Printing for Business
Major Types of Printers
Typically businesses require Inkjet printers and laser printers. Nowadays, business printing can also mean printing photos. Therefore photo printers and multi-functional are becoming more popular. Other printers such as dot matrix will be ignored here.
Inkjet Printers
Most inkjet printers are used for home and small offices, however manufacturers such as Hewlett Packard have produced inkjet printers for industrial and business printing, such as promotions and sketches.
Pricing starts from around 30GBP or 45 USD. Cartridges start from around 20 GBP or 30 USD. They are normally suitable for small businesses with low printing load.
Laser Printers
These use black or power toners instead of liquid inks. Laser printers can be used for printing that require heavier print load, and that have a higher budget, though there are ways to save on printing costs even with this type of printer.
Prices for laser printers start around 50 GBP or 75 USD. Toners cost around 90 GBP or 135 USD.
Multi-functional Printers
Also known as, all-in-one printer: Typically a combination of a printer, scanner, photocopier and fax machine. These types of printers can be laser or inkjet. Inkjet ones are a lot more affordable.
Prices start from around 40 GBP or 60 USD for inkjet, 60 GBP or 90 USD for laser (add 100 GBP or 150 USD for colour).
Business Printers – Comparison
- Inkjet is cheaper then laser for low scale printing. However, laser printers are cheaper for heavier load printing. Multifunctional printers are cheaper in the sense that you can replace photocopiers and fax machines. However, normally faxes have to be sent through your computer after scanning).
- Inkjet has no warm up time and is quick and easy to use comparing to Laser. But Lasers print pages faster. Multifunctional printers tend to be slightly slower than single function, whether inkjet or laser.
- Inkjet printers and multifunctional printers are better for images if compared to cheap laser printers.
But high end laser printers have better quality and higher resolutions. - Laser printers last longer because they are more durable and are better for high volume printing. Multifunctional printers are the least durable, as there encompass more moving parts, and if they fail, you will lack a photocopier and a fax machine too.
Choosing which type of printer to purchase depends on how much you want to print. Inkjet should suffice for around 10 pages a day. Otherwise I’d recommend laser.
WYPIWYG – At rativersity we learnt WYPIWIG (What you pay is what you get). I understand that good brands normally mean better quality and durability, but regardless of which type of printer you buy, you’ll pay more for better brands. So maybe it just works out. I think if your printing for businesses that are long-term and large, go for a good branded laser printer.
While gnawing through printing paper boxes, I discovered that you can buy good refillable printer cartridges and toners, and save on printing costs by around 70%, while keeping your existing printers. I think most people have too much money to bother! Or are they just lazy rats?