How do you choose a printer for your home office?

There are many different types of printers. Which printer you choose depends on what you want to do. Ask yourself the following when you choose a printer for your home office:

• Which printing method is suitable for working from home?
• Which type of printer do you need?
• How fast do you want to print?
• How much space do you have for a printer?
• What else should you keep in mind?

There are 2 types of printing methods. There's inkjet and laser. An inkjet printer sprays small drops of ink on a page via a cartridge. A laser printer uses a toner cartridge to print. Toner is a powder that is melted onto a page at a high temperature. The print resolution for images and colors is lower with laser printers than with inkjet printers. A laser printer does print your text documents faster. Inkjet printers are more affordable to purchase than laser printers, but the printing costs are a bit higher.

Ask yourself what you want to do with the printer. Do you only want to print? A regular printer is a good choice. If you also want to scan or copy documents, choose an all-in-one printer. With these multifunctional printers, you don't need a separate device to make the occasional copy. There are also printers that allow you to fax. We call these 4-in-1 printers.

The print speed of your printer depends on your printer type. The fastest printers can print up to 30 pages per minute. When you work from home, that's not necessary. A print speed of 15 pages per minute is often enough. That's faster than the average home printer. This allows you to quickly print large reports.

Your printer has to fit in your home office, of course. It's best to choose a small or medium-sized printer. These are up to 32cm high, so you can still fit them in a cupboard or on your desk. Larger printers often have a second paper tray. This provides a larger capacity, and you don't have to refill the paper as often. Do you also want to print paper in A3 size? Choose a printer that supports this.

Depending on your wishes, there are other properties to keep in mind. If you print a lot, it's more affordable to get an ink subscription. If you've almost run out of ink, you'll get new cartridges sent to your home. Examples are HP Instant Ink and Epson ReadyPrint. Do you want to save time and paper? Choose a printer that can print in duplex. With an automatic document feeder (ADF), you can scan and copy a stack of paper in 1 go.