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| Beware Of Free Printers You Can't Afford |
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INDIANAPOLIS, IN., March 9, 2010 -- The offer seems irresistible. Buy a computer and receive a printer for free or for a fraction of what you'd expected to pay. Great deal you think? Maybe not. "The problem with free or inexpensive inkjet printers is people get caught up in the deal and forget to ask how much the machine will actually cost to run," says Tons of Toner co-founder David Jones. "In some cases, inkjet cartridges cost as much or more than the machine itself." Jones says it's important people evaluate their printing needs and make their purchase based on what they need rather than what the salesperson wants to sell them. He offers the following overview and tips aimed at help shoppers sort through the dizzying choices to determine which printer fits their business and budget best. Inkjet or Laser Inkjet printers are popular machines that are cheap to buy but expensive to operate. Typically made for low volume printing environments, they are best suited for use at home or a small office. They work by squirting thousands of tiny drops of ink onto the page and can be expensive to run because inkjet cartridges can sometimes cost as much or more than the printer itself. That's why it's important to determine the per-page cost of operating a printer. To do this, find out how many pages the cartridge is rated to print and then divide the sticker price by this number to determine the per-page cost. If your machine uses multiple inks or toners you'll need to add up all the consumables then divide that total by the page yield. It's not completely accurate but you'll get a good idea. Laser printers cost more initially but can pay for themselves quickly through lower operating costs. Laser printers use toner, which fuses to the page when heated to produce copies that don't smudge or fade over time. Laser printers tend to be bulkier than inkjets but print quickly - an important feature for many. New toner cartridges don't come cheap (you can expect to pay between $60 and $90) but last for 2,000 to 10,000 pages, depending on the printer. As a comparison, consider a 10,000 page yield laser toner for about $80 versus a 700 page yield inkjet cartridge for $35!!! Price You'll pay more upfront for a laser printer but less in the long run. A basic entry-level monochrome laser printer can start at about $125 compared to $50 for a basic inkjet printer. Decent color laser printers start at about $300 and up compared to $80 for a color inkjet printer and some all-in-one color inkjet machines. Bottom Line Pretend the printer is free then add up the cost to load it up with supplies. If you print documents with text and graphics, and you don't need to print photos, a monochrome laser printer is a good bet. The up-front cost is steeper than with an inkjet, but you'll get a lot of printing done before you need to change toner. If you do minimal color photo printing, then stick with an inkjet. Another option, if you own an inkjet printer but want to cut costs, is to keep the inkjet printer for photos and color copies and buy an inexpensive laser printer for daily printing. About Tons of Toner.com Tons of Toner.com is a nationwide supplier of printer, copier, and fax supplies. Founded in 1989, the company specializes in toner, ink cartridges, ribbons and offers a full range of supplies and products for use in thousands of different machines. For more information about Tons of Toner.com, call 877-844-8400 or visit www.TONSofTONER.com Bud Soden Tons of Toner.com 9801 Fall Creek Road, # 411 Indianapolis, Indiana 46256 phone: 877-844-8400 fax: 317-915-1001 web: www.TONSofTONER.com |