Inkjet Printers: Buying Guide
What Is an Inkjet Printer?
Inkjet printers create sharp, crisp lines using liquid ink for printers. The ink is sprayed through nozzles that make microscopic dots, helping transfer color and black inks uniformly on a sheet of paper. This method of printer results in bright, vivid colors and graduations that make images and graphics stand out. There are also black and white inkjet printers that provide clear text and deep blacks, ensuring each page has a professional look.
Why do I need an inkjet printer?
Inkjet printers are a great choice for home office, personal, student, or business use. You can print documents in black and white or in color, print out full-color business brochures or important family photos, and much more, all for a price that won't bust the family or business budget. Inkjet printers are generally more economical than laser models and are also often easier to set up and configure.
Where can I buy an inkjet printer on a budget?
Whether you're printing documents and spreadsheets, or creating colorful brochures and charts, Sam's Club has inkjet printers that meet the needs of home and business users.
What is the Best InkJet Printer for Me?
- Home Use: For personal or home office use, just about any inkjet printer will do. Look at the system requirements for your printer carefully, especially if you're selecting a wireless model.
- Student: Students may need more compact models due to smaller dorm-room spaces, so look at the dimensions for the printers you're considering and make sure the footprint is sufficient for the student's available desk space.
- Small Business: Small businesses may need more capacity and page speed than more casual users. Check out page load or capacities, as well as the print speed and document feeder capacity.
- Large Business: For large businesses and busy offices, you'll want to maximize page print speed and print capacity for the cartridges. Larger document feeder capacity is also helpful since it means employees won't have to restock paper as frequently.
- Photographer: Look for models made specifically for printing photos of different sizes. Whether printing a color photo for friends and family or capturing important moments throughout the company, an inkjet photo printer lets you print them all immediately, without sacrificing color saturation.
What are the Different Types of Inkjet Printers?
Wireless
A wireless printer allows you to network multiple devices together without the need for cumbersome cords running throughout the home or office. Many modern inkjet printers offer wireless connectivity. Review the system requirements for these printers carefully and make sure your computers have the right RAM, drive space and operating systems to support the hardware necessary for wireless printing.
All-in-One or Multi-Function
All-in-one printers combine scanning, printing, copying and faxing into a single device. These multifunction printers are an ideal solution for any office or home that needs to maximize space.
Multifunction printers such as the Canon PIXMA and Brother Wireless All-in-One Inkjet Printer (Model MFC-J775DW) provide the same speed and print quality as single-function devices, helping to increase productivity. These all-in-one printers are typically Wi-Fi enabled, allowing multiple devices to connect without relying on cords throughout the home or office. There are also apps available on some models that let users print from mobile devices, even when they're not nearby.
What Are the Advantages of Inkjet Printers?
Inkjet printers offer a number of advantages over laser printers. Some of the key benefits that inkjet printer users enjoy include:
- Affordable: Inkjet printers and cartridges are more affordable than comparable laser printers and toners. You can get high-quality printed documents and images at a price that's much more budget-friendly. And with Sam's Club's members-only prices, you can rest assured you're getting the best value for your money.
- Easy to Use: Inkjet printers are generally more user-friendly, both in the initial set up and for ongoing use. When you select an all-in-one printer, you're also getting additional functions that are just as easy to operate.
- Great for Photography: If you print pictures frequently, a photo inkjet printer will provide you with everything you need to create professional-quality prints. These printers use bold inks that create true-to-life colors, making every image appear crisp and professional.
- Can Print on Any Paper: You won't need special paper or paper sizes to print out your important documents (with the exception of photos, which require photo paper). Pick the paper that's right for your needs.
What to Consider When Buying Inkjet Printers
- Speed of Printing: Printers come with different print speeds, usually measured in pages per minute. If you are doing a lot of printing over a limited amount of time, you'll want to make sure that print speed is a pace that suits your needs.
- Cost of Ink: Every printer needs ink, and inkjet cartridges come in a wide variety of prices. Make sure you look at the kind of ink your printer manufacturer recommends for your model before you make your purchase.
- Printer Support: Consider the level of customer support your printer manufacturer offers, as well. Whether you prefer a quick phone call to a technical support representative or a text-based email ticket system, know what you'll be dealing with if you run into a problem with your new printer.
What Brands of Inkjet Printers Does Sam's Club Sell?
At Sam's Club and SamsClub.com, you can find popular and well-reviewed printers from name brands you trust, including:
- Brother
- HP
- Canon
- Epson
FAQ - Inkjet Printers
Why is printer ink expensive?
Today's inkjet printers are often much less expensive than their predecessors. Printers are often sold either at cost or even at a loss because the manufacturer chooses to earn its profit from the ink cartridges you'll buy later. Since those cartridges must be refilled on an ongoing basis, the ink costs can add up. Frequent color inkjet printer usage may increase your costs. An all-in-one printer that is used as a copier may need more frequently ink refills, too.
What printer is most ink efficient?
Ink costs will vary according to usage, environment and other individual factors over time. However, many of the brands and models that are often recommended for ink cost control are available at SamsClub.com, including the Brother Wireless All-in-One Inkjet Printer, HP OfficeJet and HP OfficeJet Pro.
Is it worth it to buy a printer?
It's a fairly simple matter to calculate the cost versus benefit of buying a printer as opposed to paying to print documents (at a library or office store, for example). Simply add up the total costs for the printer plus ink and paper, then divide by the per-page cost of printing elsewhere.
However, that doesn't take into consideration other non-financial costs, such as your time and the gas involved in getting to the office supply store or library. It also doesn't take into consideration the lost opportunity cost - that is, you could be doing something else with the time you'd spend traveling and printing out your documents.
Is it cheaper to print your own photos?
It may well be cheaper to print your photos at home as opposed to using some online or locally-based printing service. This is especially true if you print out more than a photo or two every so often. Additionally, home printing gives you far more control over the whole process, from paper to ink quality and more.
How long should a printer last?
Printers can last a number of years with proper care and usage. Generally, modern inkjet printers last between three and five years. Misuse, damage or heavy use can shorten that timeframe.
How long does printer ink last?
Inkjet cartridges last about two years, give or take. After this point, you could probably still use the cartridge but the print quality may decrease, as the cartridge's sponge begins to dry up and wear out.
Each manufacturer should list a specific page yield or capacity for its cartridges. To get a quick and slightly more accurate estimate of how many pages your cartridge will print, divide the page yield by 100, then multiply that result by 15. (This formula "corrects" for the assumption behind the page yield that only 5% of each page is covered with ink, when in reality, printed pages generally have closer to 15% coverage.)
