Choosing your printer accessories

Make sure you get the ink right

Ink cartridges are perhaps the most important of all printer accessories. There is no surprise in this because without ink, a printer is as good as junk. Now ink cartridges are expensive, especially because the printer companies keep threatening you that you should only use original cartridges. There are certain companies that make non-OEM ink cartridges and some of them are good. You can use these cartridges, but you have to be extremely careful about choosing the products of these manufacturers.

Make a list of all the other accessories

Printers don’t have a huge amount of accessories and it is easy to make your list. For instance, if you have a label printer, you need tapes for it. These tapes are available in different colours and sizes. Here you need to know what your exact requirement is. The type of tape differs a lot depending on the type of label printer you have. There is an array of cables and adapters that are available for printers and when you need to shop for these products, it is important that you shop for only those items that you need.

Compatibility is of paramount importance

One of the major issues with printers and printer accessories is compatibility. There are many printer manufacturers and all of them have different accessories for their products. You cannot expect to buy a Canon accessory for an Epson printer. You would be extremely lucky if the accessory works. But even then, you should not take any chances because the printer and/or the accessory may get damaged eventually and increase your costs.

Choose the right drivers

Drivers are important accessories for your printer. Drivers may not strictly fall in the category of printer accessories, but their importance can never be ignored. There are drivers that make your printer work and there are drivers that allow you to print remotely via Bluetooth. And there are other drivers that make it possible for you to do more with your printer. It is always recommended that you go through the user manual of your printer or the printer website so that you don't end up installing wrong drivers.

Accessory prices

Everyone wants to save money so why not on printer accessories? Once you know which accessories you require, it is best to shop wisely. Shopping around in online stores is easier because you can do this from your home or office and even on the go. When you compare the prices across the online stores, you are bound to find differences.

Which printer accessories for which use?

The most common types of printers in use are the inkjet printers. If you have one of the inkjet printers, then you need to buy the right kind of ink cartridges for these machines. The safest option is to go for OEM ink cartridges. But as mentioned above, you can save money on non-OEM ink cartridges provided you are sure about the quality of the manufacturer. The other consideration about ink cartridges is availability. When the usage is high, there should be an adequate supply of ink cartridges.

Black ink cartridges should be bought more often than colour ink cartridges. This is simply because there will be more printing in black (text, for example) than colour printing and the colour ink may dry because of lack of use.

If you have a network printer in your office, then the usage is likely to be huge. There will be multiple workstations connected to this printer and multiple people will be using it at the same time. This means that you need to keep adequate paper supply. Printer papers can be bought across online and offline stationery stores. Once you have an idea of the usage, you should make sure that your paper inventory is ready. You don't want a situation where an important document cannot be printed because someone forgot to buy printer paper. Q6627A Matter Super HW Paper is one of the best in terms of quality.

Receipt paper is another accessory to use if you are in a business. As the name suggests, thispaper is used for printing purchase receipts. ZEBRA RW QL Cameo Receipt Paper is of good quality and should serve your purpose.