How to choose the right colour printer for your home or business

No matter your printing needs, there’s a colour printer out there that can achieve the results you’re after. Whether you’re looking to print high-quality photos, print mass documents, or even print promotional material for your business, there are a range of products on the market to suit your budget.

But if you’re looking for a top-quality colour printer, what kind of printer is the right choice for you? At Australian Printer Services, we’re here to help, which is why we’ve curated this guide to choosing a colour printer for your printing needs.

Read on. While shopping for colour printers, there are a few elements you need to consider.

#1. How many pages do you print per month?

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It is important to match the monthly duty cycle to your printer requirements.

If you choose a printer that is too small, you will have reliability problems and most likely be paying too much for consumables. Not to mention replacing the printer when it is less than 2 years old as it is not economical to repair them.

Consider how much you plan on printing on a monthly basis and opt for a colour printer from a high-quality brand like Fuji Xerox, Fujifilm, or Kyocera. We stock a wide range of colour printers from these premium brands!

#2. What kind of colour quality do you need?

colour printing of a flower

Do you want standard business colour? Or do you need high-quality graphic printing?

Business colour refers to general office documents that need to be presented in colour i.e. graphs, proposals and basic presentations.

Graphic colour would be for promotional material such as advertising, brochures and photographs. Choosing business colour can quite often reduce the purchase price, but you can achieve richer colours with a graphic printer.

#3. Do you need to print on both sides of the page?

Duplexing is standard on most printers today, though it can be an extra cost on some.

When shopping for a new colour printer, be sure to check the specifications and product description to ensure your printer can handle double-sided printing. While a cheaper printer might be an attractive option, it might not have the printing capabilities you need.

#4. What kind of running costs do you expect?

man reviewing printing costs

Most colour printers work out around 16 cents per page or less, but it’s important to note that this is not the case for the cheap colour printers which can be as high as 45 cents per page.

These printers are sold cheaply by the manufacturer in the hope of recovering costs by the purchases of consumables. Cost per page is based on 20% of the page being covered with toner, unlike 5% which is used for black & white.

If you intend to print a lot of black and white we recommend a second mono laser printer to save on printing costs.

#5. Are you concerned about your colour printer’s impact on the environment?

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Laser printers are cheap these days. For small volume printing, they are great value for money.

Quite often outside of warranty, however, they are not worth repairing as the labour cost can exceed the price of the machine. We urge buyers to be aware that these printers end up in landfill and in our opinion are not a green choice for our earth.

Kyocera printers are more environmentally friendly as they produce less waste, less ozone and can be fully recycled using Kyocera’s “Machine Recycle Programme.”

#6. How about the warranty of your colour printer?

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It has recently come to our attention that when you purchase your laser printer from a retail outlet and you opt to purchase an extended warranty, this warranty does not necessarily come from the manufacturer.

This warranty can be provided by a 3rd party, so if your printer requires any repairs during an extended warranty period then you need to contact the retail outlet where the printer was purchased, to find out where you need to take your printer for repairs.

Talk to our experienced printing specialists about the best option for your colour printing needs

There are thousands of colour printers on the market right now, so we understand the confusion around choosing a high-performance printer.

If you’re feeling unsure about the best printer for your needs, get in touch with our team for helpful recommendations and advice! We work with a wide range of printers and we know a thing or two about their individual advantages.

Contact us for more information about our colour printer range. We’ll help find the very best option for you.

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WE HAVE SERVICED MELBOURNE

SINCE 1997 OVER 25 YEARS