There are many decisions one has to take while buying a printer. And considering the fact that there are many printer companies floating around in the market with their own useful features, the task is really cut out for ordinary users. As with the case with any other product, you first need to find out what exactly is your requirement and what is it that you intend to print. If you are able to answer these questions, you can be rest assured that the final answer you are seeking becomes lot more close than you would have ever imagined.

Given below are some of the things you might consider looking at while shopping for a brand new printer.

1. The type of work you intend to do

One look around in the market place is enough for you to realize that there are many configurations available in printer segment and each one of them is specialized in carrying out its set of applications. So it's not hard to find something like Disc CD printers, Photo printers, Ink jet printers, Multifunction printers etc.

If you intend to use printers only for printing the photographs, you can always use ink jet systems as they are largely known for their color output and their capability in printing up to the edge of the paper. Similarly, if you intend to carry out different functions in a single device, you can use Multifunction printers that are being developed by many manufacturers these days.

If you are a home user then your requirements could be a more general one. In such a case, you can buy a printer based on document types you would wish to produce later and their quantity. Laser printers are good if you require high speed. However this hardware cost is really high. Ink jet printers on the other hand will offer you better output but their consumable cost will be on a higher side.

2. Cost

Different assessments can be made on a printer based on cost factor alone. As such, the cost of printers can vary a great deal depending upon the model and brand you choose for your purpose. You might want to find out the cost that you are likely to incur per page while buying a particular printer. You might even consider the quantity of pages you are likely to print while purchasing one of these machines etc.

3. Technical aspects

The quality of print out you will get will depend on the resolution levels of your printer. There are many printers available today that offer resolution levels up to 600*600 dpi. However, certain high end plotters and photo printers are known to produce even higher resolutions and large number of dots on a given vertical plane than other forms. It is imperative to consider other factors too while choosing a printer. Speed is another aspect you would like to consider. The actual speed of your chosen printer will depend on a number of factors like the size of file, weight of paper and so on.