When purchasing a printer it is a good idea to determine the role you need to fill and choose accordingly. Buying a photo quality printer when you only print text only documents may be overkill and a waste of your money. However people often do the exact opposite and purchase a printer that does not have features they need. As an example of how to shop I will discuss a Canon printer and why it fits a certain role.

If you are looking to print photos or artwork the first printer I discuss fits that role well. The Selphy ES3 printer can travel with you anywhere, whether it is your vacation, a family reunion or tailgating at a sporting event. This printer can print directly from compatible mobile phones or digital camera which means you do not even need a computer! You can print from a Bluetooth device also if you add the BU-30 Bluetooth interface option. This model will store a maximum of 999 images which can be viewed on the printer's 3.5 inch LCD display. You are able to add clip art or color frames to your images on the printer and immediately print them off.

Home based businesses and small offices are just two of the areas that may benefit from an "All in one" printer. Why use 3 separate devices when the PIXMA MX250 can print, scan and fax all by itself. You can also print or scan via wireless to your 802.11 b/g wireless network. That can allow you to have fewer cables run around your office or home. The Auto Document Feeder can hold up to 30 sheets, which allows you to scan or copy without having to manually process each page.

A large format printer may fill your needs and the imagePROGRAF iPF8100 has spectacular output in mono and color. It is capable of fantastic picture and graphic reproduction, with a variety of features and very quick print speeds. The printer has a feature that recognizes when ink nozzles are clogged and auto corrects to prevent the waste of ink, and the ink tracking feature allows you to track where your ink demands are. The ink formula is designed for scratch resistance and superior adhesion for beautiful, long lasting prints.

Canon's image RUNNER LBP3460 is a laser printer that is compact enough to sit on a desk. A duplex printer that allows two sided printing and an integrated network interface come standard. Canon technology gives us the RAPID fusing process to decrease fuser warm-up time and reduce energy consumption.

Now for the larger company that does a decent volume of printing the image RUNNER 7086 can handle quite a workload. This model can process up to 86 pages per minute. The unit also can hole punch, booklet finishing and fold pages as well as other finishing options.

As you can see there are a variety of options and features available when shopping for a printer. The best course of action is to decide what you want or need and then find an appropriate model to purchase. That way you will avoid buying more than you need or not enough.