Things to consider before buying a laser printer – Guide
The cost of laser printers has dropped dramatically over the years, making purchasing easier than ever. For students and DIYers just setting up one new home office, this means that a mass printing device can be purchased for a very small initial investment. For a busy office, a laser printer is a no-brainer. It delivers prints with the best text quality, the fastest speeds, and the most economical prints per page. When a document is sent to the printer, a laser beam “draws” the document using electrical charges on a selenium-coated drum. After the drum is loaded, it is rolled in toner, a dry powder ink. The toner adheres to the image loaded on the drum. ..
A laser printer prints documents by transferring toner to paper and fixing the toner with heat and pressure. After printing, the electrical charge is removed from the drum and excess toner is collected. Most laser printers print in black and white, but a color laser printer can print up to 10 times more pages than a black and white printer. Personal laser printers are sufficient for most printing needs, printing an average of 200 pages per week. However, if you need to print more than 200 pages per week, a workgroup printer is needed which prints at 24 pages per minute and costs from US$1,000 to US$6,000. ..
Focus when choosing a laser printer
Monochrome or color
Your second criterion is the size of your printer. If you’re printing a lot of documents, then you might want to consider a printer that prints in large sizes. A printer that prints in large sizes will also be able to handle high-resolution images.
Types of Functions
When you need to scan documents, make copies, send and receive faxes, you need to consider an all-in-one printer that can handle all these tasks. Additionally, you can explore other types of functions such as printing from USB sticks (file support may vary, so check specs), scanning to USB sticks and network locations, and perhaps the ability to print and scan using the cloud. Based applications. ..
paper handling
If you want to print documents on A3 size paper, you’ll need to find a printer that can handle A4 paper. Things like envelopes and heavier paper can print if your printer has a multipurpose tray, and you’ll need to check the printer’s specs to see exactly how much paper weight it can handle (in gsm) as well as the number of envelopes it can handle.
Many office printers come with a standard 250-sheet tray.
Keep in mind that some printers also offer a wide variety of customization options, such as the ability to change the paper size, font, and color. This can give you more control over how your documents look and feel. ..
connectivity
USB is the most common printing standard, but for an office environment, Ethernet is a better choice. This allows you to connect the printer to your network router and share it with other people in your office. The printer driver must be installed on all computers on the network that require access. ..
If you want to set up the printer on your wireless network, look for wireless connectivity. Additionally, keep an eye out for Wi-Fi Direct if you want to give mobile devices the ability to communicate directly with the printer and print from an application. This may work on some printers with NFC functionality, so direct connection can be set up placing the device on the printer to pair. Make sure the printer is compatible with all devices that will require access in your office, be they Apple devices, Android devices or even Windows Phone.
Cloud printing is becoming more popular each day, as more and more people are using online services to print documents. Many printers support cloud printing, which makes it easy to print from places like Google Docs, Dropbox, OneDrive, and other online services. Brother is a provider that includes these types of services across its full range of color laser printers.
Easy to use
A printer’s touchscreen can make navigating its menu system easier, especially if it has built-in access to applications that require the user to enter their login details. Ease of use can also include how quickly the paper tray can be accessed and loaded, and the way toner cartridges can be changed.
Toner cost and TCO
The upfront cost of a laser printer can be very low for some models these days, but it’s the total cost of ownership that you need to consider. This includes items such as the cost of replacement toner (for each color), toner yield (how many pages it can print), and the cost of other supplies associated with the printer, such as the unit that stores the toner on the stationary paper ) or unit drum (which transfers the toner to the paper). Many laser printers today have just one consumable, the toner.
Final note
Laser printers are great for printing large quantities of documents quickly and easily. However, before you buy one, make sure you consider the following factors.
- Cost: Laser printers range in price from around $100 to $2,000+. It’s important to find one that fits your needs and budget.
- Printing quality: Make sure the printer you choose can print at a high quality level. Some laser printers can print at resolutions up to 2400 dpi, which is higher than most inkjet printers.
- Paper compatibility: Make sure the printer you choose can print on a variety of paper types, including standard paper and photo paper. Some laser printers also have special features that allow them to print on certain types of paper more easily than other types of printers.
- Operating system compatibility: Make sure the printer you choose is compatible with your operating system (Windows or Mac). Many laser printers now come with software that allows them to be used with either operating system without any additional installation or configuration required. ..
