small business looking for decent printer suggestions

  • Thread starter Thread starter John Burlington
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John Burlington

Hello:

The company I work for is seeking a printer/ copier capable of printing
between 30-40 ppm and perhaps up to 1000 ppw (pages per week). To hold down
costs, we only need b&w. Can someone suggest something reliable for less
than $1000 US?

Thank you,
John Burlington
 
If you are looking for an All-In-One type machine I would suggest staying
away from them. If the copier function of your printer/copier/scanner/fax
machine goes out, that effectively renders the machine useless while it is
being repaired at the shop. We use a Canon PC981 copier and an old (very
old) HP LaserJet Series II printer. Both work perfectly. The Canon is fast
and easy to use and the HP is built like a battleship. If I were looking
for a new printer and copier I would consider machines from HP, Epson and
Canon.
 
If you are looking for an All-In-One type machine I would suggest staying
away from them. If the copier function of your printer/copier/scanner/fax
machine goes out, that effectively renders the machine useless while it is
being repaired at the shop. We use a Canon PC981 copier and an old (very
old) HP LaserJet Series II printer. Both work perfectly. The Canon is fast
and easy to use and the HP is built like a battleship. If I were looking
for a new printer and copier I would consider machines from HP, Epson and
Canon.
Click to expand...


I agree. Stay away from multi-function machines in general and
especially if fast reliable printing is critical. Get the best
printer you can justify. Plan on sharing it on a network. If the
printer you like has a network interface option I suggest you get it.

After you have your printing set up look at your scanning, copying and
faxing requirements; FAXs can be sent directly from Windows and
received via services like efax.com so if that meets your requirements
you don't need to buy any gadgets.

If you need to fax the occasional paper document you can keep an old
landline fax machine around on a phone line or use teh software that
comes with any cheap flatbet scanner.

USB scanners (I like the Canon LIDE-30 for under $50) come with
SCAN-to-file and SCAN-to-laser printer (BW or color) software that
meet my needs just fine.

If you need high speed scanning with batch input autofeeders get one
that best fits your needs. You can always program it to print to a
network printer via software.
 
Hello:

The company I work for is seeking a printer/ copier capable of printing
between 30-40 ppm and perhaps up to 1000 ppw (pages per week). To hold down
costs, we only need b&w. Can someone suggest something reliable for less
than $1000 US?

Thank you,
John Burlington
Click to expand...


Get the best HP printer that fits your need for $900, spend
$50 on a USB flat bed scanner similar to my Canon LIDE-30
and have lunch with the change.
 
John said:
Hello:

The company I work for is seeking a printer/ copier capable of printing
between 30-40 ppm and perhaps up to 1000 ppw (pages per week). To hold down
costs, we only need b&w. Can someone suggest something reliable for less
than $1000 US?

Thank you,
John Burlington
Click to expand...

THe HP LaserJet 4100MFP is near the end of it's life and you should be
able to get GREAT deals. It has all the features of a standard HP
LaserJet but using it's colour scanner has a copier function, will scan
as PDF direct to e-mail and will scan to fax, all as standard.

If you can go a bit higher then look at the new LaserJet 4345MFP which
has lots of finishing options like stakers, sorters and staplers too.

Get rid of your leased copier and go all in one. The LaserJet range are
built like tanks and are ultra reliable.
 
While I agree to some aspects of the previous replies,it really depends on
WHAT is most important.Is the copier you are mainly interested in? If
so,than a $50 or even a $500 USB scanner is not the answer!Chek ebay for
used copiers.There are some real nice units for under $1000.Then.if you need
a printer they are easy to find.I sure would hate to try to do much copying
with a $50 scanner!!! I do not see you even mentioning a fax,or an
all-in-one.So ,I think it sounds like you want a copier.
 
Hi Douglas,

Maybe I should have been more specific.... We don't need fax, just a copier.
We have a rather poor printer that could use an upgrade, but not really
necessary at this time. So, yes, a decent b&w copier only.

Thanks,
John
 
With your volumes, the key issue is cost per page. With most LaserJets, and
normal (5%) ink coverage, you are looking at 3 cents per page for toner
cartridges. If you go with a more expensive multi-function unit that is
sold by copier people, you should be able to get a full service contract
including toner for 1 - 1.5 cents per page regardless of toner coverage.

You need to do the math, but with 1,000 ppw, the toner costs quickly dwarf
the up front cost of the printer/copier.

Mike Schumann
 
John Burlington said:
Hi Douglas,

Maybe I should have been more specific.... We don't need fax, just a copier.
We have a rather poor printer that could use an upgrade, but not really
necessary at this time. So, yes, a decent b&w copier only.
Click to expand...
If you hunt around I think you'll find there are some copier/printers
(Samsung, Kypcera?) which are basically small copiers with a PC
printer interface. These could well be what you want.

I agree with those who have said a scanner is *not* a good solution to
use as a copier. It's a real drag if you are copying more than a
couple of sheets.

I've just bought an HP7310 All-in-One which (after a significant
amount of hassle with the software) I'm happy with. However it's not
up the to sort of speed that the OP wants.
 
John Burlington said:
Hello:
The company I work for is seeking a printer/ copier capable of printing
between 30-40 ppm and perhaps up to 1000 ppw (pages per week). To hold down
costs, we only need b&w. Can someone suggest something reliable for less
than $1000 US?
Thank you,
John Burlington
Click to expand...

Copier ratings at J.D. Power:
http://www.jdpower.com/cc/electronics/jdpa_ratings/copier/Find.jsp
HP, Imagistics, and Toshiba were rated best in Overall Ownership Experience.
About finding a 30-40 ppm copier for less than $1000, that might be
difficult.
If you buy a used copier, I suggest getting a service contract.
Leasing is an option.
 
Copier ratings at J.D. Power:
http://www.jdpower.com/cc/electronics/jdpa_ratings/copier/Find.jsp
HP, Imagistics, and Toshiba were rated best in Overall Ownership Experience.
About finding a 30-40 ppm copier for less than $1000, that might be
difficult.
If you buy a used copier, I suggest getting a service contract.
Leasing is an option.
Click to expand...


If you own a 40ppm printer (not cheap) you can buy an auto-doc-feed
scanner at a wide range of prices depending on speed and features. HP
has a range of products up to 25ppm:

http://makeashorterlink.com/?G2AC22A9A

I expect that the HP software that comes with the scanner will
turn it into a copier.

(if this link doesn;t work go to hp.com and look at business
scanners.)

The advantage of purchasing seperate products is that you get pick
size and features that meet your needs, spread the cost, and if one
machine has a problem the other isn't broken.

If you find a BIG business-grade copier that has a printer interface
and the cost per page is OK, I'd go with it, also, but get a
maintenance agreement.

HP sells multi-year service agreements which I recommend. If you
lease, get a service agreement that matches the lease lifetime.
 
While expensive and not sold all over, Epson makes an auto sheet feeder
to the 3270 and 4180 flatbed scanners enabling you to feed multiple
sheets automatically.
 
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