Choosing the right printer type can be a daunting task. Generally, there are a range of different types of printing technology to choose from, each meant for different needs and purposes. Printers come in diverse shapes and sizes, ranging from tiny travel companions to workgroup workhorses; some are equipped with special features for photography, others are for multitaskers. There are many specifications for resolution, page yield and speed and they can be misleading. As a rule of thumb, the inkjet printers are the most preferred for long-lasting photos and clear precision, while laser printers are best to produce faster text documents.

For personal printing, the printer must be capable of performing a lot. The device must handle everything from a book report to a newsletter to the occasional snapshot, and these all should be done without breaking the budget. For this reason, most home users choose a versatile and affordable printer, such as a small-office or home-office color inkjet. Generally, these printers are available starting from reasonable to a bit higher cost and the printers are designed to do almost everything, even though slowly.

If you run a small business printing or work from a home office frequently, a multifunction printer (MFP) is the ideal choice. Also recognized as all-in-ones (AIOs), these multifunctional printers come together with an inkjet or a laser printer along with a copier, a scanner, and a fax machine. They save both space and money and ensure better productivity as well as performance. Though inkjet models come at lower price, it is recommend to spend slightly more for a model that is built with standalone faxing and has an auto document feeder (ADF) for making work easier by easily faxing and copying multipage documents.