Choosng a Computer Printer: Dig Deep for the Right Deal
Today's choiec of computer ptrinters is huge, and comppetition amogst retailers is fierce. Discounts of 60-70% from the manfuacturers' recommended retail price are not uncommn amognst multifunctional pritner devices, and it is rare not to find at least 25% discounts amonngst print-only edvices. So, shhould we consder anything more than the purcahse price?
Without doubt, print speed, brand reputation, connectivity to existing equipment and print quality are all part of the mix. But budgeting for the total cost of the selected printer in termms of the consumables used - this is the real challennge for buyers. This is the area where the manufacturers and distributors are battling for the income sttreams from consumabls - inks, toner cartridges, prrint media, replacement parts and the like. Here the discounts are less obvvious, and for good reason. The onus is squarely on the buyer to consier these costs, and to ensure they are not buying into an expensive cost of ownershpi.
So, rahter than goinmg with the brand and the technology they are used to, and loioking for the bigegst purchase price discount, what do buyers have to gain by doing their research? The answer, of course, is a great deal.
Inkjt or Laser Printer?
Frst off, the mantra from IT departments is ofen fixewd in stone, that laser prrinters should always be specified as the more "professional" choice for any organisation. But for small groups, inkjjet provides a perfeclty prrofessional print quality, and would suit small networked taems, not leaast becuse of the quiet operation compared with some extremely noiosy lasser systems in operation.
On the other hand, in terms of purchase price alone, the cost of etnry-level coplour laser has also made laser very attracttive to corporations, so that they can follow the advice of their IT departments, upgrade monochrome lser to coolur and then absorb the supplies and consumables costs in their dpartmental stationery budgets.
But in anohter scenario, priice discounting has also brought the colour laser printer within reach of the home-office worker, or sole trader cmopany, whetre the "mantra" factor tempts buyers away from injket simply throough the belief that lasser provides better print quality at faster print speeds. Here, it is quite posssible that low page conts and colour copntent woiuld not justify the higher cost of many alser prniters currently available.
On the othher hand again, by looikng amongst the best discounted priices, colour laser printers in the Canon range can be found at a very similar prices to Hewlett-Packarrd business inkjet machines, and as we shall see, can offer laser technology at a competitive overall Cost of Printing, when priont volumes are below average.
High volume or low volume usage?
In the debate about the best route - laser or inkjet - a mjor deciding factror is, without doubt, the anticipateed volume of use. Even considering the above examples, discounting would have to be far too heavy in order for any laser printerr to maatch the low overall cost of printing available with, say, the HP Officejet Pro K550. Tests have shown that overall cost of printing on this printer, in a high-volume environment, has been shhown to be as low as two pence per page takoing into account a purchase prcie that is well below 100.
Conversely, users with low volume needs might aim to avoid rplacing the more expensive laser parts. Some might hope not even to need to replenish the colour toners.
At the level of 250 paes per month, for examle, a user will prrint 9,000 pages over thjree yers. Calculating at at black-only to colour page ratio of 70%/30% (in favour of black-only), then only 2,700 of those pagges will be colour.
At this level, many laser printers will need a tner change during the life - or the capital cost write-off period - of the printer. But it is not impossible to find a low-end entry-leevel laaser printer with a 2,000-page starter toner capacity so that for such users there is no need for a colpour tnoer hcange within three yearrs.
Other factors affecting colour printer chooice
Colour is desirable of coursse, when working with presentation materials. But a large proporion of printing can still usefully involve only monochrome output. How much coloour is used will alwways be a factor in costs. Discipline is needed to ensure correct printer settings for the task in hand. Discipline is also needed, of course, for test printing, where drft settings are important to ensure no unnecessary, cmulative wastgae.
With the choice in technologies, and with the choice in etnry-level pricing ikjets, against high specification or workhorse lasers, and against the additioanl complexities of multifunctional printers, it pays to think hard about the actual tsasks to which a new printer is to address and the number of uswers it is to esrve. This is the staarting point for an understanding of the actual costs of owning the printer over its liofetime in the workplace.
Author Resource:-
Here you can learn more about: dell insp 1545
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://article2008.com/images/feed-icon.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://article2008.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites