Things You'll Need:
- Basic knowledge of how you will use the printer.
- Wireless network for wireless printer connections.
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Step 1
Many laser printers list their ppm, or page per minute speed. Honestly, for the average home user this is almost a useless stat. If your only printing one or two pages at a time then whether it takes 8 seconds or 12 seconds doesn't really matter. Don't pay a premium price for a lightning fast laser printer if you don't really need it. This stat means more for the home business user, or perhaps a student who might print 100's of pages at a time. Laser printer speed should be last on your list of considerations.
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Step 2
There is a trend today among laser printer manufacturers to make space saving designs. These are great just keep in mind two things, inherently these can hold less paper, probably not an issue for the average home user, and might not be able to take different paper sizes such as envelopes. Read the specifications carefully on this. You can get around the envelope problem by using address labels instead.
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Step 3
Paper handling varies among common home laser printers. Check the specifications carefully especially if you need to print 11x17 (for spreadsheets for example) and envelopes. Some laser printers, such as HP, have paper tray upgrades available but keep in mind you may lose the space saving benefit of your laser printer.
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Step 4
All laser printers have different resolution capabilities. Check the stats to see what it is. This may not be an issue if you only print text or graphs. Photos printed on a low resolution laser printer can look horrible though, so keep this in mind.
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Step 5
Check the price of the replacement toner cartridges for the laser printer you're interested in. Figure out the cost per page by dividing the number of pages the cartridge is rated for by the price. The cost per page among laser printers varies greatly so that 'bargain' laser printer may not really be a bargain.
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Step 6
Printers need to be connected to your computer. If you have only one PC you can connect it directly via USB cable. Most laser printers DO NOT come with this cable so you will have to buy one. These generally cost about $20. Another alternative is to connect your printer to your wireless network. Some laser printers have built in wireless adapters. This is a great thing to do if you have more than one computer that needs to use the printer.
