Buyers' Guide: Printers - Page 2

Inkjet

Inkjet printers tend to be cheaper than laser printers, for the simple reason that traditionally they offer a lower quality finish than lasers. Inkjet printers also tend to be slower than lasers and can be more expensive to maintain, with ink cartridges needing to be regularly replaced.

However, today’s inkjet printers are a far cry from the early dot-matrix printers that flooded the market in the late 80s and early 90s. Print quality on the most basic models is now of a standard that laser printers were performing at only a couple of years ago and is certainly sufficient for general office activities.

Speed is also improving all the time and the leading manufacturers appear to be responding to the calls of small businesses by making this a key factor of design criteria.

Inkjets can also offer good quality colour printing at an affordable price. If you’re buying for colour, consider what exactly you’re going to print and the finish you require. For a high quality photograph finish opt for a printer with six colours as opposed to the standard four.

While inkjets still court the ‘razor blade economy’ approach of making their money from cartridge refills, they do have the benefit of costing very little. Yes, you’ll be paying out every time you replace the cartridge but you’re also getting a printer than can produce significant quality at ever increasing speed for a minimal lay out.

Lasers

In turn, expect to pay more up front for a laser print. But the outlay should ensure you buy a high quality finish and a machine that can cope with high volume print at super fast speed.

A laser printer will also cost less to maintain. While you’ll need to change the toner every now and again, this will prove nowhere near as expensive as replacing inkjet cartridges.

However, laser printers aren’t always superior in quality when it comes to colour. Colour lasers can be very expensive - often more than a PC - and if you’re buying for colour make sure you’re getting a significantly better finish than an inkjet could offer for a fraction of the price.

All-in-ones

Determined to capture that lucrative niche of the market – you, the small business owner – printer manufacturers have been busy over the past 18 months releasing a range of affordable ‘all-in-one’ products that offer not just print, but fax, scan and photocopy facilities.

Designed as the encompassing solution for the small business manager who needs to buy all of these products individually, they’re often small desktop machines that take up little space and do, in a lot of cases, offer excellent value.

However, try and resist the British trait of snapping up anything that looks a ‘bargain’ before you’ve made sure it’s exactly what you want. There’s no point buying an ‘all-in-one’ if the printer doesn’t do everything you want, the copier hasn’t got some of the features you need and if you don’t really need a fax.

Look at the qualities of each component, otherwise that ‘bargain’ could end up becoming a redundant waste of space while you gradually end up purchasing individual items that actually do what you require them for.

Use our guide to help consider what printing requirements you have and make common sense judgements. This will help you to avoid being bowled over by the salesman and better equipped to make a good buying decision.

Brother MFC-5480CN

A compact all-in-one machine offering high quality colour printing, copying, scanning and faxing. Perfect for a small office requiring limited colour output.

Price: £199.99*

Colour: Yes

Speed: 20ppm Mono / 15ppm Colour

Duplex: No

Paper size: A4

Quality: 6000 x 1200 dpi Print Resolution

Capacity: 100 sheets

Epson Aculaser 2600N

Price: £496*

Black and white but colour convertible

Speed 30ppm

Duplex: No

Paper size: A4

Quality: 2400 RIT (resolution improved technology)

Capacity: 650 sheets

Dell Laser Printer 1710N

Price: £212*

Black and white

Speed: 26ppm

Duplex: No

Paper size: A4

Quality: 1200 dpi

USB: Yes

Capacity: 250 sheet drawer

HP Deskjet 5440

Price: £58*

Colour

Speed: 21ppm colour 22ppm b/w

Duplex: No

Paper size: A4

Quality: 1200 dpi

Capacity: 100 sheets capacity

USB port: Yes

Lexmark C510

Price: £285*

Colour and black and white

Speed: 30ppm 8ppm colour

Duplex: Option

Paper size: A4

USB: Yes

Capacity: 250 sheets

Quality: 1200 dpi

* All prices are VAT inclusive and correct at time of publishing but can vary at different suppliers.