Let's start small. Personal printers are useful for two people max. Usually, circumstances dictate this type of limited usage. In many cases, the user is an executive in an enclosed office or an executive assistant. Sometimes, the individual is not close to a workgroup printer, or the user may require a higher level of output security than is typically afforded by a workgroup printer. In most cases, ink-jet printers are up to this task.

There are two basic types of ink-jet printers: the $100 model and the $300 model. Printer vendors do not make big money by selling these machines at this low price. They do, however, make money on all the supplies needed for these little beauties. So your first consideration should be the ongoing need for supplies. After all, you'll spend much more on supplies than you will on the printer. Unless you have an overwhelming need for spectacular quality, go with the less expensive printer and make sure it has a one-year warranty. If it breaks within a year, you get it fixed. If it breaks after the warranty has expired, a new printer with a full-year warranty will set you back only about $100. These personal printers are so inexpensive that having an extra one on hand is not only a viable option, but a smart one.

Another type of printer that shows up in this user scenario is the printer/copier/fax/scanner combination model. Combos can be a good option for a small office/home office or very small business where space and price are both important factors. The biggest problem with many of these multifunction units is that they don't perform any of their functions exceptionally well. Serious copying, faxing or scanning, especially in a corporate setting, should be done on a device designed for that task alone.

Finally, there are personal laser printers. We recommend avoiding these devices. They generally have limited paper capacity and handling capabilities--and the number of mechanical assemblies required for a laser printer far exceeds that required for an ink-jet printer. Serviceability problems and steeper prices make small personal laser printers a poor choice.

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Do you need a printer for more than two people? That brings us to the workgroup/departmental printer category, which is where most of a company's printing needs are met. You'll find a large selection of printers from many manufacturers in this group. Prime factors to consider are warranty, price, serviceability and availability of service. Networking factors are also a consideration.

Make sure all your printers have at least a one-year warranty. Then there's post-warranty service. Most companies subcontract the post-warranty maintenance on their departmental/workgroup printers. The capabilities of these "printer maintainers" are crucial. Saddling them with a completely unfamiliar printer type can increase your service costs and decrease your printing uptime. Your printer-maintenance company will claim it can easily service any printer, though a difficult learning curve can cause problems in the short term. The only time there's no cause for worry is when that maintainer also performed your warranty work, as printer manufacturers usually require a shop to go through training before authorizing it to perform warranty service.

The initial purchase price will affect your decision, but other factors, such as duty cycle, will carry more weight in the long run. In fact, duty cycle is one of the most important considerations when choosing a printer. If you haven't been keeping track of page counts in particular locations, start now. With reasonably accurate page counts you can determine the duty cycle needs of any location or department. Purchasing a printer with a duty cycle that is too low will result in maintenance trouble, early replacement and user dissatisfaction. You may be surprised at the levels of under/overusage going on in your organization.

Another departmental-printer factor is PPM (page-per-minute) statistics. You don't want lines forming at the printer as users wait for their materials, but remember: End users will complain no matter what you do. They will do a lot of general moaning and groaning about the printer, but they won't be able to quantify their complaints. Just make sure the PPM is adequate.

Printer memory is also important, but it is largely predicated on the general output of the printer. If your users will be printing lots of complicated pages, strongly consider more memory. The amount of memory in a workgroup/departmental printer can also affect its print speed, so while memory prices are low, be generous when provisioning your printers.

Also consider paper handling and capacity. In a high-volume location, higher-capacity paper storage is critical. Your users are wasting their time if they must constantly restock the paper. The precision of the paper path also plays a role here. If your users are printing laser labels, the relative straightness of the paper path is proportional to the number of times you'll need to have the printer serviced for labels stuck to the fuser, pickup mechanisms and turn points.

Replacing supplies on the printer should be a virtual no-brainer for end users, unless you're looking for a host of support calls from panic-stricken individuals. Changing drum/toner assemblies shouldn't require anything more than minimal training and ongoing support, while paper-tray loading and jam clearing should be extremely simple. Finally, your users shouldn't feel as though they're reading Sanskrit when looking at front-panel controls and error notifications.

On the network front, the interface must be supported by the current network topology. For 90 percent of you, that means a standard Cat5 RJ-45 interface to Ethernet. Require remote administration of the printer where the interface is Web- or Java-enabled to avoid a collection of configuration programs. And be sure you can lock the front panel to prevent end-user setting changes.

High-Volume Printers

The final network-enabled printer category fills large-capacity printing needs. These machines can service a department with a particularly heavy workload or serve as a centralized report printer. High-volume printers need special attention, and many can send e-mail notifications when they run into trouble. Whoever receives these notifications should be close to the printer and adequately trained in its proper care and feeding.

These units must also have a very large paper capacity. The single biggest waste of time in volume printing is when the printer sits with a "paper out" light blinking. Speed and flexibility in paper formats are the bywords for high-volume printers.

And once again, duty cycle is important. In locations where the print volume is high, an improperly provisioned printer will break down early and often. Problems won't occur in the first weeks, but after months of wear and tear an ill-provisioned printer will fall short of its demands.

Specialties of the House

Specialty printers offer some unique choices. These printers use large, tabloid-sized paper and color. Many different kinds of color printing technologies, such as ink jet, dye sublimation, wax, solid ink and color laser, are available. Each one has its advantages and disadvantages (see our sidebar for information on each technology).

The choice of specialty printer has much to do with serviceability and the cost of supplies. Per-page costs for a color printer are much higher than those associated with a simple black and white printer.

There are three general scenarios for color printing: Your users need color output for internal meetings, color output for customer meetings and true color output for color proofing and graphics applications. The first scenario is the easiest.

A simple, inexpensive ink-jet printer with some special paper and an external network connection can satisfy the color needs of most workers. It is the same printer described in the personal-printing category.

The second scenario demands a greater need for faster printing and better output than an inexpensive ink-jet printer can provide. This is the purview of the color laser printer and, in some cases, the wax printer. These machines have improved in the past few years, and they now have more reliable mechanisms with fewer moving parts, more precise paper paths and greater serviceability. These printers generally need tons of memory; some even support optional hard disks for large jobs. The printer drivers for this type of printer can be picky, so try to get a demonstration unit out at your site and take a shot at getting the content you want out of it. When it comes to drivers, it helps immensely to know exactly what kind of trouble you're getting yourself into.

Our last scenario calls for true color output. This situation requires high-end ink-jet printers, dye-sublimation printers and thermal printers. Every printer at this end of the spectrum comes with a huge price tag and an abundance of options.

Speak with the end users who are requesting a printer with these capabilities and make sure the printers you're considering provide the color reproduction they need. Many proofing jobs require Pantone or CIE color compliance, so get your color requirements met without giving up on speed. These units are almost always pure postscript printers. Get a service contract on these monsters--they're all heinously complex, and the contract can help ensure uninterrupted usage.

Online Only: How Do They Do That? Printing Technologies 101

Dye-Sublimation Printer: Dye sublimation is a form of thermal transfer. A hot thermal head vaporizes dye on a ribbon and transfers it to the paper. In laser printers, a laser precisely draws the images onto a photoelectric drum, changing the electrical properties for the area touched by the laser. The charged drum passes through the toner, and the areas touched by the laser attract toner. The toner is then laid down on the paper by the drum over an electrically conductive roller, causing the toner to jump to the paper. The paper is then passed through a hot roller, called a fuser, where the toner is melted onto the paper. Ink-Jet Printer: An ink-jet printer works by spraying ink onto the paper, where it is absorbed. The absorbency of the paper is crucial to the quality of the output. Special clay-based papers are available for high-quality output from ink-jet printers. Solid-Ink Printer: With solid-ink printers, solid sticks of ink are melted and then blown onto the paper. The ink solidifies on the top of the paper. The lumpy ink is then smoothed with a pair of cool rollers. Wax Printer: In the case of the now-rare wax printer, a ribbon with colored wax is passed over a densely populated thermal head that precisely controls the melting of the wax onto special paper, designed to hold the wax. Ink-jet printers have largely replaced wax printers.