Choosing a Printer

1. Laser Printers

Advantages:

• Inexpensive to run
• Use toner, not ink (toner may cost more initially, but is better value than ink in the long-run, as it lasts much longer)

Disadvantages:

• More expensive to buy

2. Inkjet Printers

Advantages:

• Inexpensive to buy
• Use actual ink
• Some can produce very high quality images - with special ink and paper

Disadvantages:

• Ink can work out very expensive and doesn't last very long.

3. Dot-matrix

Advantages:

• Cheap to run, can be cheap to buy (but can be expensive!)
• Works like a typewriter - with impact and ribbon
• Useful for multi-part forms, e.g. invoice/receipt/docket/copy (e.g. Logistics) as impact transfers through many sheets
• Compatible with perforated-edge paper
• Also used  for general office printing, e.g. letters, reports, photographs
• Higher spec printing, e.g. double sided, colour

Disadvantages:

• Can be noisy
• More inexpensive models can be slow to print
• Can be difficult to load paper

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6 Considerations

What to look for among the techno-babble

1. Pages per minute.  How much printing do you require?  Five pages per minute means just 60 per hour.  If your print- run is 1200 pages, that is 20 hours of printing!  In such a case, you need a faster printer!
2. DPI, or 'dots per inch', is the resolution, or maximum clarity of the printed image.  75 dpi is screen resolution.  300 is standard print resolution.
3. Connectivity - how does the printer connect to your PC?  In the past, all printers connected via the parallel port, which was then affectionately known as the "printer port".  Then came the "com port" printers.  Nowadays, most printers will connect via USB.  USB stands for Universal Serial Bus and is in its second incarnation - USB2.  USB and USB2 look and operate the same, but USB2 transfers data more quickly.  USB is now the standard method of connectivity for PCs and peripheral devices.
4. Single or double sided?  Double sided can result in more professional documents and save on paper.
5. Black and white or colour?  Remember, that not only will a colour printer be more expensive to buy, but colour printers use four times the toner/ ink.  Colour printing uses the CMYK system of additive colour mixing: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, blacK.
6. Paper size. Do you need to print on anything other than standard A4 paper?  A3?  DL envelopes? Do you need to house special paper in separate paper drawers or is it acceptable to use a manual feed whenever special paper is needed? Do you need a separate paper drawer for your headed paper?

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Multi Function Machines

It is commonplace to see advertisements for machines that do copying, printing, faxing and scanning.  These multi-function machines can be a great space saving resource.  However, they come with a price:  if someone is using the machine to perform a large print job, it will be unavailable for faxing.  Also, if the machine breaks, it is then unavailable for any of its multi-functions. 

There are, therefore, strong arguments against combining several machines into one central resource.  In a larger office with several users requiring the services of printers, etc., it may be more effective to invest in separate items for each function, e.g. a printer, a copier and a fax machine.  Then, if a machine, breaks often another machine can provide a backup, (for example, a copier temporarily filling in for a broken printer.)

In general, consider the following:

• Maintenance costs. Is there a Support/Maintenance contract with printer supplier or will a supplier do Ad-hoc repairs?
• Cost of consumables (e.g., paper, toner, ink)
• Source a supplier (or two) before purchasing, to ensure easy access to spare parts in case of a major breakdown - you don't want to be stuck for a long time with a redundant piece of equipment, while you wait for a spare part to be shipped in.
• Take a look at http://shopper.cnet.com to compare prices and specifications.