Selecting the right office equipment for your business needs doesn’t just revolve around the brand and the expensive price tag. In fact, these machines have varying features and abilities. Choosing the best copier-printer for your own needs requires you to first take into consideration the usage you’re intending to use the machine for – in order to choose the equipment which can best cater to your personalized needs in the end.
Small and Home Office
In Singapore, it’s not uncommon to see copier and colour printer designed specifically for home and home office usage. The equipment is usually in desktop size in order to conserve space. Compared to commercial/business copier-printer, they also come in a much cheaper price tag.
These cheap and convenient home office equipment are best for occasional individual use (such as printing and making copies of a few important documents), and they’re not ideal for professional or small business use.
Commercial/Office Use
Almost every commercial business owns an office printer. This office equipment is considered a necessity in every professional business meeting, with lots of documents to scan and make copies of and reports to print.
There are various types of printer in Singapore you may find in an office setting; there’s the laser printer for convenient document printing, and there’s also the graphic art printer for more advanced and colored commercial prints.
Aside from the colour printer, another most popular and needed office equipment is the copier machine. These are often in a large size and free-standing – designed for maximum work productivity. They are expected to meet the increasing needs and demands of multi-person offices.
Commercial machines like these are equipped with various scanning, printing, copying, and even faxing abilities. Generally, they also have the option to print and make copies on various paper sizes. High-end office equipment like Singapore’s oki data office printer can be considered an investment for your business, since they do not usually come cheap.
Production
Before you buy printer or a copier machine for your business needs, it is important to consider the production options of these equipment. In businesses which require high-volume quality printing, you might want to buy a production printer with features that can cater to high quality printing and advanced document-finishing.
There are also printers in Singapore which can offer you high resolutions. Some ranging from colored 2400 x 1200 dots per inch (dpi) to 9600 x 600 dpi for normal black-and-white prints.
Printers and copiers designed for high-quality printing vary immensely in price, especially when some models possess advanced and specific features. No need to fret though, as these machines (office printer and copier) are the lifeblood of every office and are therefore considerably worthwhile investments.
Comparing equipment features
In comparing different office equipment models, you must look beyond the price tag and the brand of the said machines. Consider the equipment’s features to determine which are the ones that matter most to your business needs.
a. Print speed and volume
Some offices can’t function without their copier, especially when they have documents to make duplicates of almost every other minute. The same goes for office laser printer in printing out important reports and meeting hand-outs. If you want to improve your team’s overall work productivity, it is then important to consider the copier machine/printer’s print speed before you buy printer/copier.
The machine’s print speed is often revealed on the user manual or spec sheets with the abbreviation “ppm” for pages per minute. This indicates the number of pages each equipment can cater to within a span of a minute. Small businesses must ideally go for office equipment with 27 ppm, while larger, corporate businesses must have machines with around 52 ppm.
b. Paper capacity
Often referred to as the “tray” or “cassette”, your equipment’s paper capacity is also listed on the user manual or spec sheets. This also includes the different sizes of paper the machine may make copies or print on. More advanced machines, like the graphic art printer, may be sensitive when it comes to types of paper. They might have a limited range of paper they can cater to.
Ensure that the copier machine/laser printer’s capacity and available paper sizes effectively meets the needs of your business before you make a purchase.
c. Scanning features
It’s not uncommon to see commercial printers and copiers in Singapore with built-in scanners, but not every office equipment comes along with inherent scanning features. Choosing a copier-printer with a scanner is a must if your business needs to scan a large volume of important documents from time to time. This adds convenience among your team, and it also reduces additional costs for buying a separate scanner.
If your business needs to scan both images and word documents, always check the optical resolution of your copier-printer’s scanner. 600 pixels is good enough for simple and basic document scans, but you might need around 4800 pixels when scanning graphics.
d. Ink and toner
Buying a new machine isn’t enough. You must also consider your operation costs (such as supplies) over the lifespan of your new office equipment. Consider how much ink or toner you’ll be spending on over the envisioned lifespan of your copier-printer. These fees might add up in the long run, so you need to plan ahead and calculate. You wouldn’t want your business to fall short on budget when it comes to office supplies.
Also, ask about the number of pages you can roughly expect out of each batch or ink cartridge. This is important to consider since some cartridges might offer you more pages than others. If you want to cut back on costs, figure out if using third-party/alternative ink refills is possible for your chosen equipment.