When it comes to colour printing, most people immediately turn to inkjets. True, they're the obvious choice for home users and a significant number of businesses, but their capabilities vary widely and there are alternatives. This guide highlights what's on offer from the various technologies and models on the market, to help you find the colour printer to meet your demands. If you're looking for text prints, with occasional colour logos and graphics, the cheapest inkjet may well suffice. Speed will be the biggest trade-off, but for occasional letters a couple of pages in length, this shouldn't be a problem.
Speed is important for the business user printing multiple copies or long reports.
Beware of reading too much into the quoted speeds, though, since these will be best case figures and real-life applications can be substantially different. It could take five or ten times longer to print a full-page photograph, especially at the highest quality setting on glossy paper. Paper handling is equally important to the business user. Differences relate to the capacity of the input tray and whether alternative media such as envelopes have to be loaded by hand. When working out a budget for an inkjet, printing cost is an essential consideration.