Individuals looking for a new printer and ink cartridges may need to think carefully about what features they will require.

This is because a new survey conducted by print management company Dynamic Workflow Solutions has found a large number of people may not be utilising all the functionality of their equipment, IT Pro Portal reports.

It found many individuals consider their home printer too complicated and as such only stick to basic operations.

One in five respondents to the survey said they only print at home in black and white, while just two per cent said they advantage of printing via email and five per cent use a mobile or tablet device to send items directly to the machine.

IT Pro Portal therefore observed: “It is clear many home users are not embracing the wave of technology being included with many new printers.”

Dynamic Workflow Solutions’ survey also noted the unwillingness to use some of their printers more advanced functions is not a generational difference, as the results of the survey were consistent across all age ranges.

The one exception to this was the use of in-built faxing capabilities on multifunction printers. This is used by five per cent of individuals, with most of these falling into the over-55 demographic.

Therefore, individuals who are considering purchasing a new printer may need to think about whether functionality such as Wi-Fi, mobile and faxing options will be important, so they can choose a machine that is good value and suited to their requirements.

However, it was recently noted by Kodak in a paid feature for PC Advisor that devices with a wide range of features such as internet connectivity could be highly useful to many people as they will be able to use their machine for many years to come.

The manufacturer said “these innovations mean the printer has a longer useful life”, adding: “Regular updates allow it to remain up to date and the owner to make use of the latest features.”