The Best Printers at Tax Time
Thinking about replacing or upgrading your printer in time for tax season? Before heading to the store, here are a few things to consider before making your purchase.
Ink is the most expensive part of the printer purchase. If your printer will be working overtime during tax preparations, you'll want to consider a printer that can produce a high volume of pages per printer cartridge.
Laser printers, usually more expensive up front, are less expensive per page than ink-jet printers, particularly for primarily black-and-white printing.
Samsung ML-2851ND and Hewlett Packard LaserJet are two that received very good marks in CNET reviews.
Do you want a machine that only prints or one that can perform multiple functions? At tax time, you may find that you have to copy more paperwork than you print or you may want to scan tax-related documents to create a digital file. A multifunction or all-in-one printer may be the best choice.
Consumer Research rated the Canon Pixma MX870 as the top multifunction ink-jet printer, while the best all-in-one laser printer choice is the Brother MFC-7840W.
It is frustrating to constantly reload a paper tray or find that a document needs to be printed on an odd paper size. If you print in large amounts or need to print on legal size paper frequently, consider printers with two paper trays or with trays that hold a minimum of 250 sheets.
A document feed that can hold up to 30 sheets of paper is also a handy feature for those who use the printer for copies and faxes. Again, a laser printer is the best option, and one of the highest-rated two-tray feeders on Wize reviews is the HP LJP1505 Printer.
However, if you prefer a printer that can handle tax needs and other office duties, as well as print crisp photos, a printer from the Epson Artisan series may be the best option, as these printers are made to handle documents but can also churn out top-quality color prints.
Another handy feature to consider is auto duplex, or automatically printing on both sides of the page (no more manually flipping the paper). Canon and Brother printers in most models get the highest reviews for auto-duplex printing.
There is one other point to consider before purchasing a new printer. Make sure the printer's entire footprint will fit the area where it will be stored.
Unlike most other electronic equipment, printers haven't shrunk in size. The more options the printer has, the larger the printer will be. And remember to consider the length of paper tray when factoring in the footprint.
