At Com Pro Business Solutions, we know that printing expenses can eat up a lot of a company’s resources. That is why we want to help businesses choose the most efficient office equipment for their specific needs. Here is a quick look at colour printers vs. black and white printers, so that you can make an informed decision about which all-in-one printer will work best.
Knowing Which Printer Will Work Best
Both multifunction colour printers and black and white printers have advantages and disadvantages that should be carefully considered before deciding on a printer that will work best. For instance, all-in-one black and white printers tend to be more affordable than all-in-one colour printers, but they cannot be used to print coloured documents. Whereas multifunction coloured printers are more versatile because they can replicate different shades of colours, but they may require more maintenance. Some of the factors that should be considered when deciding on a new office printer include:
Printer Toner
Multifunction black and white printers use a single black toner cartridge, while multifunction colour printers use four: one each for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. If a business’ output skews heavily toward the need for colour in order to print graphs, charts, diagrams, and photos, the additional cost of consumables needed to operate the colour device may be worth it; however, if the printer is only for occasional use, it might be a better option to choose a black and white printer.
Printer Speed
Like many other performance features, such as resolution and networking, speed comes at a price. To achieve the same output speed as all-in-one black and white printers, all-in-one colour printers need additional engineering to optimize a more complex process. A multifunction colour printer has to do more work than a multifunction black and white printer to produce a single page because they have to transfer all four of their colours onto a page rather than just one colour. This means that a black and white printer in the same price range as a colour printer will have a much higher output rate.
Printer Value
Although both multifunction black and white printers and multifunction colour printers come in models that offer many features and options, you can get more performance for the same money with a black and white printer. The additional complexity of printing in colour means that more of the machine’s expense is invested in its basic functions, leaving less money to cover enhanced solutions, networking features, built-in duplexing, and additional paper-handling options.
If you would like to learn more about colour printers vs. black and white printers, or if you are interested in one of our products, please contact Com Pro Business Solutions at 604-574-8623.