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Printer Buying Guide: How to Choose a Printer For Your College Needs
If you’re preparing for college, you’ve probably considered all the big decisions – which one to go to, where to live, and what your major will be. But then, have you thought about the seemingly small stuff that might make your day-to-day college life more manageable?
College can be a huge adjustment. The more you can do to help yourself, the easier those changes will be.
More Important Than You Think
One of these seemingly insignificant decisions that can have a considerable impact is deciding on a printer.
While a lot of universities have on-campus printing services, having your printer, which you know you’ll be able to rely on, and not risk that another student has left something sticky in the mechanism, can help reduce deadline-related stress and keep you on track.
After all, for most people, college means writing and printing a lot of essays and papers. Missing a deadline because of a broken printer isn’t a position you want to be in.
Fortunately, picking up a hero printer that’s in a student’s price range is doable. Picking up printers for your college dorm room doesn’t have to be a hard task.
Like most things, some budget-friendly printers give you more than your money’s worth, and others don’t. The same goes for more expensive models. Some aren’t valuable at all, while others give you a whole load of bang for your buck.
A bit of research will provide you with a good idea of which printers are heroes, and which are pretty much junk.
Printer Pointers
It seems obvious, but the first thing you should think about when you’re buying a printer is its purpose. English major? You’ll probably mostly be printing a lot of essays, so a high-yield, low cost-per-page laser printer could be the perfect fit.
Photography major? A color inkjet printer, with borderless printing option, and a high DPI for perfect detailing, is more likely to be the one.
No matter what your printing needs are, there are a few considerations that are universal. You’re looking for reasonably fast print speed, low-as-possible cost per page, and a range of paper-sized options as a matter of course.
The ability to print wirelessly from cloud storage is also a bonus as it eliminates the need for saving work to hard drives or USB memory sticks. You can even buy a printer that’s compatible with Amazon’s Alexa, and control your printing using just your voice!
Making Your Decision
With so many choices out there and a lot of advances in printing technology over the last few years, you should be careful not to get overwhelmed. There’s no point spending boatloads of cash that could be better served elsewhere on an all-singing, all-dancing printer with features you won’t use.
Take your time and think about it. Make a list if you think it will help you stay on track, and choose a reliable, well-reviewed model that strikes the perfect balance between what you need and what you can afford.
