Unless you purchase a personal computer package that includes a printer, you'll have to purchase any printers you want for your PC separately. This is often a better option than choosing a package with a computer, a monitor and a printer together. It's often much better because you get to choose the brand you want with the features you want, rather than having to settle for whatever printer is included in the package.

All in One Printers

There are many different types of printers to choose from in today's marketplace. Dozens of different brands including things like HP printers offer a variety of printers for different uses. Most home users want color printers. And photo printers have become more popular as more people are turning to digital cameras and printing their own pictures.

For people who print a variety of documents and photos, all-in-one printers are often the best choice. These printers can print black-and-white documents, color documents and photos. They also have a scanner for scanning documents that can be stored as digital files, and a copy function that allows a document to be scanned and printed multiple times. The document can be resized larger or smaller just as you could do with a dedicated copy machine. Small businesses typically use all-in-one printers that also have faxing capabilities.

Ink Jet Printers or Laser Printers

Printer reviews often compared the differences between inkjet printers and laser printers. Laser printers used to be strictly for business use because of their high costs. But in recent years the cost has dropped so that many home users also prefer the high quality of laser printing. A black-and-white laser printer can be purchased at a very reasonable cost while color laser printers do cost more.

The chief benefit of laser printers over inkjet is the extremely high quality of the printed material. They also cost less to operate over time because the toner for a laser printer lasts much longer and costs less per use than the ink for an inkjet unit. Inkjet printers, on the other hand, do well with photo printing and regular document printing and cost less at the initial purchase.