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In spite of the “paperless office” that was supposed to be ushered in by the common use of computers, there is more printing done today than ever before. And that means that printers and their supplies have to be replaced on a fairly regular basis, whether you’re printing at home or in a business.

Modern printers boast a plethora of functions. Printers can read digital memory cards and print high resolution photos. Some multi-function printers can print, scan, and fax. It is important to consider your options before deciding on which is best for you to purchase.

Think about the expenses that will be involved in the extended use of the printer. Color printers can commonly be purchased for less than $100. Keep in mind, however, that the same low priced printers require the frequent purchase of expensive ink cartridges.

Find out the price of ink replacement on any low priced printers before making a purchase. Consider options like generic cartridges and refilling cartridges.

Many printers are sold with ink straight out of the box, but the cartridges might be smaller than normal. It is important to think about this when deciding which printer is for you.

If the starter ink cartridges that come with the printer are only going to last for forty or fifty pages, a low price might not really be so low after all since you’ll need to buy new ink so quickly.

Black and white printing is more common than color printing, so check on the price of the black print cartridge. On some printer models, larger black cartridges are available and buying those could help save money over the life of the printer.

It’s also important to have in mind what your personal printing needs are. For example, if you plan to print your own photos from a digital camera, you should consider the variety of digital photo printers available on the market.

If you’re not printing photos, however, photo printers generally cost more to operate than other options. You might be better off with a laser printer that has considerably lower operating costs than inkjet.

Lastly, think about whether you really need all those extra features like faxing, scanning, photocopying, etc. It sounds great to have all these options, but most people rarely use them, if at all.

And consider the cost for these other features as well. Do you really want to make photocopies at home that could cost $0.50 to $1.00 per page when you can get them for 5 to 10 cents at the local copy store?