How To Choose The Best Printer For Your Small Business

A quality, reliable printer is an essential piece of office equipment for every small business. Today's printers offer great value and a variety of functions that can help boost office efficiency. Printers fall into three main categories: laser printers, inkjet printers and all-in-ones. It's helpful to understand some features of each and how they compare, in order to choose which printer is best for your small business.55

Laser Printers

Laser printers have historically been considered as expensive. They usually come in full-color or monochrome and are aimed for high volume output. Instead of ink, laser printers use toner, a dry powder geared to accommodate text-heavy and higher volume print jobs. Although laser and inkjet printers have each catered to different functions in the past, improvements to newer models of inkjet printers make them comparable to laser printers, with higher speeds, more efficient ink usage and the ability to handle higher pages per minute (PPM).

You also need to evaluate associated costs when considering laser printers. Toner cartridges run more than ink cartridges. This means that with a higher cost for toner and a generally higher price point for the machine itself, laser printers demand more startup costs than an inkjet printer. Additionally, although laser printers are well-suited to high volume and text-heavy print jobs, they can be less versatile than inkjet printers, which are better suited to printing photographs and images as well as texts.

Inkjet Printers

Inkjet printers are very popular for home and small business use. These printers are great for printing photos and image-heavy documents. Inkjet printers typically require lower startup costs and replacement ink cartridges are less expensive than toner. Inkjet printers also handle many different types of paper well including glossy photo paper, card stock and even some fabric. They are usually lighter than laser printers and take up less desk or counter space.

Again, you need to consider what type of printing you will be doing and the quantity of documents in a typical print job. Image quality is much better on inkjet printers, and newer models can print text with sharp precision. Ink costs are also lower for inkjets.

Overall, if your business needs a versatile machine that can accommodate printing documents with images as well as text, and that requires lower startup and ink costs, an inkjet printer may best suit your needs.

All-In-One Printers

All-in-one printers perform multiple office functions like printing, copying, scanning and faxing documents. A wireless all-in-one model delivers high-quality, low-cost prints, and aims at increasing office and print productivity. The beauty of wireless functionality means network users can print on-the-go from virtually anywhere — even a tablet or mobile phone. All-in-one models also offer double-sided printing and cloud-scanning options.

Overall, if you're looking to streamline several functions with one device, then a multi-tasking all-in-one printer is probably the best solution for your small business.

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visit CBS Small Business Pulse Chicago.