Choosing Printers

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Choosing the right printers for an organization is a lot like choosing the right car. There are certain practical matters to look at such as up-front cost, cost of consumables (gas, ink, or toner), and suitability to the task at hand (for example, hauling lumber or printing brochures). Use Table 11-1 to decide which basic category of printer would work best for your company.

Consumable costs vary widely, especially for inkjet printers, so try to find reviews that list the cost per page for the printer in question. Look for printers with built-in network interfaces because they print faster, require less processing power on the print server, and can be flexibly located anywhere there’s a network cable. Printers with a USB connection can be used if print volumes are low (or for backup printers), but steer clear of printers using parallel port connections if possible—they can drastically slow a print server.

Table 11-1: Printer types and suitability to different print volumes

Document Type	Low Volume (100–500 Pages/Month)	High Volume (500+ Pages/Month)
Black and white text and graphics	Consumer inkjet or laser printer	Black and white laser printer
Color text and graphics	Consumer inkjet printer	Color laser printer
Documents with pictures	Consumer inkjet printer	Business inkjet or color laser printer
Photo prints	Consumer inkjet printer	Inkjet photo printer, business inkjet printer, or high-quality color laser printer

Tip 

Having at least two printers online in an organization is a good idea in case one runs into problems at an inopportune moment. One sensible approach is to use a laser printer as the primary printer and an inkjet printer as a backup printer that can also be used for high-quality photo prints.

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