Let's go over a couple quick facts about printers manufactures.
- Printer manufactures are out to make money. They accomplish this through supplies, not hardware.
- The cheaper the printer, the more expensive it will be over the life of the device.
With that being said, you would be an idiot to purchase a printer based on price and not take into consideration the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). Printer hardware cost have dropped dramatically over the past 5 years. In fact, you can get a new Lexmark X2470 Multifunctional Printer (MFP) that will print, copy and scan for as little as $59.99. If you only print 100 pages a month (50 in black and 50 in color), a $59.99 device will cost an additional $689.70 for ink over 3-years! By spending a couple more dollars up front - $199.99 on an HP Officejet L7680, your total ink cost would only be $146.52. A savings of $543.18, more than enough money to justify the higher cost HP unit with superior features.
Let's compare some color printer (both inkjet and laser) over 3-years printing 500 black and 1,000 color pages a month.
HP Officejet 3680 - inkjet
Printer Cost: $69.99
Ink Cost: $5,781.56
Total Cost: $5,851.56
HP Officejet Pro K8600 - inkjet
Printer Cost: $249.99
Ink Cost: $2,422.36
Total Cost: $2,672.35
HP LaserJet CP2025 - laser
Printer Cost: $349.99
Toner Cost: $5,299.28
Total Cost: $5,649.27
HP LaserJet 4700n - laser
Printer Cost: $1349.99
Toner Cost: $3,381.91
Total Cost: $4,731.90
Lexmark Z2300 - inkjet
Printer Cost: $34.99
Ink Cost: $9,768.00
Total Cost: $9,802.99
Lexmark C780n - laser
Printer Cost: $899.00
Toner Cost: $3,659.40
Total Cost: $4,558.40
Samsung CLP-300 - laser
Printer Cost: $199.90
Toner Cost: $6,523.83
Total Cost: $6,723.73
Xerox Phaser 6130n - laser
Printer Cost: $449.00
Toner Cost: $5,029.89
Total Cost: $5,478.89
Xerox Phaser 6180n - laser
Printer Cost: $599.00
Toner Cost: $4,067.76
Total Cost: $4,666.76
Xerox Phaser 8560n - solid ink
Printer Cost: $699.00
Ink Cost: $3,440.83
Total Cost: $4,139.83
A couple of surprising finds is the least expensive Total Cost goes to an inkjet printer; the HP Officejet Pro K8600 at only $2,672.35 over the life of the printer. While the clear looser in the group is the Lexmark Z2300 at $9,802.99. To be fair to Lexmark, you wouldn't want to purchase a $34.99 inkjet printer to print out 1,500 pages a month. Not only would you be replacing the ink cartridge daily but the printer would wear out prematurely as it is designed for the casual 1 or 2 pages a day type use. Typically, you will find the the least expensive printers have a higher total cost of ownership due to higher supply cost while the more expensive printers will have a lower supply cost. The key to finding the right printer for you needs and your budget is to fully understand how many color and black only pages will be printed monthly and how that will effect the printers cost of the life time of the device.
Bottom Line? I help business better understand the printer/copier industry and empower people to make smart buying decisions.
Learn more by grabbing your free copy of the "Top 10 Insider Secrets that Copier and Printer sales people don't want you to know about saving money on YOUR Copier or Printer" at http://freecolorcopiersecrets.com/