Choosing a Printer for 2020
Shopping for a printer isn’t easy. There is so much choice out there. Should I get a laser or an inkjet? Mono or colour? Single or multifunction? And, of course, there are so many different makes and models. If you are feeling a bit daunted at the prospect of choosing the right printer, here is a guide to some of the best printers to buy in 2020 that you may find helpful.
The majority of 'home' printer purchases are done based on it's price and the cost of the consumables (ie printer ink). Cost does come to it with business purchases, but when printers are bought for business, they are more likely to look at quality and longevity. Will it do the job it's designed for. In business, there can be no hold-ups.
Any guide to the best printers on the market must include Brother, simply because they make the best laser printers in the world, bar none. Two of the four recommended machines in this guide are by Brother: a colour laser and a mono laser printer.
The Brother L3710CW is an all-in-one colour laser printer that is reliable, efficient and cost effective. It has long lasting ink cartridges and can print at very high speeds whilst keeping up the quality. Suitable for small businesses, the printer is compact and quiet. It is designed to be set up and on the network in minutes and is very user-friendly thanks to its colour touchscreen, which gives quick and easy access to its features. This machine uses LED technology to produce a print resolution of up to 2,400dpi. The printer is supported by a 1,000-page inbox toner and has a built-in 250 sheet paper capacity, so you don’t have to be constantly replenishing the paper tray. The connectivity of this printer consists of Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct and USB. The printer has a built-in website that allows you to make configuration changes, monitor status, print reports and order supplies. Very cool. All in all, this is a powerful, entry level printer, suitable for small offices and workgroups.
The Brother HL-L 6300DW is a mono laser ‘workgroup’ printer that has some powerful and attractive features, including: print speeds of up to 46ppm, paper capacity of 570 sheets expandable to 2,650 sheets, 8,000 page inbox toner, intuitive touchscreen LCD display and integrated NFC reader for security and authentication purposes. This machine has versatile paper handling - add multiple lower trays and mailbox options. The optional high yield toner cartridges enhance productivity whilst reducing print costs. The interface supports multiple business cloud-based services including Google Drive and Dropbox. The machine also complies with environmental standards including German Blue Angel and Nordic Swan. Lower your printing costs, become more energy efficient and reduce environmental impact all at the same time. This stand-alone printer is suitable for small to medium size offices with high volume print needs. Probably the best thing about this model are its running costs, which are amongst the lowest for a monochrome laser printer in its class. Connectivity consists of Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, USB and NFC. Small, light, fast and efficient, few mono laser printers match this model. Highly recommended.
Now, let’s look at a couple of inkjet printers that we think will serve you well, if this is the kind of printer you require.
The Epson Workforce WF-2010W is a portable inkjet printer designed for home and small office use. At a nifty 34ppm, it will keep pace with any small business environment. It is economical – separate colour cartridges and support for high capacity XL cartridges from Epson. It produces professional quality documents that are water and smudge resistant, due to Epson’s fast drying Durabrite Ultra ink. It has flexible connectivity options – Wi-Fi, Ethernet and USB, and there is no need for configuring the network settings as the printer will take care of this itself. A very good choice. b2b.ie approved.
For affordable, professional wide format printing, the HP Officejet 7110 is ideal. You can print in a wide range of sizes – from 3x5 to 13x19 inches. You can keep a low cost per page by using high yield black and colour cartridges. The machine can keep up with a high volume of work, managing up to 800 pages per month. It also has amazing connectivity: print wirelessly on your office network and share with other PCs. Print from your smartphone or tablet by downloading the free HP ePrint app, so you can print directly from your device. Add the printer to your Ethernet network to share with your workgroup. You will also save energy and reduce paper cost by printing on both sides of the sheet. The printer is Energy Star qualified and rated EPEAT Bronze. Definitely a class machine.
When deciding on a printer, you must consider ink cartridges. Everyone knows that ink cartridges are generally very expensive. It’s just a fact of life. But there are things you can do to reduce the cost of replacing them. The following are some tips on ways to save money on printer ink.
1. Invest in a reservoir printer. Canon and Epson say that the bottles of ink included in their reservoir printers last about two years and replacements cost around €20. Whatever way you look at it, this is going to save you money. They may cost a little extra, but reservoir printers are well worth looking into.
2. Subscribe to an ink delivery service. This will automatically provide you with ink refills when you need them. The monthly fee is based on the amount of paper you use, not ink. It’s ideal if you print roughly the same number of pages each month. According to HP, consumers who subscribe could save up to 50% on ink costs.
3. Consider buying 'compatible' ink cartridges. This can result in considerable savings. They are typically sold in cartridges that have been recycled or refilled. They are also called ‘aftermarket’ inks. Sometimes they don’t work as well as original cartridges, so we recommend that you make sure it comes with a good guarantee and that you try it out quickly, so you have plenty of time to return it, if need be.
4. Try a mono laser printer. Laser printers are generally more cost efficient than inkjets. People associate them with offices and businesses, but some are very affordable and good for home use. The toner used in laser printers lasts longer so the overall cost of ownership is kept low.
There is another way of reducing the cost associated with inks: print less. Saving documents takes only the tiniest amount of memory on your PC. So, unless a hard copy is necessary, there is no need to print. Also, with the advent of memory sticks and external hard drives, you can back up your documents, so that if your computer fails you will still have everything safe and accessible through another PC. Printing less also helps to conserve energy and less paper means more trees, so it is entirely the right thing to do if you are careful of the environment.
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