Office printers cover our main range of printers that are typically used in offices.
The range includes both inkjet printers and laser printers; of which we stock a large quantity of both colour laser printers and mono laser printers which only print black and white.
Inkjet printers use a series of nozzles to shoot minuscule droplets of ink onto the printer paper to form words and images.
This is done by either putting a slight pressure on the ink cartridge to force ink out, or by using a current to heat the ink, which then forms bubbles which push the ink out.
Most home and small office printer copiers currently use the first of these methods, with many big businesses using the latter.
Although other types of printer are usually faster and produce better quality documents, this is the most common type of printer. This is especially true of home or desktop use because inkjet printers are inexpensive, easy for people to use and compatible with most computers.
Laser printers are mainly designed for businesses as they can print large amounts in a short space of time. Laser printing works by using an electrostatic charge on a rotating drum.
The document to be printed is imprinted on this drum in electronic form before being charged. The black and colour sections of the document will attract different charges, whilst white will not attract any.
The toner inside the printer is then attracted to this electrostatic charge and deposited on the paper being run through the machine to duplicate the document.
The costs of printing with laser printers is less than with inkjet printers so if you do print large volumes of paper then it is worth the additional outlay.
Laser printers are typically larger than inkjet printers so ensure that you have the necessary space to store one. They are easy to network and produce good quality documents at a fast rate. They can also store large amounts of paper in the tray.
B&W laser printers (mono laser printers) are the most efficient and least costly for heavy office use.
Understanding the specification of an office printer
On the Euroffice website we offer a detailed product specification on the product detail pages and we additionally offer a set of filters on the left hand column of the page on all of the product list pages (pages that list the actual products). These filters are designed to help you narrow down your search for the correct office printer for you and are put together using the specification of each printer. The following information will help you to understand the specification of each printer.
Brand
This will tell you the name of the manufacturer who produces the printer, so if you are a particular fan of HP office printers or Epson office printers then you can use the brand filter to select this brand and filter out all other printers.
Function
This will give an overview of the office printer, such as whether it prints in monochrome (black and white/grey scale) or colour, and whether it is a laser or ink-jet printer as well as details on which (if any) additional functions such as a fax machine or a copier the machine has integrated.
Maximum Media Size
This is the size of paper that can be printed onto. The majority of office printers will use standard A4 paper, although A3 printers are also widely available.
Maximum Resolution dpi
Resolution is measured in dpi – dots per inch –and will determine the quality of your printouts. The higher the resolution, the better the quality will be. However, nowadays even the cheapest inkjet printers are able to print in 1200 x 4800 dpi, which produces high quality documents and near lab quality photos.
Print Speed PPM
Print speed is measured in ppm – pages per minute. This is how many blank sheets the office printer can get through in a minute rather than actual printed pages. Grey scale printing is much quicker than colour printing, and the greater the quality of the document, the longer it will take to print out. Laser printers are capable of much higher speeds than inkjet's.
Network
This tells you if the printer is compatible for running on a network of printers or not. most of our office printers are network compatible.
Interface
This determines how your office printer is connected to a computer or office network. For small offices, a parallel port can be used for basic networks. Most printers use a USB connection, which is high speed and can be used to link many printers and computers together.
RAM Installed
Printers use memory to store the documents whilst they are printed out. The greater the memory, the better the resolution and efficiency of the printer.
Media Capacity
The number of sheets of paper the printer can hold ready to print onto. Some printers also state an Output Tray Capacity, which is the amount of printed sheets the printer can store.
Monthly Duty Cycle
This is the amount of sheets of paper that can be printed without causing excessive wear to the machine in a 1 month period.
System Requirements
This determines whether the office printer is compatible with the computers you wish to run it from. Most printers are compatible with any computers manufactured in the last eight years, but if unsure please contact our support team or the printer manufacturer.
Media Type
This is the type of material that can be printed on effectively, such as plain printer paper and envelopes. All of these materials can be purchased on the Euroffice website.
