Right Sizing Your Printer or Copier

Before you decide on a copier, you should look at the amount of output that you will need. For example, will you need a few printed sheets each day or will you need dozens or hundreds of sheets? You want to avoid overestimating your needs, and you also want to avoid underestimating. If you overestimate, it will cost you more, but if you underestimate, you will not have enough printing capability to sustain the demand.

In general, avoid choosing a personal inkjet or laser copier. Not only will you pay more for printing, it does not have the same business security features that you receive with a business-grade copier because it isn’t intended for that market. That means that if you use a network or the Internet, you could be placing sensitive company information at risk. Looking at copiers, check to see if you can find a copier that offers automatic duplex capabilities. This will reduce your environmental impact because it lowers the amount of paper needed. A plus-side of duplex printing is that because it prints on both sides, it lowers your cost of paper.

Printers that see use from multiple people will need ethernet networking so that they can share. Wireless can also be a great option for a smaller work group, but the disadvantage is that the reliability tends to be somewhat spotty.