Tips in Buying the Perfect Office Printer

Office equipment is seen as an investment by most businesses. Without this equipment, building a simplified document workflow would be impossible. That’s why when buying office equipment such as a printer, it’s important to consider a lot of things before purchasing the machine you have in mind.

That’s why for today, we’re going to give you a few of the important things you should consider before buying an office printer.

COLOR or BLACK-AND-WHITE

Choose a laser printer if your office is likely to print in black and white. While for those offices that are prone to print color materials, then an inkjet printer is the perfect choice because they have a strong emphasis on detailed images than laser printers.

INKJET or LASER

Again, there is a general rule that laser printers are used to print high-volume of documents with a lot of text. While inkjet printers are the perfect device to print images. So consider, whether your office is more likely to print images or simple text documents.

SPEED and PRICE

Laser printers are faster when it comes to printing speed compared to inkjet printers. This is why they are mainly used in busy offices with multiple users. But before you choose the fastest printer there is in the market, remember that the faster the machine, the more it will likely cost a lot.

DEVICE and CONNECTIVITY

If the printer you intend to buy will be used by multiple users or employees who need to print remotely, then make sure that the printer has connectivity features like Wi-fi, Bluetooth, and/or NFC enabled.

STAND-ALONE or MULTIFUNCTION

Aside from printing documents, do you also in need of a fax or photocopying machine? If yes, then you might want to consider buying a multifunction machine instead. Multifunction printers have several functions including copy, scan, and fax, unlike standalone printers.

DIFFERENT PAPER SIZES

Will you need a printer that can accommodate different paper sizes? If your office is likely to print on legal or letter-sized papers, then settle with an A4 printer. But for offices that need to print on 11" x 17" or 13" x 19.2" paper sizes, then A3 printers suits your needs. A3 printers are also primarily used by creative teams and art departments.

DUPLEX PRINTING

Duplex printing is referred to as two-sided printing. This cut your paper costs in half. Some printers offer manual duplexing which requires the user to reload the paper by themselves for the printer to print on the second side. However, most printers in the market nowadays, have auto-duplex features.

PRINT QUANTITY and PRINT QUALITY

When it comes to print quantity, the number of sheets your printer can take should exceed the number of pages you print per day to minimize paper loading. Printers built for business can typically hold between 250 to 1000 sheets of paper. If your business is likely to print presentation, graphics, and photos, then look for a laser with a DPI above 1440.

INK COST

In general, high-end printers have cheaper lifetime ink costs compare to low-end printers which are likely to have more expensive lifetime ink cost. So if your business is likely to print a lot, then going for a high-end printer may be a wiser choice.

SECURITY FEATURES

There are printers in the market that are built with security features that are perfect for government, law, or accounting offices. These security features include PIN protection, automatic hard-drive wipes, and manufacturer guarantees.