There are a lot of brands and trends when it comes to buying printers, scanners, external hard drives and other technology.
When buying a new piece of equipment, the first thing you should do is read reviews of consumers like you. Here a few websites that provide consumer reviews or professional ratings.
Remember, the most expensive piece of equipment is not always the best.
cnet.com
pcworld.com
macworld.com
amazon.com
consumerreports.com (requires a subscription)
Printers
When choosing a printer you need to decide a few things before you begin your search:
Sizes: Don’t limit yourself to a printer that only prints letter-sized paper, you will be working larger than that.
Color or Black & White: This has an easy answer, unless you want to design only in Black & White.
If you need to print black and white documents often, you can invest in a cheap Black & White printer, so you don't waste ink on your nice color printer.
Inkjet or Laser: Inkjet printers are most often the common, consumer-priced, option that design students purchase.
Ink: Price the printer, as well as how much it will cost to replace the inks.
DPI: The higher the dpi (dots per inch) that a printer is capable of printing the more detailed and saturated image will print.
Paper: Every brand of printer has specialty paper that is designed to work perfectly with their machines. If you need glossy, matte or other paper, be sure to buy their matching brand.
External Hard Drive
External hard drives are the most commonly used way to that designers back-up and save their work. Design files can get very large, so not many of them will fit on your desktop hard drive.
Portable External Hard Drive. Students will get the most value out of a portable external hard drive. They are slightly most expensive than a desktop hard drive, but they allow you to travel with your files safely.
Desktop Hard Drives: These drives are not safe to move very often, they do not have the impact-resistant design that is included than that of the portable versions, you are playing with fire if you travel a lot with your desktop hard drive.
Memory Size: The memory size you need is entirely up to what kind of work you do. If you work with a lot of photographs, you'll probably want to get a larger memory size. If you mainly work with text documents, a small size will be okay.
Scanners are great design tools to have. Most scanners have scanning beds that will allow you to scan a 8.5" x 11.7" area. The price dramatically jumps to scan a larger area. Here are some specifications to consider:
Resolution: Look for at least 2400-dpi optical resolution
USB: Make sure the scanner can connect to your computer properly. Double-check what USB connection your computer has and what the scanner requires.
Once upon a time, a graphic designer would never think of using a PC for their work. However, times have changed along with the graphics card.
Though Apple computers are preferred by designers, a high-end PC with an upgraded graphics card can do the trick too. As a student you may be able to find a suitable Apple computer that has been refurbished or a new one with an educational discount.
