Last week we looked at all in one computers, but the one thing an all in one computer generally does not include is a printer, at least not yet anyway, that is maybe something for the future. So in the meantime we need to find ourselves a good printer that will fulfill our needs. Of course if you combine the fact that one persons needs are not the same as the next persons, and the fact that there is a bewildering number of printers for sale, actually finding that one printer that is just right for you is not always as easy you might think. Obviously there is no one right answer so where to start?

A good way, is to ask yourself a number of questions. The first question I would ask myself is whether I just want a printer or would I like to combine printing with other features like scanning, copying or even faxing. If you have already got a perfectly good scanner and you never send faxes, then a stand alone printer is probably all you need. If on the other hand you are like me and decide that scanning and copying are always a useful function to have, then you will probably want to look at some of the very good all-in-one computers available on the market.

The next question you should probably ask is whether you want to have the printer on a network, and hence be available to all computers in the house, or just be local to a specific computer. If it is the first then a printer with a network capability is required. Another question you will want to ask yourself is whether you are going to mainly print photographs or documents or a bit of both.

At this point you have probably narrowed down the requirements enough to start looking for suitable printers and matching them against your budget. In my case when I was recently in the market for a printer, I wanted and all-in-one that was wireless network capable, that would print good photos when required, and if it could read my media cards so much the better.

In my case a printer like the HP Photosmart C7180 All-in-One Inkjet Printer would fit the bill nicely, albeit for a price. Good luck in your hunt for the right printer for you.