Find a Good Quality Computer Printer for Cheap

If you are looking for a cheap printer, finding the right model for your needs isn't easy, as there are so many different options. You might be interested in buying the cheapest printer you can find, or perhaps you'd like to spend a little more on a printer with more features and benefits.

This printer buyer's guide will give you all the information you need to make your decision about buying a new printer, where to get the best deals and how to get cheap printer cartridges.

What printer do you need?

In looking for the best deals on either inkjet or laser printers, to help assist with your purchasing decision, you might want to work out printing costs of the potential models.

Laser printers generally will have a lower cost per page than inkjet printers, but a higher initial outlay on the hardware, so it's something to be considered.

When Can You Get The Best Printer Deals?

There are good deals on printers all year round, but the cheapest deals are particularly common at the end of the summer. As this is the "back to school" season, many retailers and manufacturers will have super bargains as they try capture business from the students heading back to school and university.

The autumn season tends to be when printer manufacturers launch new printer models, with potential price drops on older printers at that time.

Buying a Cheap Inkjet Printer

Generally, cheap inkjet printers can be priced from £20 and upwards. We've seen prices start at around £6 from Viking Direct using a voucher stacking method, though those type of printer deals are rare, and the £20 mark seems to be more of a common starting point.

PRINTER BUYING TIP: Watch out for deals directly from the manufacturers, or from resellers like Amazon and eBuyer.

When choosing an inkjet printer, make sure you find out if it contains "starter cartridges." These ink cartridges are low capacity, designed to get you started off. However, you'll probably need to buy replacement ink cartridges within a short time (depending on usage).

There is quite a disparity in the cost-per-page on inkjet printers, between the starter cartridges and the regular ink cartridges. In extreme cases, the cost-per-page can be halved by using a full capacity ink cartridge - so make sure you research which cartridge initially comes with the printer before buying.

Check how many cartridges the inkjet printer contains. Some cheap inkjet printers contain 2 cartridges, a black and a colour. However, some printers contain black, then 3 separate cartridges for the coloured ink - possibly pushing up those running costs in the future.

Buying a Cheap Laser Printer

As for laser printers, prices can start around £40 for a mono printer, with colour laser printers starting at around £55 and upwards. Again, watch out for deals on the manufacturers websites, and check our computer section regularly for hidden deals.

Remember, check the type of toner cassette which comes with the new printer. There are also "starter" toners in many laser printers.

Printer, Scanner, Fax Machine? Buying a Cheap Multi-function Printer

Multi-function devices combine a printer and scanner into one machine. A basic multi-function inkjet printer can be had for around £35 to £70, which will likely fulfill most people's needs - watch out on Amazon for this type of offer, as we've seen a few hot deals there. Laser multi-function printers will be pricier, starting from £120 and upwards for a mono, and around £180 and upwards for a colour printer.

Tempted By That Cheap Photo Printer?

If you're thinking of buying a photo printer... consider if you really need it. With the proliferation of online companies such as Snapfish and Photobox, who will print and deliver your digital photos, you could be financially better off printing your digital photos in this manner.

The running costs of a photo printer will likely be far higher than a regular colour printer, as they may come with special photo ink cartridges which are even more expensive to refill or replace.

Additional Printer Aspects Which can affect Cost

Wireless Printing

Wireless printers don't need to be connected to your desktop or laptop computer, as they function using the wi-fi network in your home. Most basic printers do not come with this functionality, so you will pay a bit extra to buy a wireless printer.

An alternative to wireless printers for the more techie-minded consumer is to use a regular printer and a network attached storage (NAS) drive. As long as the printer is attached to the NAS drive, you can send files to the printer from anywhere in the home network. If you already use a NAS in your home, you won't need to specifically search for a wireless printer, check the specs of the potential printers for compatibility before buying.

Plan ahead - how much space do you have for your printer?

Consider where you're going to be putting your printer. If you've only got a small area to place it and need to purchase a more compact device, you might not be able to avail of the cheapest printer deals. Cheap printers tend to be quite bulky with a large footprint. You will pay a premium for a more compact printer.

Buying printers in bundle deals with PCs

Many retailers offer bundle deals when buying a laptop or a home computer, sometimes including printers, scanners, or multi-function devices. While it might seem like a good deal initially, the future costs might be excessive. Research the included device beforehand to ensure you don't end up having to buy a printer you will be more satisfied with.

Buyer Beware - Printer Cables

Most printers do NOT come with cables to hook them up to your computer. A cheap cable from Dealextreme or Monoprice will perform just as well as an expensive cable from PC World. You shouldn't pay any more than a few pounds for this.

Finding Cheap Inkjet Cartridges

Whether you opt for an inkjet or a laser printer, the cost of future consumables should have a huge effect on your purchasing decision. As it can sometimes be cheaper to buy a brand new device than replace the ink cartridges on your existing printer, it's definitely something that should be taken into account.

Printer ink cartridges can be surprisingly expensive in comparison to the purchase price of the printer, sometimes being a substantial fraction of the initial cost of the device. You must take this into account when initially choosing a printer, as the type of ink cartridge in use will greatly affect the lifetime running costs of the printer.

When buying ink cartridges for your inkjet printer, you've got 3 options to choose from:

• Refillable ink cartridges - cheapest
• Compatible ink cartridges - medium price range
• Manufacturer's own ink cartridges - most expensive

Cheap refillable cartridges

Out of the above three options, the cheapest ink cartridge in terms of your initial spend is going to be the refillables. Basically, you can buy a kit which enables you to replace the ink in your existing cartridge. Ebay would be the best place to look for good deals on these kits, but you can also buy them from some reputable stores, such as Amazon or even Tesco. Prices may vary quite a lot depending on the make and model of the printer itself, but you can expect to pay anywhere from £5 to £30 for an ink refill kit.

These ink cartridges cost the least at the outset, but there are potential issues with them. Some manufacturers state that using cheap refillable ink cartridges will invalidate your printer warranty. However, there is really no way for them to actually know or prove that you are using refilled ink cartridges. But if you're using ink refills on a printer out of warranty anyway, then there's nothing to worry about in that regard.

The quality of the printing might also be compromised. If you only use your printer for basic text and documents, then this shouldn't be an issue. There are reports that documents printed using refilled cartridges may fade more rapidly over time, but you'll have to weigh up the cost with the benefits.

In terms of the specific brands, Dell, Canon, HP, and Lexmark cartridges are considered the easiest to refill.

Some ink cartridges have built-in counter chips which prevent re-use after refilling. However, you can purchase a chip resetter for some models of printers. Again, eBay is a good place to shop for this type of thing.

Cheap compatible cartridges

The second type of ink cartridges you can buy are known as "compatibles." These ink cartridges are simply non-branded copies of the manufacturer cartridges. Compatible ink cartridges are likely to be slightly more expensive than refillables, but less expensive than the manufacturer's own products. For example, prices might range from £10 to £40.

When you find a good deal on a printer, do a bit of research to make sure that it will accept these generic ink cartridges. Some printers do not.

Branded ink cartridges

The manufacturer's own brand of ink cartridges is going to be the most expensive option, unless there happens to be a dedicated sale with "buy one get one free" offers, or something similar. Prices vary wildly across manufacturers. When you decide on a specific model of printer, it's worth checking out the manufacturer's retail price before making any decisions.

Where to buy Cheap Ink Cartridges

When you are looking for prices for ink cartridges, initially find out the cost to buy a branded cartridge directly from the manufacturer. You can use this amount as a baseline to price compare the other options.

One of your first stops when looking for cheap ink cartridges should be eBay.

To show an example of the above principle, branded cartridges for the HP Officejet 6000 inkjet printer start at £15 for the small black cartridge, and £11 each for the 3 colours, magenta, cyan and yellow. This means that you would pay £48 to replace all the cartridges from HP. A quick search on eBay shows the individual branded cartridges from £8 to £12 each, a full set of compatibles for around £5 to £10, or refill kits for £10 to £15. You can purchase this printer for around £35, so it really shows you the discrepancy between the device cost and the consumables.

Many online stores specialise in selling ink cartridges too, and a quick Google search will point you in the right direction.

You can check out all the specialist office stationers such as Staples and Viking Direct - it's good to compare prices from these retailers.

Time vs Saving

Hunting around for the best deal on cheap ink cartridges can be quite time consuming. You've got to weigh up the cost of time spent searching compared to the actual savings. If searching for another hour is going to save you £1, is it worth it? If you find a good price and you're happy to make the purchase, then go for it. But remember - spending 10 minutes hunting for ink deals on eBay can save you tens of pounds.

Conclusion

For the average home user on a budget, an inkjet printer may well suffice. But the savings that can be made over the lifetime of a laser printer will far outweigh the costs. Where possible and if within budget, a laser printer is the best option.

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