Know any good copiers?

July 7, 2006 12:10 PM

My small office (~20 people) needs a new copier. We don't need an uber-copier, just something to handle a few hundred copies a week. Any advice?
posted by crickets to Technology (6 answers total)

As the person who does most of the copying in my office I would strongly reccomend either a Xerox or an HP. Xerox's are nice becuase they have been doing it forever, and they are somehwat modular so you can get a fairly basic (though still pricey model) and it can if needed grow with your office. HP's are also very good quality and from my experience tend to get jammed less oten then other brands. Cannon is the devil in my personal experience though.
posted by BobbyDigital at 12:15 PM on July 7, 2006

don't buy! lease! you'll be able to get it fixed and toner. toner is the expensive part! call multiple leasing/service companies in your area, tell them how much you copy and print and scan, color and other need and find out their packages. it is bound to be significanty cheaper.
posted by k8t at 12:55 PM on July 7, 2006

I'll second the leasing suggestion. Also, check out newer copiers than double as scanners - great for making PDFs to email to people or to store electronically.
posted by exogenous at 1:01 PM on July 7, 2006

Our office is in the process of demoing copiers right now. Find an office automation place; they'll gladly bring out a demo for you to try for a month or so. It's a good way to get acquainted with the piece of machinery and see if you like it.
posted by rossination at 1:32 PM on July 7, 2006

leased copiers are expected to do anywhere from 4k-10k cycles (impressions) a month. If you're making under a thousand a month, it'll be an overkill. Besides, you'll have to pay for the maintenance contract, etc. Everyone has valid opinions about leasing, as toner can be a hassle. I'd suggest looking into the Brother MFC88xx; Something to the tune of $500 and it'll scan legal, has a network card, can act as a scanner, and can fax stuff.

I realize you just need a copier, but this will do just fine (it also does duplexing, which is nice) but if you >MUST< get a dedicated copier, I'd go with a Xerox. Basically I'd suggest knowing roughly how many copies you make in a month (not skewed by seasonal whatnot) and then do a small cost analysis of leased copier payments over a 2 year period vs buying what I've suggested.
posted by AllesKlar at 5:13 PM on July 7, 2006

How much printing is done in a week? Evaluate removing printers and forcing everyone to print through the copier. The cost per page of printing through a copier can be much lower than many models of printers.

I'd suggest going with a lease. Standardizing technology-related costs, adding a replacement cycle, and defining your real cost per page make good business sense to me. It is also very nice to know that if your copier breaks someone will be around within 4 hours to fix it. Contractually, I think they're going to initially present you with something that allows you so many pages per month. Other contracts may be possible if you have very seasonal copying (buying a block of pages upfront and using it as needed).

Most copiers at the level you need can include other features like document scanning and faxing. These may be useful to your organization. The faxing may include faxing directly from the desktop. Copier printing drivers tend to be much more advanced than normal printer drivers. Avoid color unless you absolutely need it. It is expensive and abused.

Copier sales is a mature business. Most of the different brands you evaluate will be very competitive, and in the end they'll all do almost the same thing. Ricoh is another strong company that hasn't been mentioned yet.
posted by joelr at 12:23 PM on July 8, 2006