22 Feb Budget friendly office printers for small businesses

Finding the best printer or copier for a small business is not an easy thing. There is almost too much information online, and you can spend hours wading through customer reviews to determine which model will give you the best value. This is especially true if you are a small business with a limited budget for office equipment and supplies.

The question for a small business is whether to buy a home office device from an office supply store or if it makes sense to get a more full-featured, professional-grade device. The answer depends on the volume and complexity of your print needs. We recommend a more professional-grade machine once your volume passes around 500 prints/copies per month, especially if printing in color.

The good news is that we don’t believe a business should have to sacrifice functionality in their printing just because budgets are tight. As with any purchase, there are always trade-offs and considerations to look at to find the machine that delivers just what your small or medium-sized business may need.

Comparison shopping for a small office printer is not easy. Home office devices often have an enticingly low price tag. But as many people learn the hard way, manufacturers of many of these devices make most of their money on supplies. If you do that math, it is not uncommon for you to pay as much, or more, for supplies as you did the device.

Here are some key features to consider when looking at low budget home office printers:

Networking – Can you connect it to your existing network? Once a machine is networked you can use it to scan documents and automate and digitize your workflows.

Compatibility – There’s no point in spending money on a machine that won’t work with the rest of your equipment or software.

Speed – How many pages can you copy, and how quickly? If you have a high volume of paperwork to duplicate, you’ll want a machine that can keep up.

Price – Does the manufacturer offer purchasing options? Do they offer lease options that make it easy to upgrade your technology as needed? You should also investigate inclusive plans for supplies, paper and toner cartridges. Getting a rough estimate of your expected volume will help determine what size device you should be looking at.

Most small businesses and home offices can benefit from the use of a multifunction devices instead of a separate printer, fax machine and scanner. Since a small business is unlikely to use a machine as frequently, it will be easy to balance copy jobs with other vital tasks, like printing, faxing and scanning. Here are some of ideal small business printers for less than 10 employees or home office:

Which small office printers do we recommend?

Small businesses or home offices can start with an affordable model like the Xerox VersaLink C500DN A4 Colour Laser printer. The Xerox VersaLink C500DN will not only produce a high-quality print at 1200 x 2400 dpi but also as fast as 34ppm making this an excellent choice for a busy office with between 5 – 15 users. Excellent connectivity through cloud & mobile printer solutions as well as USB & Network.

For small businesses that require printing and scanning capabilities perhaps in industries such as transport, legal, medical or insurance. You may need something a little more versatile such as the all-in-one VersaLink C405DN. This highly productive multifunction printer is perfect for work groups of 2 to 10 users looking to copy, print and scan. Print speeds of up to 35ppm and scan features including cloud, email, USB, desktop and folder.

Similarly, the VersaLink B610 black and white multifunction device offers enough power for most offices with print speeds of 65 ppm and can achieve 1200×1200 dpi max print resolution. With a 5″ capacitive touch-screen UI that features tablet-like navigation and full customisation this print only device is best for work groups between 8 to 15 users.

For higher volume offices that need a colour printer/multifunction device we also recommend the budget friendly Xerox VersaLink C7030. Print up to A3 with speeds of 300 ppm colour. We have found this Xerox photocopier ideal for small temporary office environments such as building site cabins, mobile class rooms, mobile offices and small offices. Print copy and scan to email, desktop, USB or cloud.

This is just a small sample of our product range and we have many devices that can accommodate most document print and processing requirements. Our range of print systems cover small office desktop to multifunction office and commercial print room.

If you need help choosing the right machine for your business, contact the print experts at Digital office Group.