Getting a printer when going to college may not seem like an important buy but you may soon out that you were wrong. College requires you to write and print a lot of assignments, reports, class projects and term papers and while you can print these for a little fee at the campus library, it may not always be possible especially if you have a time constraint.
There are quite a few factors to consider when considering what printer to buy when shopping for college:
- Space: Dorms are not very spacious so if you are going to be buying a printer for one, it has to be one that doesn’t take too much space and is portable, just in case you need to move it.
- Cost: It is no secret that most college students are on a tight budget so, if you will be getting a printer, go for one that is affordable.
- Function: while affordability is advisable, you should not trade it for quality. Whatever printer you will be purchasing should be able to handle most of your printing, copying, scanning or fax needs.
Based on these three criteria, we have put together a five of printers you should consider for your college dorm.
- Canon Pixma IP110: This is one of the best printers if you are looking for something small and portable. This printer is so small, you can put it in a laptop bag or backpack and take anywhere. It also has wireless printing from cloud services and can print pictures in very high quality. It, however, has no scanning and copying functionality but you can go for it if you think you can do without those.
- Canon TS9120: this all-in-one printer lets you print, copy and scan. It also allows you to print through Google cloud and Airprint wireless printing technology. It has a five-inch LCD touchscreen interface that allows you to easily set up the computer and even add effects before printing your pictures. The Canon TS9120 is also well recommended for its print speed for both photos and texts.
- HP Envy 5640: one of the best printers when it comes to quality and cost, the HP Envy 5640 is a small-sized printer that can easily fit on a dresser or a desk. Its input tray has a sheet capacity of 125 papers which should be enough if your major does not require you to do a lot of printing. It also comes with a different photo tray that can hold up to 15 sheets of 4 by 6 photo papers.
- Brother Compact Monochrome Laser Printer HL-L2350DW: If your college major will require you to do a lot of printing then this is just the printer for you. Its tray has a sheet capacity of 250 sheets and it can print as fast as 32 pages per minute. Its wireless function also enables you to print from your tablet, smartphone and laptop. It, however, may not be ideal for pictures as it only prints with black ink.
- HP Deskjet 1112: This printer is for those who are really on a budget. It is quite ideal for students whose dorms afford them minimal space. The input tray can take up to 60 sheets and the printer prints an average of 5.5 pages per minute in colour and 7.5 pages per minute in black ink. The high-yield HP ink cartridges also mean that you can print up to 480 pages before needing a refill.
While there are a lot of reasonably-priced printers on the market that can fit into your dorm room, note that what is most important is the kind of function you need the printer for. Remember to install the driver your printer before attempting to use it with any of your devices. If you don’t have immediate access to them, try checking soft famous, they have a pretty comprehensive library of drivers to choose from.
Image Credits: Printers from A_stockphoto’s /Shutterstock