subject: 5 Smart Questions To Ask Your Printer Salesperson: Toners And More [print this page] The printer continues to be an essential part of the complete home or office computer system, despite the recent talks of the world being an increasingly paperless society. Whether you're proofreading a manuscript for work or printing a few photos to send to relatives, a quality printer and a full arsenal of toner cartridges can really make all the difference in terms of quality, as well as convenience. But with dozens of makes and models available, how do you choose the perfect printer from the masses? To make the right decision, you're going to need to know what to look for and what to ask the salesperson. Here are five smart questions to ask your salesperson while you're shopping for printers or any inkjet printers!
1) Do I need any premium ink cartridges to get the best results from this printer?
If the answer is yes, take it as a red flag. Requiring a special ink for photos is an indicator you'd be getting inferior ink as regular equipment. The true, high-quality printers don't distinguish between "standard" and "premium" ink. If the toner cartridges are new, you can guarantee that your print is going to be of the highest quality.
2) Can I see the printers best print performance on plain white paper?
Often times, laminated store print samples are habitually printed on the most expensive photo paper the manufacturer offers just to show off the printer's performance. But printing it on top-notch paper doesn't give you an indicator of how the printer will perform when you need it for small jobs or everyday text prints. So in order to really get a good look at what it can do, have the salesperson show you how to set the printer for maximum performance on plain white copy paper. At this time, you can also take notice of how user-friendly the machine is. Generally, it's wise that you compare different models and contrast the differences.
3) How many pages will the cartridge print?
Every printer model has a correlating ink cartridge, so in order to accurately figure your cost per page to print, it's in your best interest to bring up this question. If you really want to keep them on your toes, find out what percentage of page coverage the manufacturer uses to come up with that number.
4) How long until these specific inks fade?
You should know that all inks fade, but generally, more high-quality inks like toner cartridges, take several years to fade when used on high-quality, acid-free paper.
5) Is this ink prone to smearing?
If they're good at their job, they'll probably tell you "No! Absolutely not!" But in actually, some printer models use a cheap black ink that does smear easily after printing. If you really want to test their claim, have the salesperson do a trial print job for you, then wipe a finger across the ink as the page is leaving the printer. After this test, you're sure to find out if the salespersons claims are true or not.
