Inkjet printing has given businesses an inexpensive, simple tool for in-house creation of exciting, professional-looking color documents and photos and Hewlett-Packard inkjet printers were in the vanguard of inkjet printing. HP has continued to add and update models, so that today there is an HP inkjet printer for every business need.

The big variety of HP inkjet printers, while desirable, can bewilder the buyer. To narrow the field when you are about to buy, ask yourself these basic questions:

1. What will I print? The two main options are photographs and documents, and most Hewlett-Packard inkjet printers are optimized for one or the other.

2. What volume will I print? HP inkjet printers vary in their paper tray capacities and recommended duty cycles.

3. How large are the pieces I will print? Some printers' limit is legal size, others print far larger sheets.

4. Do I want to do additional tasks with my HP inkjet printer? All-in-ones also scan, copy and fax.

5. Do I want duplexing? The ability to print on two sides, automatically, can be a great convenience.

6. How much do I want to spend? In general, a virtue of Hewlett-Packard inkjet printers is their low price. Even so, a wide-bodied, highly-featured HP inkjet printer with expandable memory can cost $1000, and that's before you've purchased the extra memory.

Once you've worked out your criteria, you can proceed to select and buy your HP inkjet printer.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Buy HP inkjet printers online

By shopping online, you can find a fuller selection of HP inkjet printers than you are likely to find in a physical store.

I recommend: For the complete range of models and options, go to the most direct source: HP's own printers store. There you can zero in on the different brands of HP inkjet printers: HP Officejet, optimized for volume printing of documents; HP Photosmart, optimized for photographic prints; HP Deskjet, for extra-low price and simplicity of use; and HP Business Inkjet, for maximum productivity and flexibility.

Don't overlook other sellers of HP inkjet printers

You may find the best price at such major providers of HP inkjet printers as Staples and Amazon.com.

I recommend: Check Staples' product descriptions and prices for HP inkjet printers and HP photo printers. And even if you're going to buy online, you can visit Staples' physical stores to examine a selection of HP color inkjet printers and see their print samples. Also browse Amazon.com's selection of Hewlett-Packard inkjet printers. Alongside good deals on new printers, Amazon.com offers many used HP inkjet printers at sharply reduced prices.

Compare HP inkjet printers

Take advantage of vendor aids that make it easy to compare HP inkjet printers that you are most interested in.

I recommend: As an illustration, if you select the HP Officejet Pro K5400 and the HP Officejet H470 Mobile Printer as models you're considering, HP will present you with a detailed, feature-by-feature comparison, in side-by-side columns. And since what matters ultimately is not the features themselves but how well the printer performs in real-life applications, read user evaluations. If you're interested in the K5400, for example, HP will provide the reviews that customers have submitted.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  For economy, buy an HP inkjet printer that uses extra large, individual-color, rather than multiple-color, cartridges. This way, you're buying ink in lower-cost, bulk quantity, and you don't have to discard remaining ink when one color runs out.
• •  Use duty cycle figures as a basis for comparison when you shop, but after you've bought your HP color inkjet printer, don't limit your printing to those figures.Your purpose is to run your business, not to preserve your printer, so feel free to print all you need.
• •  Some HP inkjet printers have an optional second paper tray. This is not just for extra storage. You can load the trays with two different kinds of paper, and then select the tray with the right paper for your current print job.