How to choose the right printer

Most people pick a printer by its sticker price. That's the most expensive mistake you can make — a cheap printer with expensive ink will cost you several times its price in the first year. This guide walks you through choosing correctly the first time.

1. How many pages do you print a month?

This is the single most important question, and on its own it decides the printer type. If you don't know the number, count the paper reams you buy monthly — a ream is 500 sheets.

• Under 200 pages: a standard inkjet is enough — PIXMA. 200 to 1,000 pages: a MegaTank ink tank, where cost per page starts to matter. 1,000 to 5,000 pages: a mono laser — i-SENSYS. Over 5,000 pages: an imageRUNNER office system or a high-yield laser.

2. What do you print — text or photos?

If your work is documents, text and invoices, laser is faster, cleaner and cheaper. If you print photos or colour marketing material, inkjet delivers colour and gradients laser can't match. If it's both, take an ink-tank inkjet — it combines quality with a reasonable running cost.

3. Do you need scan and copy, or just print?

Multifunction devices (3-in-1 or 4-in-1) save space and money versus buying a separate scanner. But if archiving is central to your work, a dedicated scanner with a document feeder gets through the job far faster.

4. Which connection suits you?

• USB: cheapest, but ties the printer to one computer. Wi-Fi: best for homes and small offices — everyone prints from their desk or phone. Ethernet: the most stable for offices with more than five machines.

5. Have you worked out the cost per page?

Divide the price of the ink or toner by the pages it yields. The gap between a printer costing 10 piastres a page and one costing 50 adds up to thousands of pounds a year at 1,000 pages a month.