Choosing the best printer for your business requires a bit of research up front, but making the right decision will save your company both time and money in the long run. And unfortunately there is no universal “best printer” for all businesses. Choosing the best printer to fit the needs of your office requires evaluation of projected usage. Specifically, is color essential for daily printing, or will it be used only on occasion? How many pages per day will be demanded of a printer on a typical day? Do employees frequently need extras such as duplex printing and the use of an automatic document feeder?

No-frills Printer – Samsung ML-2165W

If your office is small and you are looking for a printer that will master the basics and not much else, then the Samsung ML-2165W is a good option to consider. This laser printer is inexpensive—even less than some inkjet printers, which are traditionally the less expensive variety—but has no problem working hard up to 10,000 pages per month and can produce up to 20 pages per minute. It is a monochrome or “mono” printer, meaning it only uses black toner. If you are looking for any of the extras like scanning or color printing, this printer will not meet the needs of your office. However, if your needs are more basic then you can save money by choosing the Samsung ML-2165W over some of the more elaborate printers.

Higher-end Model Dell C3765dnf Color Laser Printer

If your small office needs more features and speed from a printer, the Dell C3765dnf Color Laser Printer may be the way to go. This printer is considerably more expensive than the earlier-mentioned Samsung, but has a lot more to offer. With a rating of up to 80,000 pages per month and a speed of up to 36 pages per minute in both color and mono, this printer can handle a heavy workload. It is also capable of duplex printing (printing on both sides of the page) up to 23 pages per minute. If your office is looking to save printing costs by using more electronic documents, you can benefit from the scanning feature. Scanning is also made convenient by the automatic document feeder and easy-to-use LCD touchscreen. This printer can be password-protected for security. Some of the additional options for this printer are an extra input tray holding an extra 550 pages (for a total of 1250 pages) and high-capacity black toner for up to 11,000 sheets.

When to Consider Professional Printing

Bringing a printer into your office that meets all of your printing needs may not be the most cost-effective option for your business. For example, if you do need color printing but only on occasion, you may still be able to save money by going with a no-frills printer and taking your color printing jobs to a professional printing company. Prices at printing companies in Knoxville vary, and will be more than the cost per page if you had the capability to print in-house, but if your printing needs are small then sending your occasional jobs to a professional printing company is a smart option.