Laser Printer Buying Guide from Printer Experts

MONO LASER PRINTERS

Laser printers use the same electrostatic technology as photocopiers, which is why they are so fast. The monochrome laser printer takes full advantage of this and produces sharp text very quickly. This is particularly important if you will be printing fonts that are larger or smaller than average. Toner for mono laser printers is also fairly inexpensive which means lower per page costs. Visit our Mono Laser Printers page to see our full range, alternatively have a look at a few of our best sellers below…

Brother A4 HL2030 Laser Printer Buyer Rating: £55.31ex VAT	Samsung A4 ML2010 Laser Printer Buyer Rating: £85.49ex VAT	Lexmark A4 E360dn Laser Printer Buyer Rating: £251.80ex VAT

COLOUR LASER PRINTERS

Colour laser printers are basically adapted from mono laser printers. This is done by using cyan, magenta and yellow to produce different colours. Colour laser printers can still be expensive in both printer cost and cost per page. This makes choosing the right printing technology to meet your needs and cost control a critical part of your laser printer choice process. However, with the inevitable technological advances the prices of colour laser printers will continue drop, making the laser printer essential and indispensable to many offices and homes. Have a look below at some Printer Experts recommended colour laser printers…

Canon A4 i-SENSYS LBP5360 Laser Printer Buyer Rating: £233.28ex VAT	Dell A4 1320cn Laser Printer Buyer Rating: £88.85ex VAT	HP A4 LaserJet 2600n Laser Printer Buyer Rating: £140.00ex VAT

WIRELESS LASER PRINTERS

Along with most useful technology, laser printers are available wireless. The simplest way to go wireless is to buy a wireless Wi-Fi ready laser printer, easy. However, you may already have the perfect laser printer and not want the expense of buying a whole new wireless printer. In this case you can use a wireless print server. Just plug it into your printers USB socket and install the software for wireless printing within minutes. Wireless printing also means neater work spaces and great printing flexibility. See below some of our bestselling wireless printers…

Samsung A4 CLP-315W Laser Printer Buyer Rating: £106.83ex VAT	Dell A4 1350cnw Laser Printer Buyer Rating: £90.44ex VAT	HP A4 Officejet 6500 Wireless Laser Printer Buyer Rating: £107.34ex VAT

MULTIFUNCTION LASER PRINTERS

Multifunction laser printers are not only printers, they can also copy, scan and fax. For smaller offices or infrequent fax or scanner usage the multifunction laser printer is the ideal solution. Multifunction laser printers are also great from a cost point of view. Buying and running multiple devices is a lot more expensive than owning a multifunction laser printer. Multifunction printers also have the exact same print quality as standard laser printers; this means you have all the added multifunction extras plus the same laser printer quality. We have every Multifunction Laser Printer to suit your needs, find below 3 great examples.

HP A4 LaserJet CM2320NF Buyer Rating: £388.00ex VAT	Konica Minolta A4 magicolor 4695MF Buyer Rating: £449.00ex VAT	Oki A4 MC560N Buyer Rating: £308.46ex VAT

RESOLUTION

The resolution of a laser printer is what determines the print quality. However the resolution is not always a final guarantee of quality. Two printers with identical quoted resolution may have varying print results. The print quality of a laser printer can also come down to other factors such as, build quality, engine type, toner compound type and component quality.

• Measured in DPI (Dots Per Inch)
• DPI is the amount of ink placed in a one inch line of print
• Quoted for both the horizontal and vertical (i.e. 300 x 600)
• The Higher the resolution, the better the quality

SPEED

Advertised print speeds for laser printers are rarely exactly as claimed in the specs. Engine speed is not always the best indicator of true print time. Online reviews will detail a more accurate print time.

• Measured by PPM (page per minute)
• PPM doesn’t take into account processing time
• A more accurate measure could be the first page print speed
• Laser printers are faster than inkjets, with mono text being faster than colour graphics

PAPER HANDLING

Paper handling capabilities are one of the most crucial parts of printing. They are often thought as being the same for all laser printers but this is not the case. Paper trays, paper weights and paper sizes (A4 & A3) are just a few things to consider.

• Expect to pay more for a laser printer that can handle A3
• Additional paper trays can hold between 250-500 sheets
• Straight through paper feeds will assist with printing on types of paper and card
• Colour laser printers often need specialized stock for optimal results

CONSUMABLES

The most overlooked aspect when buying a new laser printer is the printers running cost. It can often be that the cheaper the printer the more expensive the running costs will be.

• Consumables are anything that needs replacing regularly, which can include toner, drums, fuser and waste toner units
• Laser printer running costs will outweigh the initial printer price
• Divide the total cost of consumables by amount of pages produced from them to calculate cost per page
• Toners will need replacing most often, making then the most costly consumables

Find the consumables you need on our Consumables page

DUPLEX PRINTING

Double sided printing (duplexing) was once exclusive to expensive printers for big corporate workplaces. These days printing on both sides of the paper has never been easier.

• Helps reduce paper usage, saving you money and some trees too
• Duplex can come automatic or manual
• Duplex is also a feature available to scanning
• Higher volume laser printers are able to print of both sides of a piece of paper in a single pass

View our range of duplex printers on our Duplex Laser Printers page