What Type of Printer Do I Need?

[anteater]

I'm looking to buy a printer for my business needs. There are an overwhelming number of options out there - printer only vs. multifunction (print/copy/scan/fax), laser vs inkjet, color vs. black and white for laser printers. I'm leaning towards a laser printer because inkjet can cause smudging. Since laser tends to be a lot more expensive, I need to find out what features are important to have.

I thought I'd ask the seasoned pro's how you use your printers?
1. Do you frequently find yourselves scanning documents?
2. How about faxing?
3. Is there any real need for color printing?

Thanks in advance!

 

[the mayor]

You should be asking yourself those questions....unless you're trying to sell us a printer.

Printing solutions are relatively cheap now a days.
Laser printers are great...but new era jets don't smudge like they used to.
Look at what your budget is....if you only have $200, why look at $1600 printers.And budget in the cost of toner carts.
Then look at what/how many users/ qty you'll be printing.

Take a look at what YOU will be doing with it...and go hit a big box like BestBuy or Officemax (you might get lucky and find someone who has a clue)and check some smaller local shops...they'll steer you towards what you need.

As far as faxing...I do it from my desktop...no need for a hardline and don't have to leave my desk.

 

[STIBROKER]

Brother International - Multifunction Centers

• Telephone handset plus. Use the built-in telephone handset for added convenience plus the 10 one-touch and 100 automatic dial locations make it easy to place your fax or phone calls.
• Automatic document feeder. Unattended fax, copy or scan up to 20 pages at a time.
• Fast color printing. Speeds up to 25ppm black and 20ppm color.‡
• Print rich, vibrant borderless photos with resolutions up to 6000 x 1200 dpi and a minimum droplet size of 1.5 picoliters shows the fine details of your photographs.
• High speed fax modem. Send and receive faxes using the 33.6Kbps fax/modem.
• 4-cartridge ink system. Only replace the color that needs to be replaced.

 

[GetInsurance]

HP Office-Jet 7780
Best printer I've ever used. Wireless, super fast, holds a LOT of paper, fax, scan, copy, print. Also, in my opinion, you need the fax, not everything is in your desktop to just send out with a click.

 

[patch36]

I use the big brother to this one the 8860dn, which has duplex(front and back) printing and copying functions as well. I can refill the toner with bulk toner refills and it is a work horse.

Brother MFC-7820N - Compare prices, reviews, user opinions - Shopper.com

• Manufacturer: Brother International
• Part number: MFC-7820N
• Description: The network-ready MFC-7820N can be installed on the network right out of the box! The MFC-7820N is a smart choice for small-to-medium size businesses or even if you work out of your home office. In addition, everyone can use it for making quick copies, sending faxes or color scanning. Its flatbed design and convenient copying or scanning makes this the right choice.

 

[STIBROKER]

HP Office-Jet 7780
Best printer I've ever used. Wireless, super fast, holds a LOT of paper, fax, scan, copy, print. Also, in my opinion, you need the fax, not everything is in your desktop to just send out with a click.

for me its all about the cost of ink.....yours...
hp officejet 7780, Computers Networking, hp 6310 officejet all in one printer fax copier items on eBay.com


the brothers...
MFC-3360C, Computers Networking, wii items on eBay.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I use the big brother to this one the 8860dn, which has duplex(front and back) printing and copying functions as well. I can refill the toner with bulk toner refills and it is a work horse.

that one is not the one I use.....this is the deal....


Brother International - Multifunction Centers

• Telephone handset plus. Use the built-in telephone handset for added convenience plus the 10 one-touch and 100 automatic dial locations make it easy to place your fax or phone calls.
• Automatic document feeder. Unattended fax, copy or scan up to 20 pages at a time.
• Fast color printing. Speeds up to 25ppm black and 20ppm color.‡
• Print rich, vibrant borderless photos with resolutions up to 6000 x 1200 dpi and a minimum droplet size of 1.5 picoliters shows the fine details of your photographs.
• High speed fax modem. Send and receive faxes using the 33.6Kbps fax/modem.
• 4-cartridge ink system. Only replace the color that needs to be replaced.

 

[Newby]

I've got a bunch of them.

I would say for an all around printer, scanner copier, fax the HP 7780 is a great choice. For an inkjet it is very fast and the ink usage is MUCH better than my other HPs. I bought mine as a refurbished one from Staples and I can't tell it from new. Got it for about half of regular price and they deliver to your door.

I also have a large Dell color laser that I do large mailings with. Great for letter size paper but useless for anything else.

If you are printing lots of letters that need envelopes, I would also get a small black and white laser printer that will always be set up for envelope printing. It's cheap and saves you from having to switch paper back and forth from your main printer.

 

[anteater]

Thanks for your suggestions everyone! I think some of you missed the reason I'm asking these questions though. I'm buying the printer because I'm just now setting up my insurance office. Meaning that I really don't know what my needs will be. That's why I'm asking you - the people who've been there and done that.

the mayor - if I was trying to sell you a printer, this would be a pretty dumb way of doing it, don't you think?

stibroker - thanks! of all the suggestions, I think yours has the best features for the price, and the cheapest replacement cartridges.

newby - I hadn't even thought about envelope printing. How often do you find yourself doing it in bulk? My own thought on addressing envelopes is that it should be done by hand or the letter will end up in the trash unopened. Of course that wouldn't apply to bulk marketing mailings which I wouldn't have time to do by hand, but those would need to be hired out anyway.

 

[patch36]

My Brother 8860DN is my printer/scanner/copier and fax of choice. The duplex printing and copy feature to me is a must.

I also have a good HP Color Laser, but for everyday printing you can not beat the Brother. If you reproduce brochures, Summary of Benefits, etc the duplex feature will save you a lot of paper, make more professional handouts, and recreate a print job the way it was intended, printed on both sides.

It is laser and it is cheap to operate because I refill it with bulk toner I buy off of the net. YMMV

 

[djs]

Printers are easy, they are cheap enough you throw them away if you don't like them and try the next....

Seriously, my observations, realizing though I'm a P&C agent, which probably means I deal with more paper than most health agents in my paperless office....

- You will need scanning capabilities. Nothing fancy here, black and white 300 dpi pdf's are all you will need. A word of caution, the HP-78XX series falls apart on volume scanning. I know I have the big one.
- You'll do a reasonable amount of printing. Ink costs needs to be a concern. Most brother lasers are inexpensive to refill, the HP-78XX series is dirt cheap if you buy cartridges online.
- Always have fax capabilities. You may not use it often, but it doesn't cost much to add it when you buy the printer, might as well as get it.
- Print quality isn't as big an issue as you might think. You will not be printing color glossy brochures on your day to day printer, you will be printing text pages.
- Print speed is important.
- Color print is a luxury, but usually pretty affordable.
- For large color projects, take the project elsewhere. It's cheaper than printing them yourself. I pay $0.08 a copy for laser print color.

Seriously, don't lose sleep over a printer. Get something solid, but realize you can always toss it and get something different later on, once you have a better feel for what you need.

The brother 7820 is a workhorse machine. My one complaint with it (okay, I have several) is that it is loud. Not excessive, just don't put it next to your phone.

Dan

P.S. If anyone is wondering, the issue I have with the HP printer for scanning is poor paper handling and extremely slow scans. You won't find this out till you use it a lot. My wife has one as well, she likes the scans, but doesn't scan a 100 pages a day. The particular issues are that folded pages (i.e., returned in envelopes) tend not to go through the ADF feeder well and jam frequently. Also, when scanning multiple pages, using software such as paperport (or even the HP software), the scan head is on the wrong end of the scanner, and travels from one end, scans a single page, back to the other end, and then back again for the next page. For some reason, they put the document feeder on the left side of the machine and the scan head on the right side of the machine. This significantly slows document scanning. Not all HP's do this.