What features do you look for in a color laser printer?

There are several things to consider in this kind of a purchase and most of them are dependent on your network environment.

1) You already know your approximate printing volume, so that will help you with narrowing down your choices.

2) When you check on the price of the unit, also check on the cost of consumables like toner, drum, transfer kit, fuser, etc. These are normal wear items like the brakes or battery in your car. Some manufacturers charge a lower price for the unit, but make up for it on the consumables. Use the prices for the manufacturer consumables; third party or refilled toner cartridges and re-manufactured/third party parts (drums, transfer kits, etc.) can void the warranty.

3) Do you need to duplex print (printing on both sides of the page)? A duplexing unit, either as part of the unit or as an aftermarket upgrade is required for duplex printing, unless you plan to use the "suicide method" of printing one page, then loading the paper back into the printer to print the other side.

4) Generally speaking, make sure the printer is network ready (usually a selling point for most units). If it is wired network ready, but you have a wireless network in your office, you don't need wireless networking built into the printer. Depending on the sophistication of your company's network, wireless networking capability would potentially cause more problems with connectivity and printing/network performance than it would solve. Also, when you say wireless printing, do you mean wireless networking (802.11.xx) or do you mean Bluetooth printing?

5) Consider a service contract on the unit. With a service contract, you are able to get support/repairs after the one year manufacturer's warranty period. Try to determine the period of time that the printer will be in use and get a contract to match the unit life cycle (generally, IT assets use a 3-year life cycle).

6) Hewlett Packard and Epson are pretty much considered the industry standard for printing, especially color printing with photo quality. Brother also makes some good quality units as well, depending on how much volume you are planning to put through it.

7) Is this going to be a "color printing ONLY" printer, being used for a specific purpose, or will it be a general purpose printer for use by everyone? If it is a general purpose printer, will it be replacing a black and white network laser printer? If so, this will potentially increase the anticipated volume of printing the unit does and the cost of your company's black and white printing will also go up.

I hope that this is some of the information you were looking for. Let me know if you have any questions about anything that I told you about,

Bill Kruger

“Speak with a dealer who carries multiple lines of product and do not go razor cheap. What I mean is don't fall into the trap of a low price on the equipment, just to be nailed on the costs of toner and service later. I'm a dealer on a nationwide level of Canon equipment as well as Savin/Ricoh, HP, Lexmark and Sharp. If you'd like an independant side by side study done on the machines you are considering, please let me know. 917 828 0006. Thank you, Todd Griesman”