Types of office printers
Printers are essential for most businesses. There are three basic types of printers:
- Laser printers produce colour or black print and are suitable for most office printing needs. They are more expensive than other types of printers but are more economical if you do lots of printing and are relatively fast.
- Inkjet printers can carry out either colour or black printing. Some inkjet printers can produce photographic quality images. Although cheap to purchase, inkjet supplies like paper and ink make them expensive per page printed. They are also slower than comparable laser printers.
- Impact printers, such as dot matrix printers, are now rarely used except for special purposes, eg for printing forms used with accounts packages.
You can connect printers directly to desktop PCs and laptops, or share them on a wired or wireless network. Shared printers are preferable for most small offices, but some workers may need a personal printer in a secure location, particularly if they are dealing with sensitive or confidential information.
As with most computer equipment, unless you have in-house expertise, it is worth paying for a maintenance contract for your printer. Access to the right support can help reduce disruption and downtime in case of any equipment failure.