color Printers
| FEATURE | “What to Look For” SPECIFICATIONS | | FEATURE | “What You’ve Found” SPECIFICATIONS |
| Memory | 64 MB | | Memory | |
| Print Speed | 11-18 ppm color | | Print Speed | |
| Resolution | 2400 x 1200 dpi | | Resolution | |
| Networking | Ethernet Adapter | | Networking | |
| Connectivity | USB | | Connectivity | |
| Total Media | 250 pages | | Total Media | |
| Cartridges | Black, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow | | Cartridges | |
| Monthly Duty Cycle | 25,000 pages | | Monthly Duty Cycle | |
| Matthew's Opinion: |