new printer small remote office

[Lynne Desrochers]

I need to get a new printer for a small (3 people) remote office. They have requested a color printer as well recently so I wonder if I should just get a color laser printer and let them use it as both? Does anyone have something they can recommend to do both, but economically. Is that too much to ask for?
I appreciate your thoughts.

[Jim Jensen]

I don't recommend running it all through a color laser printer. The toner is more expensive for them and comes in smaller yields because of the number of cartridges in the printer. It would be more efficient to use a regular printer for most printing. You may even consider one that scans too for the scanning needs.

[Jeff Zylstra]

I tend to buy larger printers than I really need for a couple of reasons.  First, they just last longer than cheaper built, smaller printers.  Just last year, I got rid of the Lastjet 4 Plus that I was using in my office.  It was at least 20 years old, and finally the LCD display went out on it, and it was hard to tell what any errors were. It worked fine other than that.   

Second, their toner usually has higher yields and is cheaper.  Usually the toner is more readily available and from more sources.  I tend to buy used HP printers because they're the industry standard and are always compatible, and because parts are usually cheap and plentiful.  And, because there's usually lots of used HP printers available for cheap and Craigslist and/or EBay, or from an office supply dealer.  I've bought 4 or 5 used printers from these sources and have never been burned.  I usually don't spend over $500 either.  The last one was an HP 4700 Color Laser printer that's worked very well for us.  HTH.

[Gene Foraker]

I agree with Jeff.   Get a used HP4200n with not excessive page count for the workgroup and maybe a smaller color one for the occasional color need.  Make them justify and be responsible for color prints.  There really aren't that many needs other than brochures or proposals.   I'm guessing a 3 person branch is mainly PL and doesn't have as great a need.

[Lynne Desrochers]

It's actually mostly a benefits office, but I like the way you think with making them accountable on the color prints! Sure they will do proposals, but not everything has to be color.
Thank you.

[Bob]

Looking for cost effectiveness, why not get basic B/W Laser printer and a 150.00 color ink jet printer.   Majority of all printing will be B/W.   Color toner on Laser far more pricey than ink jet.  Ink jets still print photos and more quite nice.  JMO

[Jeff Zylstra]

I agree with Jeff.   Get a used HP4200n with not excessive page count for the workgroup and maybe a smaller color one for the occasional color need.  Make them justify and be responsible for color prints.  There really aren't that many needs other than brochures or proposals.   I'm guessing a 3 person branch is mainly PL and doesn't have as great a need.

Ha!  I have 2 of the 4200s, and have been very happy with them.  The office supply place also recommended the HP 4015N, which is a much newer and faster printer at around 52 pages per minute.  You can find those used all day long for around $700 with duplexer and maybe even an extra large capacity paper bin.  Check them out on EBay, and you'll find tons of both models.   Colleges and government offices seem to have a bunch they're getting rid of for some reason. 

[Jim Jensen]

Looking for cost effectiveness, why not get basic B/W Laser printer and a 150.00 color ink jet printer.   Majority of all printing will be B/W.   Color toner on Laser far more pricey than ink jet.  Ink jets still print photos and more quite nice.  JMO

I did this in the past, but cost effectiveness was actually worse for me. We used the color printer so infrequently that the ink cartridges dried out and even with cleaning the jets with some alcohol, I still ended up with very few prints for each cartridge. If they use it enough, this isn't a problem. There's surely a sweet spot between injket being cheaper and used enough but not so much that laser is cheaper.

[Jeff Zylstra]

Looking for cost effectiveness, why not get basic B/W Laser printer and a 150.00 color ink jet printer.   Majority of all printing will be B/W.   Color toner on Laser far more pricey than ink jet.  Ink jets still print photos and more quite nice.  JMO

I did this in the past, but cost effectiveness was actually worse for me. We used the color printer so infrequently that the ink cartridges dried out and even with cleaning the jets with some alcohol, I still ended up with very few prints for each cartridge. If they use it enough, this isn't a problem. There's surely a sweet spot between injket being cheaper and used enough but not so much that laser is cheaper.

The other thing that "might" work is that if a larger color printer that is housed in a larger or main office could be accessed by the smaller remote office, and have the print jobs delivered to remote office if someone goes over there every day.  I know it's a pain, but it would at least be a stop gap until you could assess how necessary a color printer really is over there, and what is the best way to provide color printing in that office.

[Jeff Golas]

You can get a color laser for about $300 now. To me thats not a whole lot to think about really. For 3 people...buy one, install it, and monitor costs. Default the drivers to black and white printing so that they have to actually choose the option for color. Move on.

If it were 20-30 people it'd be different and I'd follow the suggestions, but no need for 2 different printers for 3 people, even for daily printing. Your operating costs may be a little higher but I doubt they're printing 30,000 pages a month so the higher cost should be minimal at best.

Speaking from experience, two other rules apply:

• The better a color printer works, the more it will be used.
• Due to the extensive use of Excel and graphics/charts/etc our Benefits dept are probably the biggest consumer of color printing