Printers



	IN A NUTSHELL: For the novice there are two basic types of printer: inkjet and laserjet Inkjet printers tend to start off at cheaper prices and use ink in liquid form, contained in cartridges. Normally a printer will have a black cartridge and a colour cartridge (most of these come in a tri-colour cartridge containing Magenta, Cyan and Yellow colours which mix to produce all the other colours you need). Inkjets are good for low-use users who may want to print the odd photo. There are some very high quality inkjet photo printers on the market, the downside being the cost of replacement inkjet cartridges - especially if you print a lot of photos. Laserjet printers use a solid toner cartridge, a type of ink that requires heat in order to transfer onto paper you pass through the printer. Most colour laserjet printers will require separate toner cartridges for each of the Magenta, Cyan and Yellow colours. Laserjet printers will often be more expensive to buy in the first place but they have economical benefits in that toner cartridges will often last much longer and produce more sheets of paper.



	Hewlett Packard LaserJet 1020 The HP 1020 starts the line up and represents excellent value for money. Taking up a small footprint on your desk it will sit idle for ages yet as soon as you need it your first page of A4 will take a few seconds to come out, thanks to a process which keeps the printer ready to print at any time. Print speeds are quick and one toner cartridge is estimated to last up to 2500 sheets of A4 before needing replacement, whilst cartridges cost around the £30 mark. It will take sizes of paper up to A4 but can also accommodate envelopes, A5 and, should a jam happen, is quick and easy to rectify thanks to its simple layout. Following the recent tradition amongst manufacturers (thankfully now starting to reverse) the printer doesn't come with a USB cable in the box so don't forget to add one to your shopping basket. Check out the 1020 on Amazon Also see our other partners, John Lewis and Hewlett Packard



	Hewlett Packard Photosmart 3210 All-in-one THP 3210 provides a scanner, colour photocopier and printer in one package. There are a large variety of all-in-ones on the market and the 3210 offers some key advantages over many of its rivals: 6 cartridges (1x Black and 5x Colour) to allow you to change an individual colour when it runs out rather than typically the entire cartridge. Built-in Networking - often available as an option, this is included as standard. A multi-card reader and USB stick port to print photos without a computer. A 3.5" LCD screen for viewing photos from your memory cards/sticks. This also provides the opportunity to view a video, freeze frame and print off the freeze frame. Special functionality to scan 3.5mm slides and negatives using dedicated media holders Click here to see the 3210 on Amazon.co.uk The 3210 is also available from John Lewis Online (often with the best value prices) and HP Online (who are currently offering a bundle package of the 3210 and a set of cartridges):