Printer Assignment

Printer Problems?

The Problem

A grade 9 student is looking for a printer, and asks for my recommendation. Being one who just purchased a printer a week ago, I was more than willing to help. I told the student that they should see which printer would be the overall best choice before going out and blindly picking the cheapest one. Her budget was $500.00, (counting taxes, accessories, ink and toner) since everybody in her family was willing to pitch in. We decided that the best way to compare the printers that she were considering was by creating a chart comparing each of the printers features. Once we finished comparing the printers that she had considered good options, we decided it would be easiest to develop some sort of point system to check which printer would win. In each category there we will keep a number to show what each of them are being marked out of. Then beside each piece of data we will place the printer's mark in the category it is in. If any of the printers don't have information in a category, those categories will not count towards the score.

Printer Comparison Chart

Okay, the truth is that I am a hard marker. I feel bad for the printers. Anyways, the winner is...the Brother Wireless All-In-One Inkjet Printer! With a total score of 41.5, it passed with flying colours! Once we found out the winner we went immediately down to Best Buy to go pick it up. It fit in her budget, printed things fast, and helped her a lot.

That is why I'm personally recommending this printer to you! I never used to consider the features and additional costs of printer, but thanks to this assignment I'll make sure to do my homework before purchasing something.

Resources

HP CP1518ni Colour Laser Printer image (retreived 2010-11-20): STAPLES

Epson Artisan 810 Inkjet Printer image (retrieved 2010-11-20): STAPLES

^{http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku.asp?webid=830533&CatIds=&AffixedCode=WW&=&=&=}

Brother Wireless All-In-One Inkjet Printer (MFCJ615W) image (retrieved 2010-11-20): Best Buy ^{http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/brother-brother-wireless-all-in-one-inkjet-printer-mfcj615w-mfcj615w/10153438.aspx?path=a41ceaeccef4af82b8c22d4abb0ff6feen02}

Lexmark X543dn Colour Laser Printer image (retrieved 2010-11-21): STAPLES

Ink and Toner prices (retrieved 2010-11-21: STAPLES

^{http://www.staples.ca/ENG/MatchMaker/pmm_brands.asp?CatIds=,351&name=MM_Printer+Fax+And+Multifunction+Cartridges}

Printers	HP CP1518ni Colour Laser Printer	Epson Artisan 810 Inkjet Printer	Brother Wireless All-In-One Inkjet Printer (MFCJ615W)	Lexmark X543dn Colour Laser Printer
Weight ^/6	18.18 kg (40 lb) ^4/6	10.5 lb (23.1 lb) ^5/6	7.1 kg (15.62 lb) ^6/6	26.82 kg (59 lb) ^1/6
ENERGY STAR Certified ^/1	YES ^1/1	NO ^0/1	NO ^0/1	YES ^1/1
Printing Black Speed ^/3	12 ppm ^1/3	38 ppm ^3/3	35 ppm ^3/3	21 ppm ^2/3
Printing Colour Speed ^/3	8 ppm ^0.5/3	38 ppm ^3/3	28 ppm ^2.5/3	21 ppm ^2/3
Warranty ^/3	1-year warranty ^1/3	2-year warranty ^2/3	1-year warranty ^1/3	1-year warranty ^1/3
Size (W x D x H) ^/6	39.9 cm x 45.2 cm x 25.4 cm (15.7 in x 17.8 in x 10.0 in) ^4/6	46.5 cm x 65.5 cm x 19.8 cm (18.3 in x 25.8 in x 7.8 in) ^5/6	39.0 cm x 37.5 cm x 18.0 cm (15.4 in x 14.8 in x 7.1 in) ^6/6	43.9 cm x 53.6 cm x 46.2 cm (17.3 in x 21.1 in x 18.2 in) ^1/6
Intended use ^/1	Stand-alone ^0/1	Networked ^1/1	Networked ^1/1	Stand-alone ^0/1
Different Functions ^/6	Printing ^1/6	Printing, Scanning, Copying, Faxing ^4/6	Printing, Scanning, Copying, Faxing, PC-Faxing, Photo Printing ^6/6	Printing, Scanning, Copying ^3/6
Printer Price with Tax (No shipping) ^/4	$457.70 ^2/4	$344.90 ^3/4	$169.50 ^4/4	$621.50 ^0/4
Additional Costs ^/4	Lot of toner used, additional printer cable not included. Assuming you print one sheet of paper every week the toner will cost you around $10.00 per year. ^3/4	Six separate ink cartriges, so you only need to replace the colour you need. Estimated power consumption for one year is less than two dollars. PC-Fax allows faxing without printing. $35.95 extra necessary for USB cable. Assuming you print one sheet of paper full of text every week the toner will cost you $30.00 per year. ^1/4	Assuming you print out one sheet of paper per week the ink should cost you $5.00 per year. ^4/4	Earn free toner by returning empty Lexmark toner cartriges. Assuming you print one sheet of paper every week the ink will cost you around $7.00 per year. ^4/4
Monthly Duty Cycle	Up to 30,000 pages	N/A	N/A	Up to 35,000 pages
Input Capacity ^/3	Up to 150 sheets ^2.5/3	Up to 120 sheets ^2/3	Up to 120 sheets ^2/3	Up to 250 sheets ^3/3
Print Resolution ^/4	600 x 600 dpi ^1/4	5760 x 1440 dpi ^4/4	1200 x 1200 dpi ^3/4	1200 x 1200 dpi ^3/4
Cartrige types ^/3	Four different Laser cartriges ^2/3	Six different High-capacity cartriges ^3/3	Four different Inkjet cartriges ^2/3	Single Laser cartrige ^1/3
Total Score	23/47	36/47	41.5/47	22/47 (price out of budget)