The Art of Buying the Right Printer for Your Business

An often overlooked piece of computer equipment, the printer can have a huge impact on both your business’ efficiency and its budget. Indeed, choose the wrong one and you could be faced with a less than perfect print job, having to buy costly consumables, as well as hours of wasted time trying to get the work done.

It therefore pays to do your research and find a printer that exactly matches your business’ needs. In doing so, you will not only boost productivity, but you will also save yourself precious time and money. However, with the range of printers available, it can be a confusing subject to tackle. So, how do go about finding that perfect office printer?

According to the experts, the first thing you need to identify is why your business needs one. This may seem like an obvious statement, but in reality it can be very easy to end up buying the latest all singing all dancing colour laser printer, when what you really need is a basic inkjet. As a result, before you start looking, it’s wise to think carefully about your printing requirements.

For instance, do you work from home or is your business office based? Do you need to print out large volumes of information on a daily basis, such as reports or flyers, and is high quality photo reproduction important? And, would a multi-function printer, which can include such features as a scanner, photocopier or fax machine, be more economical than a basic printer? By answering these sorts of questions, you will be able to significantly narrow down the types of printers suitable for your business’ functions.

Generally speaking, if your business prints out hundreds of sheets per week/month, you should opt for a laser printer since they are relatively cost-effective and are capable of producing a number of pages in a time efficient manner. The inkjet printer such as an officejet, on the other hand, is a better option for businesses that print in low volumes, or that require high quality photo reproduction.

The next stage when looking for a printer is to read the reviews. The best place to do this is on the web, where there are a number of unbiased comments and evaluations available: researching how other businesses have found their printers to work should give you a good idea of which one is best suited to your needs. They should also highlight the advantages and disadvantages of particular printers.

Finally, before you make that final purchase, remember to check the actual size of the printer in relation to the office space you have available (many are a lot bigger than they first appear), as well as search for its ‘duty cycle’. This will give you an accurate indication of how many pages the printer can handle each month.