Even though inkjet printers are very inexpensive and affordable, the cost of the replacement inks can drive up the overall cost over the time of ownership. Sometimes the cost of the ink is way expensive than the printer was.

The best way to go about buying a printer? Check the prices of the ink cartridges of the printer you want and find out how many pages each cartridge will print. After you figure out approximately how many pages you will print per month, you can determine the cost of the printer plus ink over the course of a year.

Think about getting individual cartridges if you know you will need one color more than others. This will be depending on the print jobs you will be making.

Manufacturers very often list faster print speed specifications on their packaging than we see when testing performance. A typical ink jet printer can produce two to four pages per minute of text and one full-page, 8.5-by-11-inch photo or graphic in two to three minutes.

Some color ink jets can print photos at a stage that approaches the quality of a professional photofinisher. If you intend to use your printer primarily for photos or graphics, look for printers that are built for that purpose.

If you plan to print mostly photos, look for photo printers with features such as a built-in PC Card slot, an LCD panel that allows you to view and print an image without using your PC, and bundled image-editing software.

If you print mostly text documents, consider buying an inexpensive black & white laser printer. These printers provide superior text quality compared with high-end ink jet printers. Some monochrome lasers cost as little as $200, making them a good deal for home users.

If you need to print a lot of text and high-quality graphics, buying a good photo ink jet printer in addition to an inexpensive monochrome laser printer could save you money on ink and maintenance costs in the long run as opposed to buying an ink jet to do it all.

Color laser printer toner cartridges are the most expensive consumable you can buy for a printer, but their yield is so much higher than an ink jet cartridge. In the end, color laser toner is less expensive on a per page basis.