How to Choose the Best Printer for Your Small Business

For a small business, a printer is an integral part of business productivity. But how can you be sure you're choosing the right one? This guide goes over the pros and cons of commonly-used printers to help small businesses decide on the best printer for their needs.

All-in-One Multifunction Printers Pros and Cons

Many startups and small businesses invest in all-in-one or multifunction printers as a way to have access to a printer, fax machine, scanner and copier all in one unit. These are an economical way to be able to have the basic hardware you need to run a business cost effectively. The majority of models have Wi-Fi connectivity and allow for scanning directly to the cloud for easy access by others on the network. Consider the following points when choosing the best all-in-one printer for a small business.

Pros of Multifunction Printers

Multifunction printers combine the functions of several office machines into one package, saving both money and space.

Once you factor in the cost of buying toner for both a printer and copy machine and ink for a fax machine, you can see the savings having the hardware combined into the all-in-one.

The best multifunction printers for small business have greater copy and printer speeds when compared to a single laser printer or traditional copy machine. The higher speeds boost productivity.

Cons of Multifunction Printers

With a single all-in-one in a small business, there will inevitably be a traffic jam at the printer at some point when someone wants to print or fax while someone else wants to copy or scan at the same time.

Incoming faxes may be missed as not all multifunction printers can perform two duties at once.

Laser Printer Pros and Cons

If your day-to-day duties require a heavy volume of printing, a laser printer may be the answer. Laser printers work by taking the text or image that is being printed and beaming it onto the drum, which attracts toner and transfers it to the paper. Some deciding factors when considering the best laser printer for small business use would include how much printing would be done and whether text documents or presentation-worthy graphics are needed on a regular basis.

Pros of Laser Printers

Fast speed makes laser printers ideal for businesses that need to print a high volume of documents.

Text documents print concisely and sharply.

While the laser printer itself can be expensive, the overall cost of ink should be an economic tradeoff as one laser toner cartridge can print many more pages than an inkjet toner cartridge.

A laser printer is a good investment as they are built durably for years of service.

Cons of Laser Printers

The initial expense can be higher than an inkjet printer.

Laser printers require standard copy paper or paper made specifically for laser printers.

While a laser printer can render simple graphics nicely, it is not recommended for photo printing.

READ MORE: Check out the full list of pros and cons for small business printers on CDW.com