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I hear a lot about ink-jet printers and laser printers. What’s the difference between them?

Ink-jet and laser are the two main kinds of printers, named for the way that they print images and information on paper.

Ink-jet printers spray fine droplets of fast-drying ink onto paper. The finer the spray of droplets, the higher the “DPI” (dots per inch) the printer offers, and the sharper and more visually pleasing the printer’s output will look.

Laser printers use a photosensitive belt and laser to attach toner (dry, powdered ink) onto paper, resulting in fast printing and crisp, smooth image edges and text.

I just need a printer for my home. What’s a good place to start?

The most common home printer is the ink-jet variety. Ink-jets are affordable, don’t take up much room on a desk or table, and output great-looking text documents, web printouts, and photos.

I hear that ink-jet cartridges can be expensive. How can I save money on them?

Most home-model ink-jet printers use four colors of ink: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black), and are often referred to as CMYK. Some CMYK printers store all four inks in a single cartridge that must be replaced when any one color runs out, thus wasting the other inks available. Other printers use four separate ink cartridges — one for each color— so you only replace a single color as it empties instead of all colors at once. This minimizes waste, and is much more efficient economically for those who print frequently.

Can I hook my printer into my wireless network and print wirelessly at home?

Wireless printing is a great way to minimize wires around your desk and share a printer among family members. There are two basic ways to do this.

First, get a printer that has a wireless card built in. These printers can connect to virtually any Wi-Fi network, including an Apple AirPort network. Just plug in the printer’s power cable, select the unit from the list of available printers, and you’re printing.

Second, if you have a printer with no wireless card, don’t worry. You can still print wirelessly with Apple’s AirPort Extreme, Time Capsule, or AirPort Express base stations. Use these wireless base stations to quickly set up a home network, then plug the printer’s USB cable directly into your base station. Now, you can print from any computer on your wireless network.

I know most ink-jet printers can print good-looking photos. How can I be sure that my photo output will look excellent?

You should keep several features in mind. The two most important ones are higher-resolution printing and more than four colors of ink (for ink-jet models). The higher the resolution of the printer, the sharper your photos can be. Ordinary ink-jet printers start with resolutions of 4800x1200 dpi, while more sophisticated models go all the way up to 9600x2400.

Also, higher-end ink-jet photo printers can have six or more separate ink cartridges. Different shades of black, clear ink, or other colors combine with a printer’s higher resolution to give you the most vivid pictures and highest color accuracy possible.

I need photo printouts—fast. What’s the quickest way to get them?

If you shoot and print a lot of photos, the right printer will let you skip (or postpone) the step of downloading the pictures to your Mac. Printers with an LCD display, memory card slots, and a Pict-Bridge port help make life simple for the amateur photographer. Just plug your camera into the Pict-Bridge port or insert a memory card into the memory card reader, then view your photos right on the printer’s LCD display. Tweak the color, crop and preview the image, then print out your photo in record time.

I love printing out 4x6 photos and sharing them with family and friends. What’s the best way to do this?

You can use a high-quality photo printer, with a high dpi and more ink colors, to output deeper, richer color. But if you print out a lot of 4x6 pictures, consider a specialized model that only prints borderless photos in that size. Because they only print 4x6 photos, these models are not as flexible as larger printers or multi-function printers, but they do provide an easy, space-saving solution for great home photo printing.

I’m setting up an office for my business. Do I want something besides ink-jet for my printer?

If your office’s printing needs are demanding, a laser printer is the right choice. These models offer high-quality printouts, quickly and efficiently.

Although the upfront cost of a laser printer is likely higher than that of an average ink-jet printer, you’re likely to save money in the long term due to the laser printer’s significantly lower cost per page. With multiple people printing to the same printer, greater paper tray capacities, large toner cartridges, and fast printing capability keep the printouts coming with no hassle, letting you focus your attention elsewhere.

Printing photos at the office? While a high-end photo printer will generally offer the best output, a color laser printer also gives you very high quality prints. Because a color laser printer can print more quickly than an ink-jet printer, it’s a great option for an office needing to print color documents once in a while.

My home office is already crammed with a scanner, copier, and fax machine. Can my new printer help alleviate the clutter?

Multi-function printers can simplify your life and save you space. Many of these models offer the functions of a printer, fax machine, scanner, and color copier, all in one compact unit.

If you often copy or fax multi-page documents, a multi-function printer with an automatic document feeder is a real lifesaver. Inserting a small stack of papers is much less time consuming than feeding the printer paper one at a time.

One more handy feature is duplex printing, which lets you print automatically to both sides of a sheet of paper, saving money, paper stock—and the environment.

I’m ready to print. Do I need anything else besides a printer?

Most printers do not include the USB cable you’ll need to connect the unit to your Mac. However, if you’re replacing a USB-connected printer, you’re probably OK using the same cable.

If you’re looking to print high-quality photos, consider picking up some glossy photo paper. Designed for the needs of photo printers, glossy photo paper gives you crisp, clear photos that will last and look new for years.

No matter how efficient the printer or sparse your usage, you’ll need to replace the ink eventually. The Apple Online Store makes it easy. Select your printer from an easy to use list to see a list of available supplies for your printer. If you plan to do lots of printing on an ink-jet printer, consider investing in high-capacity ink cartridges that will save you time and money.