If there’s one thing that is common and integral in all businesses, regardless of small or large is the ‘Printer’. It is necessary for everyday tasks such as printing marketing materials, business reports, invoices, receipts, trade contracts, and so on.
In other words, printers help a business to work productively by making essential information and business documents available.
Are you considering buying a printer or printers for your new small business? If that’s true by chance, you are on the right page. This blog offers a core guide on choosing the best small business printers.
Finding the right printer for your small business is tricky, given the varied types of printers available, such as laser printers, black and white printers, colour printers, and all-in-one printers. Deciding which type is the best and also cost-effective for your small business tasks is hard. So, evaluate your printing needs and decide what you need wisely by following our tips from this guide.
Best Types of Printers for a Small Business
Printers are inevitably important for small businesses to execute basic tasks required daily like printing marketing copies, business reports, and money receipts. But, when it comes to choosing a printer, most small businesses get confused among the various types of printers available in the market.
Following are the types of printers that we consider suitable for the jobs of small business printers.
Laser Printers
For businesses that need a high volume of printing regularly in their everyday tasks, laser printers are the best choice for them. Some of the reasons for which they make good business printers are fast printing speed, sharp prints, less cost of use/operations, and long-lasting durability.
Multifunction Printers
Multifunction printers or all-in-one printers are today an ideal investment for many businesses, including small and large. They are investing because they get everything, including a printer, scanner, copier, and fax machine, in one device. Needless to say, these are the most economical device for a business that helps them to print, save, and share copies from a single device. These printers save space and cost for your business, and enhance productivity by printing multiple copies faster.
Inkjet Printers
Another budget-friendly option for printing for small businesses is inkjet printers, which print both documents and photographs for marketing or presentation materials. They are most appropriate for photographs and graphics. You can print on a variety of papers, including inkjet copy paper, matte paper, and glossy photo paper. These printers are too cost-effective in the long run because inkjet cartridges are less costly than toners and they can be refilled.
Dot Matrix Printers
These are quite old but common and very affordable types of printers. They work by pressing a print head on the paper. You can print multiple copies with it at once by using a special paper (i.e., carbon paper).
Our 5 Top Picks of Small Business Laser Printers
While all the above types of printers are appropriate for small businesses, laser printers beat all others for their enhanced speed of printing, greater durability, and cost-affordability. It is the popular choice among offices because toners last longer than ink and hence, it costs less to operate it in the long run.
Among the laser printers, all models are unique in some aspect or another which makes them best for small businesses. The ideal printer for your business is the one with functions that meet your needs and give you cost advantages. We’ve listed here our top picks regarding small business printers, evaluating the factors that are most needed for a small business. Take a look.
1. PG L2535- L2540- L2540plus Printer:
It is the latest A4 Mono Desktop laser printer we have which is affordable and brings several functionalities along with high-speed printing. The PG L2535- L2540- L2540plus is compact and it’s easy to find a space in your small office to keep one or more of these devices. This is one of our top-notch black and white printers with high-grade functions, suitable for any business or organization.
Choose the best PG L2535 – L2540 – L2540plus from the leading Multi-Functional Printers Supplier at Munster Business Equipment.
Why Should You Buy PG L2535- L2540- L2540Plus?
This latest model of laser printer comes with updated features that assist in everyday business tasks and enhance productivity in many ways. We recommend you buy this advanced black and white printer from us to benefit from the following advantages.
- Excellent compatibility with varied print protocols such as AirPrint and Olivetti Mobile Print.
- Minimal noise while printing which makes it ideal for office environment.
- High-quality interfaces for Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Direct.
Best Features of PG L2535- L2540- L2540Plus
Without a doubt, PG L2535- L2540- L2540Plus is one of the upgraded and expert printing devices that we offer to businesses as a high-end office equipment supplier in Ireland.
This printer has some amazing features that make it appropriate for small businesses.
- Print/copy speed of 35/40 ppm
- Printing resolution up to 1.200 DPI
- A duplex unit is provided
- The time taken for the first printout is less than 7 seconds
2. PG L2645 – L2650 – L2655 Printer:
We bring this digital black and white printer for businesses as today’s work environment demands fast and quiet printing equipment. As one of the top managed print services companies in Ireland, we did research and remodelling of our existing printers to bring this PG L2645 – L2650 – L2655 printer. It is unique in design and performs efficiently helping you to do business printing tasks faster and productively.
Choose the best PG L2645 – L2650 – L2655 from the leading Multi-Functional Printers Supplier at Munster Business Equipment.
Why Should You Buy PG L2645 – L2650 – L2655?
We incorporated some brilliant features into this printer model which makes it distinct from all other devices. Buying it is advantageous to you for many reasons.
- An extraordinary all-cream-coloured exterior that makes it look appealing in the office environment.
- Comes with a dark-coloured paper-out tray as a security feature, which ensures that you leave no confidential prints.
- Built with a standard security kit, that enables data encryption and assures overwriting deletion.
- Much faster A5 format printing as well as banner printing.
- Reduces the cost of printing tasks, which is ideal for a small business.
- Consumes less energy for operation, which helps in reducing carbon footprint.
Best Features of PG L2535- L2540- L2540Plus
PG L2645 – L2650 – L2655 is one of the best small business printers available to us. We categorize it as a modernized printing device that helps small enterprises achieve their daily printing needs and enhance work productivity. Here are the best features you should know about.
- Unbeatable speed and efficiency
- Limited energy consumption
- Enables mobile printing and Wi-Fi compatibility
- Resolution in print up to 1200×1200 DPI
- Fast first printing time
- High-level data security ensured
3. d-Colour P2226 – P2226plus Printer:
This one is another high-grade printing machine by us that offers high-quality colour printing and is ideal for businesses. It allows you to do almost all range of printing tasks with the highest efficiency due to its advanced features. Some of them are:
Choose the best PG L2645 – L2650 – L2655 from the leading Multi-Functional Printers Supplier at Munster Business Equipment.
Why Should You Buy d-Colour P2226 – P2226plus?
d-Colour P2226 – P2226plus is undeniably the best model we have in the category of colour laser printer and here’s why. These are the advantages that you can never miss.
- Excellent image quality and fast printing are the key plus points of this printer.
- High-performance print controller, which processes data fast and produces the print output in vivid colours.
- Unmatched compatibility with mobile devices, further contributes to enhanced work productivity.
- Ease of use and professional solutions in print help small businesses accelerate their workflow and productivity.
Best Features of d-Colour P2226 – P2226plus
It’s an affordable and colour small business printer that is an upgraded version of our older printers that will help you superbly in your business tasks. Take a look at its greatest features.
- Print/copy speed up to 26 ppm (in both colour and mono printing).
- Printing resolution of 1.200 x 1.200 DPI.
- Duplex Unit provided as standard.
- The time for the first printout is just 9.5 seconds in mono and 10.5 seconds in colour printing.
- Compatibility with print protocols – AirPrint and Olivetti Mobile Print protocols.
- Our d-Color P2226/P2226plus printer is specifically designed to have a lower impact on the environment and long-term costs.
- d colour P2226- P2226plus comes with long-life components.
- Supports standard Wi-Fi® and Wi-Fi Direct interfaces.
4. d-Colour P2230 Printer:
Being a modern office supplier in Ireland, we provide some out-of-the-box digital printers. This d-colour P2230 printer is one of the excellent printing devices we have got to offer small businesses. It is ideal for your business because it enables rapid and efficient printing, and enhances the workflow.
Choose the best d-Color P2230 from the leading Multi-Functional Printers Supplier at Munster Business Equipment.
Why Should You Buy d-color P2230?
Like most of our colour digital printers, this one is innovative with the latest features. But, some of them are worth mentioning so that you understand why to buy it. Some of the noteworthy advantages of this printer are:
- Minimises ozone emissions as well as reduces noise during operations.
- Energy-efficient and ensures the long life of the components, which leads to a reduction in carbon footprint.
- Faster printing which makes it an ideal print solution for small to medium-sized businesses.
- Unique and sleek design, which makes it look appealing within the office environment.
- Lower operational costs and ease of use, make it an ideal device for professional uses.
Best Features of d-colour P2230
These d-colour P2230 colour business printers are our exemplary collection and offer the finest-quality printing features that help to raise business productivity.
- Print speed up to 30 pages per minute, for both mono and color printing.
- Printing resolution 1,200 x 1,200 DPI.
- Powerful 1.2 GHz processor.
- Mobile printing through Airprint and Olivetti Mobile Print Apps.
- Optional wireless interface.
- The first print output time is less than 6-7 seconds, for both mono and colour printing.
- Large storage of 1 GB standard memory, max 1 GB + 128 GB SSD.
5. d-colour P3302 Printer:
The last one of our finest collection of small business printers is d-color P3302 Printer, which is a premium-grade color printer. It is versatile in functions and delivers superior-quality print output. We consider this as our classy printing device because of its elegant and sophisticated look.
Get the best d-Color P3302 from the leading Multi-Functional Printers Supplier at Munster Business Equipment.
Why Should You Buy d-color P3302?
Buying this classy printer is never going to disappoint you because you get advanced functionalities with this printer for its high-grade specifications. Here’s why buying it for a business is a great decision.
- A4 colour laser printer with a vast touchscreen of 7 inches, which is simple to use.
- Offers maximum printing flexibility for offices and work environments that help employees to perform the best.
- Lower power consumption and operate effectively to raise productivity levels.
- Very low running costs which save up office expenses.
Best Features of d-color P3302
The work environment is fast changing with the evolution in technology and that demands exclusive printing services. They need printers with updated features that help offices or businesses speed up their work and enhance productivity.
Being highly functional and efficient at printing services, this d-color P3302 laser printer by us is a sure addition to your office. Some of its brilliant features are:
- Printing speed of 33 pages per minute
- 7 inches colour touchscreen user interface
- Sleek and stylish
- Print resolution up to 1200×1200 DPI
- Mobile printing/Wi-Fi support
- 3 GB standard memory with an additional 8 GB micro-SD
10 Pro Tips For Choosing The Best Small Business Printer
While we pointed out some top-notch laser printers that you can use for your small business, choosing which one among them is the best for your business is still a challenge. Well, we will make that easier for you!
Here, we point out the tips to pick the most suitable printer that will cater well to your regular business needs.
1. Size of the printer
When you are running a small business, your office space is most probably limited. This makes you consider the size of the printer before buying it. The smaller and more compact it is, the better it can fit in your office space.
If you need more than one printer because your staffs need to do bulk printing tasks, choosing small-size printers is a must. You cannot afford to give away a lot of your office space for the printers! Having small and compact printers is also necessary to ensure that they are easy to set up, move, install cartridges, and carry for repairs.
2. Speed capability
This is a must to consider when you are buying a printer for your business needs! Slower printing speed can delay your tasks and hamper productivity. Your printer or printers must be able to meet your everyday printing needs and accelerate the workflow.
How many pages do you need to print per month and hence, in a single day? What are the printing tasks that your employees usually have to do? Considering that, know the PPM (Pages Per Minute) of your chosen printer!
When you know that, you can fairly estimate the number of pages the printer can produce during your working hours in a day or month. As your office equipment supplier the right PPM is needed for your printer to meet your monthly volume of printing. It can advise you on the right speed and you can choose your printer accordingly.
Remember, speed is as equally important as the quality of printing. Clearer and quality but at a sluggish speed is never going to cater to your huge printing needs! However, if your small business work involves printing a few pages per day, you can choose a printer with a slower speed.
3. Price
Affordability is the next crucial thing you need to consider when you are buying a printer. Buying the best of small business printers does not mean it has to be expensive.
Similarly, all printers that are low priced cannot be a great buy for your office. Sometimes, a printer can be low priced when its consumables are expensive or not easily available. It means you have to spend more in the long run to operate it.
Therefore, while looking at the prices of printers research a bit or enquire with your seller about the costs of ink cartridges or toner. Also, determine the long-term costs of running the printers depending on that. Buy a printer wisely after evaluating its overall cost, i.e., market price and running costs. This prevents you from experiencing any unexpected cost rise in the future. For the same reason, cost is also the most important concern when you need several laser printers.
4. Paper handling
While shopping for printers for your office, take into consideration the type of paper you need for your jobs.
Does your business need a particular paper for printing i.e. glossy and large paper for printing marketing materials? Or, do you need thick paper for printing envelopes, flyers, or labels? Make sure that your business printer meets your specific printing needs apart from printing documents in the basic white paper.
You can also consider the other aspects of paper handling of a printer like assembling the pages and collating and stapling them after printing. You might need this feature to save time in your work. Lastly, think about whether you need both sides printing to save paper and costs. If that a yes, make sure that you buy a printer that has the feature of duplex printing.
5. Black and white/colour printing
Well, this is the most important feature to consider while deciding which printer to buy. Decide whether your business needs colour printing or black-and-white printing for everyday tasks.
A majority of office printing tasks are in black and white, which makes affordable laser printers the most suitable option for small businesses. Moreover, they print faster and do not have too much running costs.
This makes them ideal as small business printers.
However, if you need colour printing in your business to produce graphs, marketing materials, company notices or policies, artwork, etc., an inkjet printer is what you need! Inkjet printers produce graphics, images, or photographs of great quality and that’s why they are a bit high-priced. However, if you need a colour printer within a reasonable price range, then choose laser printers.
6. Single-function or multifunction
Another vital aspect that small businesses should take into consideration while buying a printer is whether they need a single-function or multifunction printer. Most old printers are single-function devices, while modern ones are generally multifunction devices.
Multifunctional printers, also called all-in-one printers are essential today given the advent of too many technologies in any work environment. You may not just need to print documents or images but also want to share a digital copy of it with other computers via email. You may feel the need to get some documents or images from your mobile to get printed directly. For that, you need mobile connectivity as a prime feature of the printer!
There is more to a multifunctional printer! You can scan, fax, print both sides and get anything printed directly from files via a USB port. While all-in-one printers offer a lot, you can simply choose a single-function printer if your small business does not require any of the functions except printing. Thus, it is for small businesses that do basic printing regularly and want less expensive printers.
However, if your business relies on a range of printing tasks in its day-to-day activities like scanning, emailing, or direct printing via mobile, then get multifunction printing devices.
7. Repairing and maintenance costs
How can you forget about the repair and maintenance costs of the printers while buying them? Consider what it will cost if the printer requires fixing when there is wear and tear or a technical glitch occurs. Anticipate the costs of fixing and repairing the printers that you need to bear in future.
Considering the repair and maintenance cost is necessary to decide your monthly budget for maintaining the printers. A lot of printers’ parts are costly, especially for the heavy-duty printers used in businesses for vast printing. For this reason, it is necessary to get an idea of the costs of the parts before buying. If it is too much, you can consider other printers.
8. User reviews
Read reviews of customers just like you do before buying a mobile, tablet, or laptop! You usually check reviews to learn about the specifications, features, ease of use, battery longevity, and so on. For an office printer too, you need to gauge its usability and functional capabilities.
Reviews will also help you learn about the consumables of the printer. Businesses or users share whether the running costs of the printer are higher or lower and whether it needs frequent repairing. When you go through the reviews, you will know whether users recommend or don’t recommend a printer model for your business use.
9. Noise emission
Since you will be using the printer at your office during crucial business hours, it is necessary to consider the noise levels of printing. Most of the old printers make a noise while printing which is disturbing to other business works.
To make users aware of this, most printer providers specify the decibel noise level for the different models. If you think printing noise can disrupt the employees in your business space, choose a model that has the lower decibel or noise cancellation. Assess how noisy your chosen printer can be when you install it in your office and ensure whether you need it.
10. Printer connectivity
Although USB connectivity is common in most modern printers, connectivity is another vital aspect to look for! Any modern work setting needs a printer network router which enables an employee to share a document or image with the coworkers’ computers. For that, all of their computers must have a driver loaded that helps them to access the printer.
A printer can be connected via a USB (which is a data cable), Bluetooth, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, or through a memory card. With different modes of connectivity available in a printer, make sure that your device has one or more modes of connectivity. It is mandatory to ensure there is a smooth flow of information and enhanced access to printing.
Laser Printer vs. Photocopier: What’s The Key Difference?
If buying printers is the next thing you plan to do, you should first understand how a laser printer differs from a copier. Both are needed in offices or businesses to produce information or images on paper.
A photocopier, as the name suggests, is a printing device that makes copies, in fact, multiple copies.
Whether a document, a picture/photograph, or a drawing – it copies everything and any number of times you want. The process of photocopying is also very easy. You just need to put the original document or picture on the scanner glass of the copy machine, specify the number of copies you want, and that’s it. The machine gets the document printed into multiple copies in a few seconds.
On the other hand, a laser printer does copying from a computer directly! Its functionality or how it prints varies with the model. However, a majority of laser printers print documents after you connect them to the computer via Ethernet or Wi-Fi. A laser printer works on a scientific process involving lasers, carbon, electrical charges, and static heat.
While this was the basic difference between a photocopier and a laser printer, here are some more distinguishing factors between the two.
Photocopiers print multiple copies, that is, too many copies or bulk copies at once. They also can perform some extra functions such as assembling, stapling, and folding pages after printing. Generally, a laser printer does not print bulk copies. They are generally useful for small businesses, which require printing a small number of copies at a time.
A major difference exists in their image formation! A photocopier uses a bright light and lens to focus on the image or text of the document. A strip then scans the image onto the photosensitive drum.
On the other hand, a laser printer scans one line at a time using a lower-power sharp and focused laser beam.
Lastly, photocopiers apply a positive process for printing while laser printers apply a negative process. During photocopy, the dark areas are marked on the paper whereas in laser printers, any spot of light occurs as a dark mark.
5 Benefits That Make Laser Printers Ideal for Businesses
A laser printer, which prints documents or images directly from a computer is ideal for small businesses because they print a fair number of copies at a time. They are ideal for lesser volumes of printing work and hence are best suitable as small business printers. While both laser printers and photocopiers are vital equipment used in the office environment, several benefits make laser printers ideal for a small business.
1. Better performance
Laser printers are super-efficient at printing multiple pages without encountering any glitches or difficulties. With further advancements, you can expect to see far better device performance with a reduction in costs.
2. Speed
The printing process is quite much faster due to the use of laser beam technology. Compared to inkjet printers, they are faster, which makes them ideal for bulk office printing. Even the basic and slowest laser printer can print 20 sheets a minute.
3. Less costly
The initial cost of buying a laser printer is higher but the daily printing cost is lower because it needs less time to print more copies. Also, it does not need ink cartridges, unlike inkjet printers. It uses toners that print more pages at a given time than ink cartridges bought at the same price.
4. Quality print
Laser printer is the top choice for businesses because it delivers quality and sharp images or documents. You can see the texts appearing clearer, precise, and free from smudges! This is necessary to keep records or file essential business documents for future reference.
5. Reliability
There’s no question about the durability of the laser printers. Toners never dry out or evaporate, which means they are going to last much longer. Approximately, toners will last for printing 1500-60,000 pages. As a result, laser printers are reliable and can last for years when used with care.
How To Increase The Durability Of Your Laser Printer?
A simple answer to this is ‘maintenance and care’! With better upkeep, you can make your business printer last longer. It can provide you with extended years of service and save up your costs too by eliminating the need to get new printers after a short time.
Here are a few simple tips for the maintenance of small business printers.
1. Regularly clean the printer
A very basic yet necessary way to keep your printers in good shape. Cleaning the printer regularly (once or twice a week) prevents dirt or debris from entering the interior parts of the printer, especially the toner tray. Also, make sure to keep the printer in a clean and dust-free zone.
2. Buy the maintenance kit
We recommend the printer investment kit that comes with spare parts, like a fuser and rollers. These get damaged after heavy use and need replacement. Having a kit helps you to immediately replace and recover your printer in no time and continue your business operations.
3. Only use suitable paper
If the printer manufacturer recommends a certain kind of paper to use, make sure you use that every time. Black and white printers need one type of page while color printers need another type. Putting the wrong kind of paper will either consume more toner or lead to paper jams in the device.
4. Use printer utilities
Most manufacturers of printers provide a utility tool, which is useful for diagnosing and fixing printing problems. You need to use it frequently to determine the status of your printer and know whether it needs some maintenance activities.
5. Keep basic supplies with you
For the smooth functioning of your business printers, have a backup of the essential supplies with you, such as replacement toner cartridges.
Buy A Business Printer From The Finest Collection At Munster Business Equipment!
Picking a printer that serves your small business needs looks easy at first but it is not! From daily printing volume to desired printing speed, marketing price to costs of maintenance, there are a lot of things for you to consider for picking the best devices for your small business.
While we enlisted here our top 5 picks of laser printers that are suitable for businesses, we also guided you on the tips to choose one among them. Hope our expert tips help you choose printers for your small business right away!
Getting your office equipped with top-grade and durable printers from Munster Business Equipment will reward you with exemplary benefits, including seamless workflow, enhanced productivity, and cost savings. Being a pioneering office equipment supplier in Ireland, we offer small business printers with advanced functionalities that serve unique office needs perfectly.