So you are in the market for a new printer? Or, maybe you’ve just been pondering some myths you have heard about printers (probably not!).  There are a whole bunch of printers available to you, many with some amazing features. Unfortunately making the decision to by a certain type of printer is not as easy as one might think. There’s a ton of knowledge out there, so all you really have to do is make a list of the features you like, then find the printer that has all, or most, of them.

Problem is that there are a few printer myths floating around out there that make things harder than they should be. The goal of this post is to address those myths and turn them in to fact or fiction. Hopefully it will make your printer purchase a lot easier. Let me know if it does, or does not.

Inkjet printers do not print text well.

FICTION. Inkjet printers now do a great job with text. Most give you something that looks like it came off a laser printer. But, I have to stress the word “looks”. The way the inkjet printer is build means that it will never printer text as well as a laser printer. Inkjets spray ink on to the page. Laser printers place the toner and then fuse it to the page. Add that fact that paper is porous, meaning that ink will bleed, and you you’ve got a double whamee! So, while the latest inkjet printers do an excellent job printing text, the text they print will never be as good as a laser printer.

If you are looking for a printer to print photos with, go with an inkjet. Only consider a laser if you require presentation type text documents. An inkjet printer will do fine for any other types of text documents.

Image quality from multifunction printers is poor.

FICTION. As this question a few years ago and it would be fact. Printer manufactures got to understanding that consumers would really like printers they could do more than just print with, but they also wanted a high level of quality of print from those printers. Current multifunction printers do a great job of printing, faxing, scanning, copying, etc. Instead of reinventing the wheel, many of the manufactures just added the scan capability to their existing printer designs.

Now, there’s a catch to this. If you are in the market for a high end printer, one that costs $800.00 or more, you are going to have to purchase a printer without the multifunction capabilities. Manufacturers don’t make this high end printers in the multifunction form. Most printer users aren’t looking to spend this much on a printer, nor are they printing fine art or archival prints.

You need an Apple Airport base to share a printer.

FICTION. This is definitely an easy way to network  your printer, but there are a few other ways as well. The Old School, and easiest, way was to share the printer through the computer is was physically connected to. Printer networking has advanced far enough that you don’t need to do this any more. It is still an option though.

Modern printers offer both wired and wireless networking options. The manual that comes with your printer will walk you through the networking steps.

Laser printers are hazardous to your health.

FICTION. Okay, not totally fiction, but the circumstances that would make them hazardous to your health are so easily avoidable that is really does not make sense to call this fact.

Several years ago, Queensland University of Technology found that laser printers emit tiny particles in to the air. The emissions are caused by the paper, in the printer, being heated before tone is applied. The researchers then theorized that the ultrafine particles could have the same health effects of other small particles (cigarette smoke, polluted air).  BUT, the theorized health hazards have not been definitively confirmed.

Now there are those that even the suggestion of a health hazard means that a laser printer should not be in their home or office. I can’t say I totally disagree with you. If you have some worry, but need a laser printer, here are some things you can do. 1) Don’t set your computer on your desk. Find another area, away from you, you can place it.  2) Place your printer in a well ventilated area.

Your color laser printer is a government spy.

FACT. Okay, not totally fact, but the conspiracy theorist in me finds this one interesting. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) maintains a list of color laser printers that, it says, lay down light yellow code-patterns on every print. The dots of the patterns can be viewed under blue light or magnification. These patterns were originally developed to help the federal government track criminals who where printing counterfeit money. The EFF claims that the patterns could be used to track and monitor anyone who uses a color laser printer.

If you don’t want the government to monitor your printing habits, make sure to buy a monochrome laser or inkjet printer. These printers don’t leave the patterns.

So there you have it. A little printer fact or fiction (mostly fiction). Hopefully this helps with your purchase. If you have any fact or fiction type comments to share with us, please do so. Definitely take a minute to share if you have any printer conspiracy theories. Love ‘em!