Brother Products
Laser Printers
Buying Guide
Laser printers are peripherals that use a series of mirrors and lenses to “apply” the text or image onto an internal revolving drum. This application is accomplished by changing the electrical polarity of the drum’s surface in the appropriate places. Toner, which is electrically charged with the opposite polarity of the image on the drum, is then applied to the drum and adheres in the designated pattern. Paper heated to a precise temperature is then sent past the drum, which applies the toner to the page.
How to choose a Laser Printer?
Your choice of printer depends on the kind of work you expect to do, what you plan to print, how many users will your printer need to accommodate, how fast you need your printer to be, how much it will cost to keep your printer equipped with toner, range and cost of accessories and how much you're willing to pay.1.Print Technology
a) When is Laser recommended?
Laser Printer is recommended if:
- If you have a high volume printing requirement (100 or more pages per week) or frequently produce multiple copies of the same document. Laser printers are still much faster than other printing technologies. The cost per page will also be less for laser toner than would be for other conventional printing methods.
- For true business applications and documents where presentation and accuracy is paramount.
b) When is Colour Laser recommended?
Colour Laser Printer is recommended if:
- If you have a high volume printing requirement (100 or more pages per week Black/White) or produce colour copies of same documents. Colour laser printers are still much faster than inkjet printing. The cost per page will also be less for laser toner than it will for inkjet printing methods.
- For true business applications and documents where presentation, colour graphics, and accuracy is paramount.
2.General Considerations
a) Print Resolution
- This is the quality of output of the printed page. Generally, a 600 dpi laser printer is recommended for general everyday business applications. Higher dpi’s, result in better text and graphics quality. This is recommended for important documentation.
b) Toner Configuration
- In consideration of costs, users should also consider the running costs.
- The yield is the key factor; a higher price doesn't always mean higher capacity. It’s important when reading manufacturers’ estimates for toner cartridge life that you check what the percentage coverage of the page that’s quoted. Also, check if there is any toner-saving function – this can save money if you’re only printing draft copies.
- The drum should be separate from the toner cartridge. This prevents the problem of throwing away a still usable drum when the toner is exhausted. Most Brother models have the toner separate to the drum.
c) Print Speed
- This is often measured in “Pages Per Minute” or (PPM) print speed. If you're using a printer in an office environment with multiple users or have a heavy printing requirement a faster print speed is required. Please note printing graphics depends more on the time it takes to produce the first page than how long it takes to provide additional copies of the same page.
d) Expandability
For example, if your printer handles only 250 sheets of paper, you'll waste valuable time reloading paper bins. Look for:
- Additional bins and trays to increase the paper capacity.
- Sorting bins for separating print jobs and other finishing options.
- Duplexing unit for printing on both sides of the paper.
- 2 output mailboxes
- Stabilising unit
- Resizable envelope feeders and support for larger paper sizes.
- Network ready. Does it have an option to be networked, so you can send prints from your computer?
- Expandable Memory; Can it be upgradeable to more RAM? This will enable the machine to store more information in memory for large print jobs.
e) Cost per Page
- Cost per page is the overall operating cost to produce that one page including machine purchase price, toner and paper.
f) Paper handling
- This is the how many pages the printer can hold - its paper capacity. If you print large sized or many documents at the one time look for a printer that can hold many sheets of paper. This reduces the time spent refilling paper. Also, ensure that the machine can handle a range of paper sizes, and media.
g) Memory
- Because a page printer stores an entire page before printing, it needs a considerable amount of internal memory. The more memory your printer has, the faster your computer will be freed to process other tasks. At the very least, make sure your printer comes with enough memory to produce an entire page of graphics at its top resolution. Another consideration includes the printer’s memory expandability.
h) Ease of use and maintenance
- For small companies who don’t employ system administrators or IT support personnel, the ease of maintenance is vital. The main issue here will be how easy it is to change the toner and other consumables.
- Brother has 24-7 day a week support through http://solutions.brother.com.
i) Printer driver compatibility
- The printer driver can contain features that add significantly to the ease of use and flexibility of the printer and compatibility to existing or latest software and hardware.
- Most Brother models are compatible with both Windows® and Mac Operating systems; Windows® 95, 98(SE), Me, NT4.0, 2000, XP or Mac OS 8.51 - 9.2, MAC OSX 10.1 - 10.3
- Selected Brother models are compatible with Linux and Unix.
j) Network Ready
- If you have more than five people in your company, it’s advisable that you don’t network a printer by attaching it using a parallel cable to one of the networked computers. Simply because a printing bottleneck is caused by the low data transfer rate between the PC and printer over a parallel cable. It is advised to buy a printer that can attach directly to the network using a network interface card or an external print server. This makes printing faster, however the added advantage is that these printers usually have additional network utilities supplied that make them easier to manage.