Understanding the True Price of a Printer

Printers have come a long way in the past decade. When printers were introduced, they were gigantic machines that looked like robots. You often needed an entire desk just for the printer alone. They were slow and so loud that you could not carry on a conversation if you were in the same room as the printer. Typically, they were only capable of printing black and white images that consisted of large dots.

Today’s printers have improved on their predecessors’ previous faults. Printers are now much smaller and they don’t look quite so robotic. They are capable of printing extremely fast. Some printers can print an entire page of text in just seconds and they are much quieter than before. Printers are now also capable of printing photo quality prints in high definition. Even though printers have gone through so many changes, there is still one thing that every consumer must overcome and that is the true price of a printer.

What is the True Price of a Printer?

The cost of a printer goes far beyond sticker price. Printer manufacturers will always introduce their printers at low prices. Low prices are a great way to entice people to buy their product. It lures you in and makes the buying decision easier. This is exactly the reaction that the printer manufacturer wanted.
If you are printer shopping and Printer Model A offers the same features as Printer Model B, but one of them has a lower price tag, which is more attractive? It is usually the model that has the lower price tag. Don’t let this price on the printer hardware fool you, however. There are many, many other costs involved. These costs are called “printer life cycle costs.”

Understanding Printer Life Cycle Costs

This is where the true cost of the printer shows itself and you might not like what it reveals. In order for a printer to work, you need three important components: power, ink and paper. These are called “consumables” and some printers go through them more frequently than others. This can raise the life cycle costs of a printer. Imagine bringing your new printer home and finding out that the ink only lasts a few days. To make matters worse, the replacement ink costs almost as much as the printer itself.
Figuring out the printer life cycle costs can be a difficult task. Not every printer has the same life cycle cost and there are no labels on the printer packaging to indicate the cost of consumables. However, there are some things that you can do to keep your printer costs down.

Find Discount Consumables

The largest cost associated with printing is the ink. You don’t have to buy the ink directly from the printer manufacturer. There are several online stores, such as Cartridge Discount UK, that offer discounts on ink. These online stores can help you save considerably when it comes to printer ink. Such savings assist in keeping printer life cycle costs down.
There are plenty of online stores that offer discounts on paper as well. Finding discount consumables is an excellent way to keep your printing costs down, but there is another way that may prove even more useful.

Change Your Print Quality

Almost every single printer has settings that you can configure and most people don’t even realize this. Within these settings, there is usually a print quality selection. By default, your printer may be using the “best quality mode.” This mode may print the best quality prints, but for regular everyday printing, it is not necessary. A print quality of just 50 percent can double the life of your ink.
To understand how much a printer is truly going to cost, you have to factor in the costs of the consumables. The initial price, no matter how good it looks, could be misleading.

Janet Bartley is a contributing author has worked for a printer company since the early 2000s. She has firsthand witnessed the printer’s evolution. When Janet is not working, she likes to read about the latest in technology.

About Jakk: Jakk Ogden is a professional self-employed blogger and the founder / owner of Technology Blogged. 22, with a love for good writing, you'll find me playing 'Drag Racing' on my HTC One X and rocking a pair of Grado headphones. If you love technology, be sure to subscribe to my feed for unique editorials. Find me on Google+. View author profile.