With the plummeting costs of inkjets, comes question of quality. In fact, who really even knows the companies behind making the printers the brand names are stamped on? Here are a few things to look for:

• Copying - for all-in-one's, does the printer offer stand alone printing? What is the quality/resolution of of the printouts? Color copying at a print shop can run .75 to $1.00 per page at many outlets.
  
  
• Photo Printing - though you can enjoy cheap printing, the main advantage is one of convenience. Photo quality paper can be had down to .12 per sheet for 8 1/2" x 11" even for glossy. But prices swing widely for paper depending on your preferences.
  
  
• Scanners and Fax Managing Capabilities - here is where you can save bundles overs sending through a private fax service, who often chargees $1.50 to $2.00 per page for sending and receiving. You'll need and all-in-one machine for this and make sure yours is adatapable to interface with a single data connection.
  
  
• Tray Feed - for printing envelopes. And a width-adjustable feed for printing photos, if it is so equiped to handle. Eariler models have shown problems with gravity (rear) feed types and the bottom feed is the safer bet. Know how your prospective printer deals with paper handling, mainly with the all-in-one machines.
  
  
• Become familiar with the cost of replacement cartridges, which will hugely surpass any price savings from buying printers at promotional events.
  
  
• Extended replacement warranties - many dealers aware of the running problems connected with today's inkjets, offer reasaonably priced warranties that are available up to three year periods, such as at Office Max and Microcenter. Rather than fix unit, there's a decent chance it would be exchanged for another, or less likely, fixed.

There are the other details, like ports and connections for memory card devices, download sticks and what have you.

---