Color Copiers and How to Take an Effective Decision in a Small Business

Office copiers have a great use and are almost a necessity in offices today.  Color copy machines bring your documents to life with full color and graphics.  There are mainly three ways in which a business can acquire a copier for its needs.  Invest in a brand new machine, purchase a used copier or lease out a copier.  Since we're talking about small setups with limited capital to spend, we need to tread a meticulous path.  If a small business decides to invest on a new machine, it might not have sufficient funds for things that matter more for the business.  Moreover, with technology advancing ever so rapidly, it wouldn't be wise to own a copier which would only lose value as better products are released. The following are some points worthy of consideration when faced with a need to take a decision in this regard.

Used Copier

Going for this option, you'd be required to make a smaller investment to acquire the color copier than investing in a brand new one.  However, ensure that you deal with only the well-experienced firms that provide fully functional machines that prove useful for several years.  One downside to this arrangement would be that you'd be getting a machine that is not of the latest technology and would also not have an opportunity to upgrade and update the equipment without incurring some expenses. 
Assess your particular needs as buying used copiers might be the best solution in some scenarios.

Leasing a Copier

This actually has many advantages for a small business.  Probably the most important one among them would be the fact that you wouldn't have to make a huge one time investment.  When you lease out an office copier, you would get equipment that is of the latest technology and would also have provisions to upgrade it after sometime.  However, in this scenario, technically, you would never own the copier and would have to make the lease payments and renew the agreements throughout its use.

Assess your Current Needs and Financial Position

The secret to making the right decision is actually not a secret at all.  Understanding where your organization stands financially can help a great efforts deal in making the right choice.  In the long run, you might end up paying more on lease payments than buying a color copier.  But, you wouldn't enjoy the other benefits that come with leasing.

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Tips to Compare Copiers

When you are going out to purchase a copier for your home or small office, you must want to find a copier with the best value and practical features.  Then what you are going to do is to examine different aspects from several different options of the copier, in order to find out the right type and brand to purchase.  So, here are some important tips to compare copiers in a way to get the best unit.

The first thing that you have to do when you are going to compare copiers is to observe each brand of the copier.  There are such kinds of brands that are commonly known as the most popular brands and it brings great quality of its products.  Some of the most popular brands are Canon, Xerox, and Sharp. They are considered as the most popular brands among others.

Secondly, you have to determine what your needs are.  You need to decide whether you are going to make copies in color or just in black and white.  Actually, there are three options of machines that you can select from, which are grayscale, black and white, or color.

Thirdly, what you need to compare is about the price.  Prices can depend on the type, size, and brand. The more popular the brand is, the more expensive the unit will be.

Moreover, you can also make some comparisons by looking at the information from a shopping site.  It will be easier for you to look at side by side the information about the copier you are going to purchase after you narrow down your selections.

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Why Buy Used Copiers?

The copying business has seen a boom during these past few years for a number of reasons.  One is that creating copies are far cheaper then recreating originals.  Another would be that copiers are the ideal way to go for mass production.  Apart from that, a copier is a necessity in almost any office.  Having a copier alone can already save you hundreds of working ours alone in a matter of months, because workers can get copies for different requirements at the push of a button instead of running to another shop and creating copies there.

Brand new copiers can cost quite a fortune and many businesses that are starting out are hesitant to buy one.  Another option is also available and that is to buy used copiers.  A used copier does not always equate to being a bad copier or being a copier of inferior quality.  You would be very surprised how much you could save with buying a used copier as opposed to buying a brand new one.  Always remember that the quality in a copier is not its age, but its ability to produce copies efficiently and with a relatively low cost.  Whether it's using used color copiers or used mono photocopiers, you can say that you have already considerably lowered your costs for operations.

A lot of sites in the web can offer you used color copiers and used photocopiers at bargain prices.  It would be a very good option to explore the possibilities of buying online by canvassing for what you or your business really needs.  Whether your business requires high end copies or just simple duplication of paper work, there are always used copiers that are available that will suit your needs, usually at a savings of up to 75-80% less then a brand new one.

Correct-Tek Copier Service is a site that specializes in used copiers.  Many of these copiers were barely used and could offer the same quality in reproduction as a brand new one. Correct-Tek Copier Service boasts to have one of the largest available stocks of used copiers in the Midwest.  You can't argue with that.   Although the best thing about it is, that it could put any doubts anyone has had to rest with their guarantee that all copiers are inspected, cleaned and recorded before placed in the inventory.  With that, you get the assurance that all copiers you buy off the site will live up to your expectations.

It would be difficult to explain how much you could save buying used copiers.  So just think of the money you save without sacrificing any quality and spending those savings on something more worthwhile. Then you can have a ball park view on what we mean by saving.

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Copier Brands

There are many different brands on the market which can make buying the right laser printer copier a bit of a nightmare.  If you want to use environmentally friendly products in your office or home, you may wish to consider a HP product.  Other brands are also going green but HP has made a very public commitment to reduce the amount of energy their machines use as much as possible.  They are also committed to recycling and to using recycled plastic where possible.  Their newer models include a carbon footprint calculator so you can work out what impact your actions are having.

In addition to be greener, you need to select the model of laser printer copier that best suits your needs. These will differ between a thriving office based business and a new home business.  Both companies may be successful but the former is likely to have more staff and by implication more copying requirements.  You will need to buy a machine that is capable of delivering a high standard even with the increased workload.

Don't just make a decision based on the price of the printer alone.  Check out the cost of the paper and toner too.  Sometimes people will recommend that you use a generic brand of toner to save money, but you may find that you invalidate your warranty by doing this, and a lot of internet after market toners are inferior products and can cause machine damage and problems.   Check with the manufacturer, but if there is any doubt you can always use a less expensive brand, but choose one with a good reputation, when the warranty has run out.

When it comes to buying printers, laptops etc, you should always look at the deals available online to see what the best discounts are.   Be careful though, that you only deal with a recognized retailer and take extra care when inputting your bank details.  Where possible use a credit card for extra protection when buying a laser printer copier, if your dealing with an online store.

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New Edgeline Printer Technology Could Revolutionize Office Printing

When purchasing printers or multi-function copiers for an office, trade-offs are typically made.  Is the speed appropriate for a workgroup or a department?  Is color or monochrome output sufficient?  If color, would ink technology or the faster laser technology be better?

Typically, if color output is needed, the user must decide between the photo quality of an ink technology or the slightly more grainy output of a color laser.  Of course, the color laser can print much faster than the ink technology so that is also a factor.   If a large volume of output is necessary, the user must choose a color laser because ink printing is just too slow and ink machines are not built to handle volumes of paper.  In many cases however, laser printing is more costly to print (per page) than ink technology.

Edgeline technology from Hewlett Packard promises to deliver the best of both ink and laser technologies.  It will bring low machine cost, low operating costs, fast print speeds and photo quality output.

What is Edgeline?

Edgeline is the result of 4 years and 1.4 billion dollars of research and development by Hewlett Packard. What they created was a patented process to economically manufacture an inkjet printhead that spans the entire width of a printed page.  This means that during printing, only the paper moves not the printhead.  Combined with new ink formulations, the speed of the printer can be increased to 71 pages per minute with outstanding image quality.  The printheads are very reliable, designed to last for 2 million printed pages or the useful life of the machine itself.

Three Key Elements

The three main features of this system are a printhead that spans the entire printed page, moving the paper under the fixed printhead, and an ink system that can adapt to different requirements.  The new ink contains colorants that immobilize rapidly on the paper to ensure consistent dot size, high color saturation, and high optical density.  Prints dry rapidly at 70+ pages-per-minute, resist smear (even from a highlighter) and are water resistant.

 

Will the quality be good?

Edgeline technology also includes intelligent and self-calibrating writing systems to deliver consistent image quality.  The printheads are designed to print at 1200dpi.  This equals the best native resolutions of current products.  The printheads also know when a specific nozzle is acting up and it's duties can be passed to an adjacent nozzle.  There will also be a 2-pass option for further increasing print quality.

Will it be more expensive?

Pricing has not been released as of the date of this writing, but the base technology is already in use and HP is promising best-in-class operating costs as well as reliability, quality and speed.  The machine itself should not cost more than current color laser MFPs due to the much simpler mechanics.  There will be no high voltage power supply, laser scanner mechanisms, transfer belts, or fuser assemblies; and those are just the major components.  In fact, the machine will only need to move paper passed the printheads.  This is much simpler than any current design.

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Laser Printer Scanner - The Multifunction Machine

The evolution of technology has been a boon to the home-based business and small office enterprise. No longer does the little guy have to invest an inordinate amount of money in office machinery.  A device that epitomizes the solutions that are easily within reach of the average consumer is the laser printer scanner.  This machine, which often integrates fax and copying capabilities as well, has evened the playing field for the small business.  A laser printer with scanner, copying and faxing abilities can give the impression of a fully-staffed, finely tuned, large scale production.

In the past, it was next to impossible for a would-be entrepreneur on a shoe-string budget to make a go of it.  So much of the initial investment went to buying all the necessary office equipment.  Before the door was opened for business, the small business owner was fighting an uphill battle against his own dwindling bank account.  Now though,with multi-function devices that provide laser quality scanner printer solutions have eliminated that challenge.

As these integrated solutions have improved, they have all become incredible user friendly as well.  In contrast to the first generation of laser jet multi-function machines that had limited options (slow printer speeds, no 11 x 17 paper capabilities, difficult to user scanner, etc.), the newer models are fast, easy and reliable.  Many of the leading brands like Canon, Brother, Samsung and HP have perfected the technology so much so that the basic laser printer scanner is capable of work that once only a professional could produce.

As many of the aforementioned brands are constantly competing for consumer market share, the prices of these machines have continued to plummet.  This further underscores the accessibility to the everyday consumer.

A prime example of how far these office solutions have come can be seen in the Canon ImageCLASS MF4370DN black and white laser printer with fax, copier and scanner capacity.  Fast printer speeds and long-lasting toner cartridges make this a small office bargain at less than $300.  For a similar all-in-one solution for your home or business you might have a look at the Brother MFC 8220 laser fax copier printer scanner.  This printer combines high-quality printing from a 250-sheet paper tray to allow you to do some of the bigger jobs without interruption.  Around $350 will buy you this fine machine.

If you feel that your needs require something a little more robust, you can still find a host of solutions while keeping expenses under control.  The networking requirements and overall office work capacity may necessitate the purchase of just a little more.  Not only that, you can find more, but for not much more money in the Brother MFC 8890DW black and white laser fax copier printer scanner.  Ethernet ready, faster printing and wireless capability make this model the perfect fit for the bustling office.  Along with, its attractive price ($430 - $450) makes it a bargain considering all it has to offer.

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What Copier Companies Hide and Do Not Want You to Know

How many of you lease your copiers, fax machines or multi-function devices?  Has your lease company approached you concerning your printers and fax machines to reduce costs or offer a Print Management solution?

Copier companies have been playing the per page centralized printing game for years.  They charge a set fee per month for your copier usage for up to a set number of pages.  They say it will save you money - in a very few cases it does.

What were you quoted on your per page program?  Did you know that 87% of the companies recently surveyed on lease programs actually pay a much higher rate than quoted and they didn't even know it?

The Copier & Facsimile lease game exposed.  The simple way to see if you are Way, Way Over billed like 87% of all other companies with leased equipment:

1. First look at your lease and write down your monthly print allotment (the number of prints you are allowed BEFORE they charge you more money).

2. Now write down the monthly charges as stated on the agreement.

3. Divide the number of pages allotted into the monthly charge to get a cost per page.  Example: $750 per month for 50,000 pages Cost per page $0.015 (1.5 cents).

4. Looks great-right?  Nice and small amount per page! - This is where they get you!  They quoted you a low per page cost .

5. Now go to your machine and get the ACTUAL PAGE COUNT (if you can-many leasing companies do not give out this number to hide it from you).

6. What does it show?  Divide that into the number of months you have been leasing the machine. Example 625,000 pages printed in 18 months (half way through most lease agreements) which equals to 34,722 pages per month on the average.

7. Now get your TRUE COST PER PAGE by dividing your TRUE pages printed every month into your cost per month.  Example: 34,722 into $750 equals 0.216 per page.  44% more than what they quoted!

Do you get roll over pages for pages not used? NO!  Do you get reimbursed for not using the pages they allocated to you? NO!  They get a BIG pay increase because they spend less on the supplies and maintenance you need and you get a BIG cost increase over what you use to spend before you agreed to the lease.

Now for the kicker:

Look at your lease again and check with your accounts payable department.  If you are like the majority of the companies leasing equipment in addition to the monthly fee you are charged a quarterly MAINTENANCE fee which makes your cost per page even higher.

True cost reduction and cost avoidance is what you want to achieve-correct?  Before you agree to another lease go through the steps to determine your average print volume.  Then use that figure with the new lease amounts to determine if your costs are actually going down or up.

Many leasing companies love to put you on a centralized approach to all your printing needs.  They state, "you will reduce your printing costs."  However, they do not talk about the single biggest cost to your company: lost employee time and productivity.  The centralized approach will cost you more staff time which results in decreased productivity.  Plus, what do you do with your perfectly good equipment you own-stop using it?

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The Best Copiers, Printers, and Fax Machines

Since I work at a Copier and Fax Co., my knowledge on this subject is greatly enhanced. I get a lot of feedback from customers as well as our technicians here at work.  In my opinion, the best printers for home or small business has to be the HP.  They are always improving upon their machines, which is another reason why I appreciate their brand.

Also, their printers are user friendly and low maintenance.   Toners aren't too bad price wise.  And since I am on this subject, I will also give shout out to Brother for creating some pretty impressive printers, quality is great and so is the price.  One thing I have learned is the cheaper the printer, the more expensive the toners. Kinda crazy, huh?

As far as big businesses go, that need a big copier machine, I would suggest Xerox, or Ricoh copiers any day.  These machines are really awesome, in that they can do most anything from duplexing to sorting to stapling.  This is a big help when time is precious and you need a reliable copier to get the job done. Lanier copiers also have a good line and a good reputation for being dependable.  I would highly recommend these 3 brands of copiers for the busy workplace.

There are a few other copiers that I like, which includes, Canon Imagerunner Series,  Kyocera Series, along with the Konica-Minolta Bizhub series, and Toshiba line is reliable as well.  My personal favorites would be the Xerox, Ricoh and Konica-Minolta lines though, I think because I know the brands so well and have worked with them for the last 25-30 years.

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New Generation Copiers

A good quality copier is a vital piece of equipment for any home business or office.  You need to have a copier that provides documents both with quality and efficiency.  Today, there are many new generation copiers available on the market providing more advanced features than ever before.

If you are looking for a superb color copier, consider the DocuCentre-III C3100.  All basic office needs can be met with this copier with it being multi-functional, complete with a scanner, printer and fax.  The copier prints quickly with high quality resolution and also has a security feature that blocks access to any confidential documents.  This copier offers many advanced features that are, easy to use, enhance productivity and control the costs of color printing.

If you have a limited amount of work space, but need a printer, a good choice would be the DocuPrint C1190FS color printer.  This printer is also multi-functional, can hold up to 50 pages at one time and has 384 MB of memory.  With its fast printing capabilities, it can print up to 12 color pages and up to 16 black and white pages in just one minute.  Looking at this copier, it does look small but has a lot of big features, including competitive speeds, high performance and affordability.

There are times when all your needs can be met with a black and white copier; the DocuCentre 1085 multi-functional copier is a great choice.  This copier has been made to withstand a lot of use and is the most durable copier available today.  The feature of a touch screen interface makes this copier very easy to use.  Administrators have the option of tracking the status of the copier and you can also email documents that have been scanned.  The many options available with this copier save you both time and money.

The black and white WorkCentre 4260 copier is also an excellent choice for copiers.  It not only provides users with a great coping experience, but also provides a multi-functional work area to meet most office needs.  This copier has the two-sided copying and two-sided printing capabilities.  For your office or home business, this black and white copier provides many modern conveniences and at the same time meets all of today's challenges of the fast-paced business world.

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Office Copier Secrets - 4 Ways to Save Significant Money on Your Business Digital Printer Copier

Here are 4 insider-secrets to the copier world.  Four ways to save significant amounts of money by the end of the week.  Your local dealerships do not want you to know what is about to be exposed to you.

1) Upgrade Your Copier Today.  Even if you signed a 60 months lease, you can normally upgrade it around 36 months - giving you a new copier, with the newer technology and a lower cost per copy, for the exact same price you are paying now - and maybe even a bit less.  You can do the same thing on a 36 month lease at around 27 months.  Reps do this all the time for companies.

You can fill out what is called a "Copier Pre-Quote" survey which tells your local reps what you want in your next machine (without having to spend hours in initial meetings with reps).  It is like a Request-for-Proposal.  You tell them the features you want and they email you back a quote.  It tells them that you are all about price and will immediately knock about 20-30% off of the prices.   (For the average copier of $8000, that's a $2000 savings!)

Once you have some numbers in hand, then you should ask the reps to help you upgrade, trade-in or ship back your old copier, which they will be more than happy to do.

2) Shop Your CPC.  Don't estimate the power of pennies!  That is, find out what your current cost per copy is.  Don't look at your original contract because most dealerships will raise the cpc each year.  So if you are the average small business office which prints about 10,000 black & white copies, prints and faxes each month at about a penny a copy, then you'll be spending $100 a month on your service agreement.  If you throw 1000 color copies into the mix at $0.08 a print, then that's another $80/month.

Now, you need to understand that copier dealerships give most of the profits of selling the machine to you, to the copier rep.  They don't make money on the box, neither does HP or Dell or Lexmark.  They make money on toner!  So believe me, they want to keep/winning your business!

With this in mind, now go ask another dealership in your city (which services your brand of copier) what their rates would be if you switched to them (because the lease contract for the copier is NOT tied to the service contract usually, so you can cancel the service contract at any time).  Let the reps compete with each other to drop that cpc as low as it will go, and get the sales/service managers involved because they know that they make money on cpc's.

If you just get them to drop the cpc down 20%, then that would be $0.008 (80% of a penny), per B&W copy and $0.06 for a color copy - bringing your monthly total from $180 down to $140!  (Over the year, that's a $360 savings.)

3) Now Get Them To Lock-It In.  Here's the power-punch.  Get them to LOCK-IN the cpc for as long as you have the copier to seal the deal.

All prices go up - health care, education, gas - and even your copier toner.  You can ask the rep to lock-in your CPC price for the length of the lease and it will save you LOTS of money.  Each year, with normal inflation, your copier dealership will raise their prices anywhere from 10-30%, and with gas prices soaring, maybe even more.

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