The Best Printer for Your Office

The right printer for your workplace will, of course, depend on where you work. Most offices can make do with a basic black-and-white printer (after all, boring work memos are never especially vibrant), but what if you work in a design studio or somewhere similarly colourful?

We can't recommend a printer for everyone, but what we can do is look at the printing requirements of the 'average' office:

• Heavy Usage: Printers aren't the centre of the office like they were in the days before email, but work printers still tend to be very busy machines. Your office printer should be capable of working at a high capacity, and you'll want an appliance that isn't running out of ink every five minutes.
  
  
• High Speed: This is related to the 'heavy usage' thing - your work schedule is probably pretty full, and you don't want to waste any time waiting for stuff to print (especially if your colleagues are waiting for their documents to go through as well).
  
  
• Multiple Functions: While the average office won't necessarily need a colour printer, the scan and copy functions can still be very handy in even the most monotone working environments. An all-in-one printer can solve a lot of problems and save quite a bit of space to boot.

With all of the above in mind, we think that an All-in-One Monochrome Laser Printer is the best choice for the average office. Laser printing is quicker than inkjet printing (you don't even have to wait for the ink to dry), so even on a really busy Friday afternoon, the print queue should never get too hectic.

Moreover, a laser printer is arguably much better value for money. Toner cartridges cost a little more than standard ink cartridges, but they also last a lot longer, saving you money in the long run. Note also that colour printers use four different toner cartridges whereas mono printers use only one - it's best to stick with black and white if your company can manage that way!

So which printer should I buy?

We recommend something from HP's LaserJet Pro range. The HP LaserJet M1536dnf, for example, is a heavy-duty monochromatic laser printer that also functions as a scanner, copier, and a fax machine.

And don't forget, when your office printer needs a new toner cartridge...we can help!