Despite the digitization of many business materials, most small businesses today still rely on printers for their regular operations. A printer is a crucial piece of equipment for modern companies, but it’s essential that you select one that’s properly suited to your company’s unique needs. Purchase too simplistic of a model, and it won’t have all the functions you need; purchase too complex a model, and you’ll be overpaying for a machine with features you’ll probably never use. How do you find the middle ground and select the right business printers in Anchorage, AK, for your company’s needs? Please keep reading to get some tips from our printer experts.
Know How You Plan to Use It
This can feel like a very obvious question to ask, but it’s essential to determining what type of printer you need and narrowing down your options. Obviously, you’ll probably use your printer to print—but do you also need it to copy and scan? What about faxing? Do you intend to print primarily text-based documents or will your pages be more image-heavy?
Before you start shopping for a printer, you need to thoroughly consider the types of print jobs you think you’ll be using it for. This might be difficult if your business is new, as your print needs will change quickly as your business grows and adapts. If you’re replacing an old printer and you’ve been in business for a while, you’ll probably have a firmer grasp of what your print needs are; additionally, you can consider the areas in which your previous printer fell short of your needs, so you can ensure that doesn’t happen again.
Once you’ve determined how you plan to use your new office printer, you’ll be better able to answer the following questions and select the right printer for your needs.
Will You Print Text or Images?
As we stated in the above section, one of the questions you’ll need to ask yourself is whether you intend to print text-based documents or print a lot of images primarily. For most businesses, text-heavy documents like contracts are the primary type of document that they’ll print. Laser printers are the best for these types of documents for the job. These can turn out highly precise pages of text, and can do it much more quickly than an inkjet printer. You’ll save time on your print jobs, and they’ll look better to boot.
If, however, you plan to print a lot of image-heavy documents, such as pamphlets and brochures, an inkjet printer is the better option for your business. While they do print a little bit slower, they produce much higher-quality images than laser printers. Your documents will look extremely professional and have all the beautiful details you could ever hope for in your images. Your text documents will still look nice enough, but they will be prone to smudging immediately after printing and will come out slower.
What Functions Do You Need?
You’d be hard-pressed these days to find a business printer that only prints. Most machines serve multiple functions, including printing, copying, and scanning at the very least. However, you still need to ask yourself if there are any other functions that you would like your printer to perform for you. Do you print a lot of packets for presentations? You may want a machine that can staple those packets together for you as they print. Do you scan and then email a lot of documents? You can save a bit of time on that process by getting a machine that can scan a document straight to an email address. Other functions to consider include the following:
Double-sided printing
Double-sided scanning
Scanner tray for multi-page scanning
Wi-Fi connectivity for printing from any device
Increased cybersecurity
Individual logins for each user
If you’re unsure of all the capabilities you can consider in a printer, you can contact us or visit our showroom to learn more about some of the available models and their functions. This can give you an idea of what options are available, so you can determine which are most important to you.
Important Stats to Look At
Beyond the type of printer you want and its functions, there are many stats that you should be looking at regarding a printer’s functions. Here are some of the numbers you should be considering with every model you look at:
Printing speed – This is usually expressed as pages per minute, and will be different for black-and-white versus color prints. The more pages per minute, your print jobs will get done faster.
Paper tray size – Don’t want to be constantly refilling the paper tray? Make sure to check the maximum number of standard sheets a printer can hold, and look for one with an oversized tray.
Upfront cost – Cost is always a factor for a business purchase, so it’s important to look at the price tag; make sure you’re comparing apples to apples, as most printers that cost more have that higher price tag for a good reason.
Long-term cost – You should also be looking at the long-term cost of any printer you’re considering buying. While this won’t usually be expressed right on the printer, you can do some research and ask questions to determine the average maintenance costs and the ongoing cost of print supplies for that particular printer.
Get Help Finding the Right Printer
Finding the perfect printer for your small business can be difficult, but Arctic Office Products can help. We understand that small businesses are on a budget, and need a printer that does what they need at a price they can afford. Our team can help you find that perfect match. Contact us today or visit our location to get the guidance and support you need in finding the right business printer for a business in Anchorage, AK.