When laser printers were initially introduced to the consumer market, they were placed in the very high price range, and they were indeed not a product just anyone could buy, hence why they were usually seen in offices instead of the regular household. Expectedly, the prices of laser printers have decreased dramatically in recent years, and they are one of the most comfortable and convenient purchases you can make nowadays. However, choosing the right laser printer for your needs is still a task that needs some time and research on your behalf, to ensure that you will make the best purchase for your needs and requirements.
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Monochrome Is Not A Thing Of The Past
Although some people may think that the days of monochrome printers are long gone by, they still have use in the modern world. If you are looking for an office laser printer that will only be used for invoices and black-and-white documents, then why should you spend extra money on a laser printer with support for color-printing? Think carefully about the types of documents you are going to print out, and decide whether a monochrome laser printer can get the job done.
Do Not Forget Paper Sizes And Properties
Typical printers work with paper sheets up to the A4 format (210mm x 297mm.) However, in some cases the user might want to print larger (e.g. A3) sheets, so you should make sure to check what sorts of paper the printer supports.
There are other paper properties to consider too – some printers are able to work with envelopes or thicker (and heavier) paper sheets, while others cannot print on anything out of the ordinary. The unit used to measure paperweight is GSM (grams per square meter), so this is the property to keep an eye out for.
Tray Storage And Auto-Duplex Printing
If you are looking for an office laser printer, then these two qualities may turn out to be very important since they can make everyone’s printing sessions a bit easier. Ideally, you should look for a laser printer with a non-standard tray (standard is 250 sheets) that can also be expanded by adding a second or third tray. This will reduce the number of times employees will need to refill the tray with sheets.
Auto-duplex printing is the term used to describe printers that can automatically print on both sides of a sheet, without requiring manual interaction from the user.
Connection Options
Modern laser printers can work with AirPrint and Google Cloud Print – wireless technologies that allow users to utilize the printer’s options via their Android or Apple device. Other connectivity options include network-ready printers that can be connected to a Local Area Network (LAN) and used by all members of the same network remotely.
Short-Term And Long-Term Cost
Purchasing a laser printer is easy and affordable, but you should do your research to see how much it costs to own one – the most important property to check here is the cost of toner and how many pages can a single toner print. There are websites that can give you this information about the running costs of printers by calculating the price per print. If you plan to the laser printer heavily, then you should also check the price of other consumables such as the fuser and drum unit since they may break down eventually.
Speed And Duty Cycle
Depending on the number of documents you work with, these two qualities may be essential for choosing the right laser printer. The speed of a laser printer is usually calculated in pages per minute (separate speeds for monochrome and color printing) – the average for monochrome is around 35 PPM, while high-end printers can go up to 100PPM under ideal conditions.
The duty cycle is used to describe the recommended maximum monthly workload of printers – cheap models can support up to 2000-3000 pages per month, while the expensive ones may claim to support tens of thousands of prints every month.
If you are interested in even more technology-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels, then we have a lot to choose from.
IMAGE: PEXELS
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