The printer is a critical office appliance used by everyone from the general manager to the receptionist, from the sales executive to the network administrator.

The best printers are quiet and dependable, cranking out perfect sheets quickly. Like an old-fashioned butler, the very best printers are the ones you never notice. Choose the wrong printer, and costs will creep up slowly along with the printing queue and your employees' frustration.

These days, there are many printing options available to small and medium-sized enterprises. There are laser printers (color and monochrome), multifunction copiers, all-in-ones and deskjets.

Which should you buy? According to Cheong Chee Keong of HP's Imaging and Printing Group, Asia Pacific/Japan, customers should be buying printers based on their anticipated needs in the next five to 10 years. "Unfortunately, because of resource constraints, small and medium-sized businesses sometimes make their purchasing decisions based on only their current needs and find their organizations constrained to the limited capabilities of their equipment a few years later."

All-in-ones
For small workgroups or satellite offices such as retail branches, an all-in-one system is a cost-effective and practical choice. An all-in-one system combines printing, scanning and copying (sometimes even faxing) functions into one package. The advantage is that a single machine costs less than buying three or four separate ones. It also takes up less space, which is important in a small office.

The disadvantage of the all-in-one is that it suffers from the "Jack of all trades" syndrome. It does all those functions, but not as well as a dedicated machine. The other disadvantage is that it becomes a bottleneck in the office, which means that when someone is faxing, usually no one else can scan or print. This is why it is only suitable for very small companies where fewer people will use the machine at the same time. The final disadvantage is that it is a single point of failure. When this machine is in the shop, you will be unable to print, scan, copy or fax.

Laser printers
Once the office has more than five people, forget the all-in-one and go for the monochrome laser printer. The monochrome laser printer is the workhorse of the modern office. Everything from letters to sales proposal and website printouts can be handled by this machine. Get the fastest, most reliable laser printer you can afford. This is something you will be using everyday.

In most offices, color printers are a luxury. However, there will be times when you will need to prepare presentation material in color. According to HP's Cheong, color laser printers have come down in price considerably in the last few years. If you frequently produce short runs of marketing materials, a high-quality office color printer is more convenient and can cost around the same as outsourced color printing.

Multifunction machines
Leased multifunction machines that combine printing and copying are ideal additions for medium-sized offices. These are the big brothers to the all-in-ones. However, these machines are designed primarily as copiers so they are usually able to handle a lot of abuse.

Another valuable ability is that multifunction machines are able to print on paper larger than A4. High-end multifunction copiers can also print in color, which means that there is no need to get a separate color laser printer.

However, in most offices, multifunction machines need to co-exist with monochrome lasers. Monochrome lasers still do most of the daily work needed. The multifunction machine supplements the monochrome laser, providing a back-up printer as well as color printer when needed.

Features to look out for
Having decided what type of printer (whether it is a workgroup laser or an all-in-one) to buy, you now need to assess which make and model to choose. According to Amanda Koh of Brother International, buyers should seek out printers which are cost effective, have good quality printout and are speedy.

She notes that purchase price is only one aspect of the total cost of ownership of a printer. "The cost of supplies and maintenance should (also) be considered," she says. "This is where an established brand makes a difference. The after-sales services and cost effective and easily available supplies are elements that affect the user experience."

Koh also warns that printers are ongoing investments. "The cost of supplies is a running cost that will create an impact on investment over the years, while maintenance--like availability of spare parts--is related to the total uptime of the machine," she says.

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