How do you choose the right printer or copier for your personal or business needs? When looking at purchasing or leasing a printer of copier there are several things to consider. Cost of the entire unit, costs of the ink/toner, how much the ink/toner yields, life cycle of components, and warranty.
When you look at the costs of the entire unit, don’t assume that the sticker price is your end all be all for expenses. For example if you are comparing two desktop printer units and one costs $249 while the other costs $599 don’t assume the lower sticker price is going to be lower in expenses. When looking at the cost of the entire unit you need to consider everything else within the printer that has a costs to it as well to determine you total costs of ownership.
Lets say the costs of toner for your $249 desktop printer is $129 for each toner. The costs of toner for your $599 desktop printer is $129 for each toner. You’re thinking if the costs of toners are the same, and one printer is cheaper, why not go with the cheaper printer?
Then you start to look at what the toner yields. The cost for the $249 printer toner yields 1,000 pages per toner with 5% coverage. The costs for the $599 printer toner yields 5,000 pagers per toner with 5% coverage. If the toner yields are higher on the printer that costs more but the toner costs is the same, you start to look at the higher priced desktop printer as your option of choice. The toner yields more and your costs per page then becomes lower.
Other things to consider is the life cycle. Every component inside a printer has a life expecting. Pick up rollers, developer, paper tray, scanner, and so forth. Normally with lower costs desktop printers the life expecting of your inside components will be lessor than that of a higher priced printer. When you calculate the lifetime expecting of the parts and the costs to replace those parts, you tend to look at the higher priced desktop printer. It will last longer, less maintenance, which means less downtime, and will save you money if you don’t have to replace components right away.
Last but not least, consider the manufacturer warranty on any printer or copier. Most printers or copiers come with a 1-year manufacturer’s warranty. What does that warranty entail? In some cases, you have to ship your printer or copier to the manufacturer. If you have to ship the printer or copier, imagine being down while your printer or copier is out for service. Imagine the costs you incur to ship it out.
When you understand the total costs of ownership you will understand what the best financial investment is. It doesn’t always make sense to go with cheaper equipment. Make your dollars stretch!